Communications of the ACM

board with misuse of colors, as in Figure 2, was divided into 13 zones (see Figure 5), and the eye-fixation sequences of all subjects were mapped with these zones. Zone 9 was the most relevant because it contained the answer to the task. The mapping results were ranked in the order in which the zones were visited first by the subjects, as in Figure 5. The task-relevant areas are highlighted in the table within Figure 5, indicating the viewers of the dashboard with misuse of colors visited the task non-relevant areas (such as Zone 3 and Zone 7) first, followed by the task-relevant areas (such as Zone 9). This sequence demonstrates viewers engaged in System 1 processing first, then System 2 processing. In contrast, viewers of the dashboard with no such misuse visited the task-relevant areas (such as Zone 6) first. The viewers thus engaged System 2 processing directly. Together with the heat maps and the statistical analysis in Table 3, this analysis provides evidence the misuse of colors affects the pattern of a viewers’ eye movements and decision-making processes.

Conclusion

This article has reported the effects of overuse and misuse of colors in dashboards on decision making, as summarized in Table 4.

The study made several interesting observations. First, the high fixation counts and durations in Table 1 and

Table 4. Summary of eye-tracking study.

Dashboard overusing colors Dashboard not overusing colors

Viewers spend time inspecting all the bars and trying to interpret the additional meaning of the colors in each bar, a sequence that takes extra time and effort.

Viewers focus on the bar chart, performing the task quickly.

Dashboard misusing colors Dashboard not misusing colors

Viewers focus on the areas with contrasting colors.

Viewers focus on the areas related to the task.

The task is not related to the contrasting colors so distracts viewers.

In the absence of distraction, viewers focus on the dashboard, performing the task quickly.

Task performance is not affected, but viewers spend extra time and effort due to the distraction.

Figure 5. First fixation-time-sequence analysis.

2

7

3

8

1

6

13

4

9

5

10

Major
Market
Major
Market
Major
Market
Major
Market
Major
Market
Major
Market
Major
Market
Major
Market
Small
Market
Small
Market
Small
Market
Small
Market
Small
Market
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Central
Coffee
East
Espresso
South
Herbal Tea
West
Tea
Market Type By Market Size
Product Type By Market Size
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