Reading about “Color in Design: Influence on User Behavior” brought back so many memories. 

When I was around 14, I loved personality tests in teen magazines. One of them matched your personality to a color. That was my first encounter with the psychology of color, and I was instantly fascinated.

Colors have power: we love some, dislike others, and form emotional connections with them. For example, in my mind, my oldest brother is “orange” because he loved this color in his teens (and it reminds him of Version 2.0 by Garbage). I’m not fond of brown, but one of my daughters adores it because it reminds her of chocolate. I associate Costa Rica with red because our national football team wears it in international matches.

Another reading that caught my attention was Jong, L.’s “Color accessibility beyond a pass/fail”. During the early months of COVID-19, I began learning about web design and accessibility because one of my daughters has ADHD. Distance learning highlighted how some websites and apps can be challenging for her to navigate. This article reinforced a key lesson: we have a responsibility to design for everyone. Products should consider people with diverse abilities—hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive—so that everyone can engage meaningfully.