Use of color

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

     In discussing the use of color for online/GUI information, Sue
     Gallagher wrote: <<First, the human brain can only assign meaning to
     six colors at any one time.>>

     This needs a minor clarification, with apologies to Sue for treading
     on her turf. The idea of humans being able to deal with only six
     colors at a time comes from research by a fellow named George Miller
     ("The magic number seven plus or minus two"). What Miller observed was
     not that the human mind is so limited, but rather that the majority of
     us hairless house apes can deal effectively with about seven discrete
     labels or bits of context simultaneously (which is why phone numbers
     have seven digits, in case you were wondering). Those of us who fall
     below the average (me, for instance), may be limited to only five
     (7-2) labels/pieces of context, whereas good chess players should be
     able to handle nine (7+2). The point? The more visual cues you force
     viewers to deal with, the more likely some of them won't be able to
     cope or cope well; the corollary to this is that the fewer cues you
     use, the more of your audience will understand and the easier it will
     be for the majority to understand. This is why most good design guides
     recommend simplicity.

     --Geoff Hart  #8^{)}   <---the "8" is eyeglasses, not my channel
     capacity!