Your Trial Message

Make Colors Meaningful

By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm:

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Learning music carries some pretty profound cognitive benefits, so along with my seven-year-old daughter, I’m currently learning to play the guitar. Communicating the correct string or strings to pick carries some challenges, though. You could say the “D String,” but that doesn’t always yield quick recall from the seven-year-old (plus, it is complicated because it depends on tuning, and even in the standard tuning, there are two different “E Strings”). Or you could say, “the third string from the top,” but that isn’t immediate either because it requires counting. Then along comes a nifty computer program called Rocksmith, with the idea of saving the numbers for fingers and frets, and simply representing the strings in different colors. Now I can just say, “the blue string” and my daughter knows immediately where it is. The string, of course, isn’t really blue, but we have learned that association very quickly by playing some video games that are part of the program. The color coding is one of those genius hacks that make you wonder, “Why didn’t anyone think of this before?”

The idea of building an association between a color and a particular meaning is a useful idea for litigators developing graphics for trial. Based on some recent and surprising research, that association speaks to a deeper cognitive role being played by color. Using color isn’t just a way to brighten up your trial graphics, it can be an important part of your visual strategy. A good designer knows that consistently using different colors in distinct ways can be a way to build an immediate and useful association for the jurors or judges viewing the exhibits. Much has been written about the meanings of different colors (e.g., Red is “intense” and blue is “calm,” etc.), and this post is not about those attributions (which, to me at least, seem highly individual or situational). Instead, this post is about the ways that we can, like the Rocksmith designers, make colors mean something just by building a consistent association.

The Research: Color Associations Carry a Surprising Advantage

Jeremy Dean’s Psyblog includes a recent post on a study that found that developing an association between colors and letters creates a 12 percent average increase in the research participant’s IQ. The original goal of the study was to look at synesthesia, a condition affecting 1 in 23 in which the senses are inter-mixed to the point that those with the trait might feel that colors have a taste, or that numbers carry a certain sound. The research team (Bor et al., 2014), that included Ravenous Brain author Dr. Daniel Bor, wanted to see if people could be trained to have the experience of synesthesia. So they had research subjects spend 9 weeks developing an association between specific letters and colors. The discovery of the side-effect of increased IQ on a fluid intelligence test was a surprise.

And a strange surprise at that: Why would a trained ability to link colors to letters increase one’s intelligence? The study did not answer that, but to me it seems parallel to the observed benefits of combining visual and verbal persuasion: By activating different areas of the brain at the same time, the brain is encouraged to act in a “multi-modal” manner, and that in itself seems to convey some kind of  cognitive advantage.  That is a reason why using trial graphics works. Based on the study, it may also be a reason why it is a good idea to train viewers to rely on colors in a particular way when developing those trial graphics. Here are some ideas for using colors as part of your trial message.

The Recommendation: Use Colors Purposefully in Your Trial Graphics

Rule one, of course, is that the graphic has to be easy to read. That means that colors should have sufficient contrast against the background (So PowerPoint presenters, that means please stop using black or red text on a dark-blue background). But once the clarity threshold is met, the next consideration is strategy. Specific ways to build a subtle or an explicit color-coding into your graphics will depend on your case, but there a few different litigation contexts where I could see a likely approach.

In Patent Cases, Use Color to Separate the Elements

Patent cases are notoriously complicated. Just getting the jurors to understand the specific claims and elements can be challenging, but that understanding is key to making or defending against an infringement or invalidity argument. Consider the example of a product patent that includes four elements. The elements could each be represented using a different color on a product diagram, and then those same colors could be used in bullet point charts or in the patent language itself. Through repeated use, it could get to the point that, whenever the juror is hearing about the fourth element, the juror  is seeing the color blue. That kind of use could make it easier to keep the concepts separate, and to make them understood and memorable.

In Employment Cases, Use Color to Distinguish Parties on the Timeline

There is a problem with what I call the “Porcupine Timeline:” a horizontal line with a bunch of black lines sticking up. They are all equal, none stand out, and the only immediate visual message is, “A bunch of things happened.” In all timelines, design features should be employed so some elements stand out and convey a message. In the employment case, for example, all entries relating to the employee’s choices might be blue, any signs of worsening performance could be red, and the company’s responses could be green. The visual impression, even without reading it, could then be, “Wow, look at all of that red…the green came at exactly the right time.” That same technique might be applied to other litigation situations that depend heavily on a timeline, like construction or contract cases.

In Energy Royalty Litigation: Use Color to Show Stages in a Process

In oil and gas royalty cases, the question is often, “At what point does the commodity enter the market and become subject to a royalty?” And the steps between energy in the ground and energy in someone’s home can be many and complicated. A flow chart is often used to simplify that process. In that context, color can be used as part of the message. For example, shades become darker as the oil or gas gains value. Or, once the royalty kicks in, the path turns green. Alternately, if there are three different ways that a royalty might apply, then each path might be represented in its own color from start to finish, like a color-coded pipeline.

Those are just a few examples, but probably enough to get the idea. By combining color with distinct content, you are training the viewer to build up that association and to rely on it as a shortcut for quicker and more durable understanding. The principle applies anytime one is learning something new, whether that be learning a case or learning to play the guitar: Comfort leads to confidence, which in turn leads to credibility. Connections that are easier to understand are more likely to be believed.

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Other Posts on Visual Understanding: 

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Bor, D., Rothen, N., Schwartzman, D. J., Clayton, S., & Seth, A. K. (2014). Adults Can Be Trained to Acquire Synesthetic Experiences. Scientific Reports4.

Image Credit: Screen shot from the Rocksmith program.