[IxDA Discuss] use of color in a web app

[Allison Beckwith]

On Feb 5, 2007, at 11:19 AM, Alok Jain wrote:
1. Why do you want to introduce red in all these places? Does it add  
value in any other way?
2. With apps there is a good chance of number of links and icons etc  
increasing over a period of time and a hot color like red would add  
to visual noise and potentially distract users ..

I think that the current design uses red simply as a accent, used on  
the page in places to add color where there isn't (meaning, I can't  
find any sort of pattern for when red is used and when it isn't). If  
I were looking at the page as just a snapshot, I can see how the  
color adds to the overall feeling and balance of color... but these  
are not just static pages, they are part of a tool that is used, that  
evolves, that must remain flexible. I am not sure how to communicate  
this to the design team (who, I believe, has a background in print  
design, not web/application design).


On Feb 5, 2007, at 11:21 AM, Ari Feldman wrote:
there are two issues that should be considered:
how the color choices affect the user's ability to recognize the  
options available to them
how the color choices are interpreted by the user - as you correctly  
pointed out - red is a common danger color
regardless, the designers should come up with some consistent  
standards for when and how they use colors and styles in links. it's  
bad practice to mix underlines and non-underlined links as it is to  
change link colors since both situations will confuse users.

Thank you for the feedback Ari, these are the types of questions I  
have tried to bring up with the client and the designers.  
Unfortunately, I am usually met with a "but it doesn't confuse *me*,"  
or "how is it confusing for you?" How do I communicate that color is  
not just part of the visual design, but also impacts usability? They  
want proof, and I can't find anything specific (or recent enough).


On Feb 5, 2007, at 11:33 AM, Mark Bardsley wrote:
Salesforce.com doesn't have a bad design if you ask me:

Thanks Mark, I agree that salesforce.com has found a good balance.  
The red is not overused. I signed up for a trial account to see how  
the app itself looked. No red, except in a few spots: The * to  
indicate a required field, error messages, and in the logo graphics.


On Feb 5, 2007, at 11:45 AM, Joanie McCollom wrote:
I have had the same problem and the same concern. One thing I did was  
not
allow heavy use of red on functional pages where it might compete  
with error
messages.

:-) This was going to be my next suggestion (as a compromise).