A man in a coffee shop showed me why my color choices were a problem

I was working on a mobile app screen in a Portland cafe, and a guy at the next table leaned over. He pointed at my bright red error message on a green background and said, 'My colorblind son can't tell those apart, so that just looks like a blank box to him.' It happened about six months ago. That one comment made me completely rethink contrast and not just relying on color alone. Has anyone else had a user point out a basic flaw you totally missed?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowan_thomas1d ago

Had a client point out my form labels were useless without color. Started adding icons and text patterns right away. Makes such a difference for folks.

robinmason1d ago

Read an article about this last week. They said using just color is like whispering directions in a noisy room. Gave the example of a red error message. If someone can't see red, it's just text. But add an exclamation icon before it, or bold the text, and the meaning is clear. Makes the whole form less stressful to fill out.

lily_sullivan821d ago

Honestly, it's like they think everyone sees the world in high-def color. Took me way too long to figure that out myself.