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How do you avoid color overload and confusion in your dashboard?

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Color is a powerful visual tool that can enhance your dashboard design and communication. But too much color, or the wrong color choices, can also create confusion, distraction, and frustration for your audience. How do you avoid color overload and confusion in your dashboard? Here are some tips to help you use color and contrast effectively and strategically in your performance dashboards.

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Thomas Staite MSc BSc MBCS

Analytics Manager @ UK Ministry of Defence | Driving Data-Evidenced Decisions

1 Choose a color scheme

The first step is to choose a color scheme that suits your dashboard purpose, style, and data. A color scheme is a set of colors that work well together and create a harmonious and consistent look. You can use online tools like ColorBrewer, Coolors, or Adobe Color to generate and test different color schemes. You can also follow some basic principles, such as using complementary colors for contrast, analogous colors for harmony, and monochromatic colors for simplicity.

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Thomas Staite MSc BSc MBCS

Analytics Manager @ UK Ministry of Defence | Driving Data-Evidenced Decisions
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I agree, but I think another challenge that arises when choosing your colour scheme is stakeholder preference and company house style. Stakeholders tend to prefer dashboards that visually “fit in” with other areas of the business in terms of colour and style, and so conforming to these requirements can also influence final decisions

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2 Use color to highlight and group

The second step is to use color to highlight and group the most important or relevant information in your dashboard. Color can help you draw attention to key metrics, trends, outliers, or targets. It can also help you group related data, such as categories, segments, or regions. To avoid color overload, limit the number of colors you use to highlight and group, and use neutral colors for the background and less important elements. You can also use shades, tints, or tones of the same color to create variations and hierarchy.

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Thomas Staite MSc BSc MBCS

Analytics Manager @ UK Ministry of Defence | Driving Data-Evidenced Decisions
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From my experience, using a contrasting colour to the rest of a visual is a very succinct way to highlight particular measures and values in a data series. Furthermore, introducing colours to a 2D graph enables the analyst to show a third dimension of the data - for example, if a chart listed countries on the x-axis and gdp on the y-axis, then one could use different colours to group these data points into the continents they belong

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3 Use color to encode and communicate

The third step is to use color to encode and communicate meaning and value in your dashboard. Color can help you convey information, such as status, direction, comparison, or emotion. For example, you can use red, yellow, and green to indicate performance levels, positive, negative, and neutral to show changes, or warm and cool colors to express sentiment. To avoid color confusion, use color encoding that is intuitive, consistent, and culturally appropriate for your audience. You can also use labels, legends, or tooltips to explain the color encoding.

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4 Use contrast to improve readability and accessibility

The fourth step is to use contrast to improve readability and accessibility of your dashboard. Contrast is the difference in brightness and color between elements, such as text and background, or charts and gridlines. Contrast can help you make your dashboard easier to read and understand, especially for people with visual impairments or color blindness. To improve contrast, use dark text on light background, or light text on dark background, and avoid using colors that are too similar or too saturated. You can also use online tools like WebAIM or Color Contrast Checker to test and adjust the contrast ratio of your dashboard elements.

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5 Test and refine your color choices

The fifth step is to test and refine your color choices based on feedback and best practices. Testing your dashboard color scheme can help you identify and fix any issues or problems that may affect your dashboard usability and effectiveness. You can test your dashboard color scheme by using different devices, screens, and lighting conditions, by asking for feedback from your audience or peers, or by applying some best practices, such as using color sparingly, avoiding rainbow colors, or following data visualization guidelines.

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6 Learn from examples and inspiration

The sixth and final step is to learn from examples and inspiration from other dashboard designers and experts. Learning from examples and inspiration can help you discover new ideas, techniques, and trends that can improve your dashboard color scheme and design. You can find examples and inspiration from online resources, such as blogs, books, courses, or galleries, or from your own industry, domain, or organization. You can also analyze and critique the examples and inspiration you find, and apply what you learn to your own dashboard projects.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you avoid color overload and confusion in your dashboard?

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1 Choose a color scheme

2 Use color to highlight and group

3 Use color to encode and communicate

4 Use contrast to improve readability and accessibility

5 Test and refine your color choices

6 Learn from examples and inspiration

7 Here’s what else to consider

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