amy302•7d ago

I finally had a perfect dark mode design day last Thursday

Last Thursday was just one of those rare days where everything clicked. I was working on a dashboard for a local coffee shop app and I finally nailed the contrast on their dark mode. It took me about 7 hours straight of tweaking the background from a deep charcoal to something that wasn't too harsh on the eyes. I used a HSL value of 220, 10%, and 12% and it made all the text pop without that blueish glow. What made it stand out was that I didn't get a single complaint from the test group that night. They said the dark mode felt natural like reading in a dim room. Has anyone else had a day where your dark mode palette just worked right away without a ton of back and forth?

2 comments

2 Comments

theabennett7d ago

That HSL value is interesting. I've found 220 to be a solid starting point for dark backgrounds, but usually need to bump the lightness up to around 15% to avoid it feeling too flat. Your 12% sounds like it hit that sweet spot where the interface still feels deep but not oppressive. I've had maybe two or three days like that in my whole time doing UI work where the dark mode just clicked on the first try. Usually it's a lot of going back and forth with the test group before they stop complaining about eye strain.

sullivan.john7d ago

220 at 12% lightness is basically cheating lol. That combo is stupid hard to beat but I still end up tweaking it for hours anyway.