A study of the consistence of subjective ratings for icon-background color combinations for small computer icons

The color combination suggestions deducted from the single average of user preference scores might not be appropriate because different people might prefer different color combinations. For this reason, this study tried to verify that the degrees of rating consistence between subjects are various for different icon-background color combinations. The standard deviation of each color combination is calculated to judge the rating consistence between subjects for each color combination. Cluster analysis with nonhierarchical procedures is used to categorize the color combinations by the clustering variables, both standard deviations of legibility and aesthetic rating. The results showed that the degree of rating consistence between subjects was low for most color combinations because the means of standard deviations for aesthetics and legibility were higher for most color combinations. In addition, the results suggested that there are 65 color combinations which are appropriate to be used as default icon-background color combinations for skinning interfaces because these color combinations had higher rating consistence and with higher legibility and aesthetic scores.