How to Choose the Best Colors for Your Medical Devices
How to Choose the Best Colors for Your Medical Devices
By Suhayr Abdul Lateef
How do you choose what color a medical product should (or should not) be? Do you default to black and white because it seems classic? Do you gather everyone’s favorite color in a hat and pick colors at random?
Color is actually a big factor in how users will interact with a device. Color schemes can decide if a user favors one device over another. In a worst-case scenario, it can lead to medical use errors and cause serious harm.
When factoring in color choices for a medical product, whether it is the IFU, the labeling, or the actual interface of the device, one must be aware of the intended users. By understanding your users, you know how they will view the color you choose. In this respect, it is important to consider two things: culture and visual impairments.
Cultural Impact:
It is always a good idea to keep culture in mind during the color decision process, as color symbolism varies between cultures. If you are from the US or Europe, red will likely symbolize danger or caution. However, in East Asian cultures it signifies joy, prosperity and celebration. Yellow, to most Americans, elicits a bright and cheery tone, reminiscent of the sun. In contrast, yellow signifies death and mourning in some parts of Latin America. And what about purple, a color that has historically been associated with European nobility due to the pricy cost of the clothing dye? Well, if you are in Thailand or some parts of Brazil, purple is usually associated with funeral attire.
You may be wondering what this has to do with choosing a color for a medical product? Believe it or not, the usage of a device might change based on the color of certain components. In many Japanese infusion pumps, a red button is used for starting and a green button is used for altering the settings. If this device were to be used by users from Western cultures, it is probable that use errors will occur, especially in emergency situations. This is why it is crucial to consider the context of culture when determining who your targeted user group will be.
Visual Impairments:
What are the chances that your user can actually see the color scheme of your IFU? You may be surprised that 285 million people across the globe have visual disabilities. For the 4.5% of the population that is colorblind, almost all of them can see some color. You, as a manufacturer, must consider these people if you want your product to do well on the market. For example, if you have a green button on a red background, it will not stand out to someone with red/green color blindness.
Keeping color in mind when creating or updating your product is one of the essential things to consider when designing for accessibility. For example, if your product’s intended user group is majority male, say for the treatment of prostate cancer or heart disease, it is wise to consider the contrasting colors of your product because 8% of the male population is colorblind. If this is not considered for all of your devices, a manufacturer may increase risk to, say, and IFU or device label, if they try to highlight or convey a message through color.
Utilizing Color to Optimize Your Medical Product:
You may be wondering what are the best ways to consider cultural differences and visual impairments when designing your product. Try considering the following tips:
Do not try to convey specific messaging with color alone. As a consultant for medical device research, I’ve seen a fair share of good devices invoke use errors because a crucial component relied only on color to convey a message. Having other mitigations are important to assure that a user does not have to depend solely on color because, as we’ve discussed, it can be subjective. An injection device’s indicator window that displays a color to signify a delivered dose can also have an audible alert or tactile feedback to accompany the mitigation.
Test your IFU/labelling designs via colorblind simulators for visual impairments. Believe it or not, there are applications available to test your products color scheme to determine if it could be an issue for people with visual handicaps. Websites like Color-blindness.com or the app Color Oracle can show you several ways that people with colorblindness would view your product’s labelling or user interface. Utilize these programs to determine the best color schemes to mitigate issues for these people.
Research market trends in other industries that target the same users. If you are trying to break into the Japanese market with your infusion pump, it would be best to investigate the other infusion pumps on the market that are doing well there. Looking at your competitors is crucial to designing your own device. One helpful thing a manufacturer can do is conduct preference studies with their products and other products. Then incorporate those changes, if needed, into your design and conduct usability testing to determine what risks are associated with those changes, if any.
Include contrast between background colors and text. Since there are so many potential users that are sensitive to color, the text in an IFU or labelling and its’ background need to contrast enough to be legible. Making text red and bold with a white background to indicate importance may seem like a good idea, but for someone with red-blindness, your efforts are fruitless.
Bet on blue. When it comes to choosing a color that is both considerate of visual impairments and culturally sensitivity, blue is the most favorable. Tritanopia (blue-yellow colorblindness) is the rarest form of colorblindness besides total colorblindness. Blue is also quite favorable in most cultures around the world. In fact, a global survey by a British paper company found that teal (a blue-green hue) was the world’s favorite color! Blue may not be your company’s brand color, or even your favorite color, but people like it. So utilize it.
By considering the cultural implications and visual handicaps concerning color, you can mitigate use error without sacrificing a well-designed and colorful product. Knowing how your device will be perceived and used is essential for any manufacturer looking to expand into any market. At Core Human Factors, Inc., we utilize color and other design attributes when creating product IFUs and labelling. For more information, contact us here.