Effects of color sample display and color sample grouping on screen layout usability for customized product color selection

This study investigates the effects of color sample display and color sample grouping on the usability (task efficiency and user preference) of a color combination interface. A 180-subject nested design experiment tested each of the three levels of color sample grouping (associative color number, color series, and product section) against each of the two levels of color sample display (color chip, product thumbnail) for efficiency and effectiveness (search time and error rate). A separate 30-subject experiment evaluated user preference.Of the three grouping types, product section (grouping of color chips or product thumbnails to correspond with modular sections of a product preview image) yielded the lowest search time and error rates. Of the two display types, product thumbnails achieved the highest user preference. Of the six formation-display configurations, color sample chips grouped by product section yielded both the lowest search time and highest preference.