For the new air traffic control centre in Swanwick here in the UK, I worked with a team doing UI design for the big 20x20 displays that the controllers (ATCOs) would use. Because these were effectively radar screen replacements, the ATCOs insisted that the screens should be black, with all the aircraft tracks, track blocks and other such on the screen in bright colours, as this is what they were used to. The UI experts said no, research indicates that it is better (more restful on the eyes etc) to use a light background, with the tracks in dark colours, and pastels for the track blocks. It was interesting to see how much research went into all this, much more that simple user preference.

The upshot however was that the ATCOs won, and the radar-style colour scheme was what was delivered.