User interfaces in dark mode during daytime – improved productivity or just cool-looking?

Abstract

Applications are increasingly coming equipped with a so-called dark mode. Our observation is that many computer enthusiasts are under the impression that dark mode in a way is better than the traditional light mode. This study sets out to explore this belief by observing if dark mode indeed poses any improvements in terms of productivity and quantity of errors over light mode. A controlled experiment was designed involving a visually intensive text entry task using a virtual keyboard with an unfamiliar layout. The results indicate that there were no differences between dark mode and light mode in terms of productivity and quantity of errors.