I am currently redesigning an LoB application that makes use of color coding in tables to 'categorize' each row of data.
For instance, in the picture above, the 'St' column (which stands for 'Status'), the background color of the cell changes according to the status of the record, but there are several problems:
- There are more than 10 possible values, which makes it difficult to find as many different distinguishable colors.
- The user has to remember which color is assigned to each value.
- Visual clutter, especially if multiple columns are involved.
- Color-blind people might not be able to distinguish between different colors.
Can you think of an alternative approach to this problem?