Visual representation of data arrays in graphical dashboards is one of the important tasks of management and control. The relevance of the work is due to the growing volume of data in ergatic systems and, as a result, the need to reduce the cognitive load of operators. In such systems, traditional visualization methods often prove ineffective. Unlike web design, usability and human-computer interaction (HCI) issues remain poorly understood in instrumentation. One of the directions in this field is related to the visualization of data distributed over a surface. The purpose of this article is to determine the parameters of a discrete scale of a color tone with variable lightness, used for graphical representation of complex relief surfaces in industrial interfaces. With the help of an experiment conducted using eytracing technology, the tasks of comparing two models of color change of scale segments are solved: in terms of lightness and saturation. The presented color models correspond to the classical representation of the "light" and "dark" themes in the interfaces. The results were obtained on the preference for the speed of solving the problem of a model with variable lightness; the observer can confidently and adequately perceive the division of indicator scales into 4-7 segments, and an increase to 9 reduces the effectiveness of perception; the effect of color tone on the effectiveness of solving the experimental problem was not found; the pattern of increasing the cognitive load on the observer when evaluating the segments of the scale located in the in the middle of it. The data obtained is recommended for use in the design of industrial interfaces in order to increase the safety, accuracy and speed of decision-making by the operator.
Laptev et al. (Thu,) studied this question.