Study finds comparison type trumps color in infographic design preferences
A conjoint study reveals what really makes infographics engage readers—and it's not color.
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A choice-based conjoint study (N=65) by Das et al. asked participants to compare infographic pairs on a mock newspaper page about unemployment. The infographics varied by comparison type (none, US average, percentage scale), color (red, blue), and graphic type (single icon, icon series, bar chart). Comparison type drove 58.5% of preference, graphic type 29.2%, and color 12.3% with no practical effect. Readers favored percentage scale markers and benchmark comparisons. The authors argue conjoint analysis is an underused tool for studying visualization preferences across multiple design dimensions.
- Comparison type (benchmark, percentage scale) drove 58.5% of infographic preference variation—the dominant factor.
- Graphic type (single icon, icon series, bar chart) accounted for 29.2% of preferences, with bar charts generally favored.
- Color (red vs. blue) had negligible practical effect at only 12.3% weight; readers did not meaningfully prefer one over the other.
Why It Matters
Data visualization designers can now focus on adding reference points and scales rather than obsessing over color palettes to improve reader engagement.