How can you design user-friendly interfaces for industrial systems?

1 Understand the users and the tasks

Before you start designing an interface, you need to conduct a thorough analysis of the users and the tasks they perform with the system. Who are the users, what are their goals, needs, preferences, skills, and limitations? What are the tasks, how are they structured, sequenced, and prioritized, what are the inputs and outputs, what are the constraints and requirements? By answering these questions, you can define the user and task profiles, and identify the key features and functions of the interface.

2 Apply design standards and guidelines

There are many standards and guidelines that provide recommendations and criteria for designing user-friendly interfaces for industrial systems. For example, ISO 9241 is a series of standards that covers various aspects of human-computer interaction, such as usability, accessibility, display design, dialogue design, and user guidance. You can also refer to specific guidelines for your domain or application, such as ANSI/ISA-101.01 for human-machine interfaces for process automation systems, or NUREG-0700 for human-system interfaces for nuclear power plants.

3 Use appropriate visual elements and layouts

The visual elements and layouts of the interface should be clear, consistent, and intuitive, and support the user's attention, perception, and cognition. You should use colors, fonts, icons, symbols, and graphics that are easy to recognize, distinguish, and interpret, and avoid clutter, ambiguity, and distraction. You should also arrange the elements and layouts according to the logical and hierarchical structure of the tasks, the frequency and importance of the information, and the natural eye movement and scanning patterns of the user.

4 Provide effective feedback and error prevention

The interface should provide effective feedback and error prevention mechanisms to help the user perform the tasks correctly and confidently. Feedback refers to the information that the system gives to the user about the status, results, or consequences of their actions, such as sounds, lights, messages, or animations. Error prevention refers to the methods that the system uses to prevent or reduce the occurrence or impact of user errors, such as warnings, confirmations, undo options, or constraints.

5 Test and evaluate the interface

The final step in designing a user-friendly interface for industrial systems is to test and evaluate it with real or representative users and tasks. You can use various methods and tools to collect and analyze data on the usability, effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction of the interface, such as observations, interviews, surveys, questionnaires, or metrics. You can also use iterative design cycles to implement and validate the improvements and modifications based on the feedback and findings.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?