the lower panel can be termed “task relevant,” and the top part of the lower panel can be termed “task non-relevant.”
Misuse of colors forces viewers to look at
both areas.
This article investigates how the
overuse of colors, as in Figure 1, and
misuse of colors, as in Figure 2, in business dashboards affects users’ decision
making. It uses eye-tracking technology
to provide insight into how individuals
read and scan displayed information,
identifying how they make decisions
with business dashboards.
13 Eye tracking is particularly relevant in measuring a viewer’s attention and effort on a
visual display because it offers a window
into how the viewer reads and scans the
displayed information.
13
Eye Tracking
Eye tracking enables researchers to measure a subject’s eye movements while
reading text or viewing a picture. The involuntary and voluntary responses of eye
movements reflect the internal processing of information.
13 When reading, our
eyes make rapid movements to shift attention from one part of a display to another, then remain almost motionless
while the brain interprets the material
at that location.
13 The periods in which
the eyes are motionless are called “
fixations.”
14 Fixation information can be
used to measure the attention individuals pay to the viewing object. Fixation is
characterized by three measures:
Fixation count. Total number of fixations on a specific area of display;
Fixation duration. Total fixation
time on a specific area of display; and
First fixation time. Start time of the
first fixation on the display area.
Empirical Evidence
This study involved dashboards with
of the lower panel that includes infor-
mation on market types (such as East
and South); the dashboard in the bot-
tom panel is an example of how colors
can be misused.
To perform a decision-making task,
viewers need to pay attention to specific
parts of the dashboards. Viewers thus
need to isolate and extract the relevant
information from a diagram.
5 A dash-
board (related to a task) can be split into
two parts—task relevant and task non-
relevant.
5 Using the task example in Fig-
ure 2, specific areas of the bottom part of
Figure 1. Overuse of colors in bar charts.
Sales By Subcategory
$1,800,000
$1,600,000
$1,400,000
$1,200,000
$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$0
$1,800,000
$1,600,000
$1,400,000
$1,200,000
$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$0
Sales By Subcategory
(a) (b)
Figure 2. Colors can attract unnecessary attention and viewer distraction.
Profit
$10,369 $59,337
Pro
f
i
t $40,000
$20,000
$40,000
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
$60,000
$20,000
$0
$0
Pr
o
fi
t
Coffee Espresso HerbalTea Tea
Central East South West
Market Type By Market Size
Product Type By Market Size
(a)
Profit
$10,369 $59,337
$40,000
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$20,000
$0
$0
Coffee Espresso HerbalTea Tea
Central East South West
Market Type By Market Size
Product Type By Market Size
Pr
of
i
t
Pr
o
f
i
t
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
(b)
