Case Study: Cross-Cultural Preference of UI Language Components, Cultural Markers - Cross-Cultural Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design - page 119

8.1.3 C OLOR

The respondents were presented a 16 color palette Video Graphics Array (VGA)
based on the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) 4.01 standard ( http://www.
w3.org/TR/REC-html40/types.html#h-6.5 ). The supported hypotheses
regarding colors and color combinations were:

• Users would prefer lighter (pastel) colors and a white background.
• Personal websites would use a wider color palette than websites for other
purposes.

Unsupported hypotheses were the following:

• UIs with the white and yellow colors in the foreground tend to be regarded
as more aesthetic.
• Background color is more important than foreground color. Interestingly, the
Czech sample results supported our hypothesis and valued the background
highly.
• UIs with the following background/foreground color combination are most
appealing: white on blue, white on gray blue, white on purple. The back-
ground color preference was shared among the groups, except for lime,
which was chosen by the Chinese. For foreground, blue was a favorite for
the Chinese, while red and silver for the Czechs. From the shared color com-
binations, black on white stood for clearness and naturalness for the Chinese,
while for the Czechs it indicated contrast and simplicity.

Moreover, some interesting insights into the perception of colors emerged, as we
can see in the following question 31.

31) What features or actions do the following colors imply to you?
Chinese
Results summary.
Black: Midnight/night/burial/death/dark/depressed/afraid (10), dignified/solem-
nity/mysterious/serious/stately/quiet/mature (8), blackboard/pencil/ink/think-
pad (5), steady/persist (2), cool (2), winter/cold, bad people, strange, cold
blood, hair, angry, suit showing one's temperament, not for websites,
deep
Navy: Color for painting/ink/type (5), sky (2), navy (2), depressed/sorrowful
(3), old coat/uniform (2), profession, deep, rare, teachers' tables and chairs,
desktop wallpaper, uncomfortable, nail polish, reminiscence, quiet, treat,
skulduggery, accountant, mature, mysterious, sports shoes, toy, relax
Green: Grass/tree/plant/pine/lime (11), spring/summer (3), environmental pro-
tection (2), fresh/active, precious stone, army uniform, old, primary school,
traffic light, industry, color blindness test, classmate's favorite, Chrome
browser theme, life, coat
Teal: Ink/paint brush (2), bright (2), dark, button, older desktop, immature,
unfamiliar, depressed, lake, gem