My green button failed a client demo in Atlanta, here's the fix I use now

Last month I was showing a dashboard to a client and they kept asking which status meant 'approved'. Turns out my green button looked identical to the gray disabled ones for their deuteranopia. I paused the demo, pulled up a color blindness simulator, and realized the contrast was almost zero. I switched to adding a checkmark icon plus a light green fill with a dark border, not just color. The client said it was clearer, and we finished the meeting without confusion. Has anyone else found icon plus color to be more reliable than just picking a different hue?

1 comments

1 Comment

taylor_barnes5911d ago

A single failed demo seems like a harsh reason to redesign everything. People mix up button states all the time, even without color blindness, usually because the labels are vague or the page is cluttered. Adding a checkmark is fine, sure, but it also adds visual noise to every status pill you have. Most clients just need a clear heading or text that says "Approved" outright, not another icon to decode. Color blindness is real, but it is also pretty uncommon in the grand scheme of your user base. I would have just asked the client what they were confused about and moved on, not rebuilt the whole system over one awkward moment.