When designers do this accidentally it’s one marshall islands telemarketing database thing, but doing this maliciously is very common! When you’re arranging elements on a page, make sure you’re not doing so in a way that ruins the integrity of the insights you’re trying to convey.
The True Colours
COVID-19 has truly brought out the worst in some people! Just as humans rely on pattern recognition, we rely on memories and simple rules of thumb. Always double check ‘Traffic light colours’ when you see them on infographics! Sure, green normally means go (or good!) but malicious designers can use this as an easy opportunity to camouflage poor results or values, by hiding them in plain sight with a nice little green upwards pointing arrow next to them!
On this note, if you are using red and green as status or quality indicators
make sure they’re visibly different to people with all types of vision, especially different types of colour blindness. Lack of accessibility isn’t often malicious, even though it’s never constructive. Put some effort into planning a colour scheme at the start of a design to make sure that you can communicate to everyone who views it. Colour contrast makes a vast difference, and there are so many helpful tools to guide you!
Overall, there’s no point spending time making an infographic or data visualisation if it can’t communicate the data insights it needs to. Instead, spend time working towards thorough analysis and insights that can lead to action – and you won’t need to cover up anything with cosmetic changes.
Brooke Jamieson is Experience Lead at
PlaceOS, a technology platform for creating digital experiences for buildings, workplaces, hospitals and more.
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