The Challenge
What Mixmatch Color Was Facing
Mixmatch Color's AI generated harmonious colour palettes, but designers were not adopting the AI suggestions — they were using the tool as a manual colour picker only. Structured interviews with 35 professional designers revealed a trust deficit: the AI surface no reasoning for its palette choices, and designers felt they were ceding creative control rather than gaining a capable assistant.
The Solution
What We Built
We ran a series of explainability research sessions to identify exactly what rationale designers needed to feel confident adopting AI suggestions. A redesigned output component introduced colour theory annotations, WCAG contrast ratio indicators, and a "why this palette" plain-language explanation for each suggestion. The design system was rebuilt with accessibility-first colour token rules so every palette generated was contrast-safe by default.
Results