User Interfaces - design

Eyes are most sensitive to the center of the spectrum (blues/reds must be brighter than greens/yellows), and brightness is mainly determined by R+G. It is harder to detect changes in reds/purples/greens and easier to detect changes in yellows/blue-greens. Trouble discriminating colors affects 9% of people.

Avoid:

• saturated colours (except in small areas to make a point) i.e. prefer pastels for large areas.
  
• red & green in the periphery (no RG cones)
  
• pure blue for text, lines, and small shapes
• adjacent colors that differ only in blue or that clash e.g. R/G
  
• single-color distinctions mixtures of colors should differ in 2 or 3 colors
• using only brightness or colour to indicate differences
• shapes with no boundaries (shapes are detected by finding edges and it is hard to focus on edges defined by colour i.e. with not line

Layout

• time to move the mouse depends only on the relative precision required (i.e. not the the distance).