Perception of Colors and Graphics in Process Control Workstations

摘要

At Honeywell, an initiative has been embarked to enhance our Asia Pacific market share by understanding the needs and requirements of our product users in this region. In this study, thirty Chemical Engineering students from Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore were recruited to answer a computerized questionnaire regarding their perceptions of the colors, shapes, graphics and orientations used in Honeywell's Distributed Control System (DCS) products. The results showed that the color was not an effective feature for people to identify the equipment conditions. Compared to other common colors, the White was associated with the lowest hazard level. A circle and a square were associated with the normal condition, whereas a triangle was popular for representing the alarm or the caution condition. For the layout orientation, the majority of sequence patterns were more significant in the Line layouts than the layouts of Diamond and Square. Further research is necessary in the Asia Pacific region to extend the knowledge of user stereotypes and preferences about colors and graphics.