Information Visualization, 3rd Edition

Chapter Four

Color

In the summer of 1997, I designed an experiment to measure human ability to trace paths between connected parts in a three-dimensional diagram. Then, as is my normal practice, I ran a pilot study in order to see whether the experiment was well constructed. By ill luck, the first person tested was a research assistant who worked in my lab. He had far more difficulty with the task than anticipated—so much so that I put the experiment back on the drawing board to reconsider, without trying any more pilot subjects. Some months later, my assistant told me he had just had an eye test and the optometrist had determined that he was color blind. This explained the problems with the experiment. Although it was not about color perception, ...