HMI Development

Slide 1
What is HMI?
• The human-machine interface (HMI) is where people and
technology meet.
• More Computersization and Automation in vogue in industries
• The visible shape and controls of computer tools do not depict
its functions
• User should be able to come out with a mental map of the
function realized by the shape/control on the screen.
• Makes it more applicable and acceptable for the user.
• ISO Definition of Quality of Use
• The ISO 9241 standard defines three components of quality of
use applicable to the design of HMIs:
– Effectiveness
– Efficiency and
– Satisfaction

Slide 2
Graphical user Interface
• GUI has quantifiable benefits to users
• Easy and Intuitive; less learning curve
• Less mistakes and more dependable
• GUI design involves:
– Specification of the functions
– Specification for interface behavior
– Design of the graphical display
• Generally GUIs involves:
– Mouse
– Bit mapped display
– WYSIWYG screen
– Resizable windows
– On screen menus which appear/disappear under mouse control
– Icons
– Widgets like dialog boxes, buttons, scroll bar, status bar, tool bars etc.

Slide 3
User appeal of GUIs
• For improving look and feel three aspects are important
• Visual appearance
– Layout, position
– Color, Size, shape
• Behavior
– Example on Mouse press, once, double click, hovering mouse,
• Metaphor
– Analogies used for design
– Example File transfer – foresee consequences of action
– Animation, Real-life simulation, Conveyor operation, hoisting,
transfer of material
– Microsoft Interactive assistant

Slide 4
Design of Icons
• Highly pictorial representation of objects
• Analogy representations
• Abstract representations (printing, hourglass – processing)
• Usually very small and designer has to consider the limited
space availability
• User participation essential

Slide 5
Usability Engineering
• HMI effectiveness can be measured by components like
learnability and productivity
• These components are not intrinsic qualities of a product.
Measurement of the three quality parameters – effectiveness,
efficiency and satisfaction.
• Effectiveness depends on the users' intentions, goals, or tasks;
• Efficiency depends on users' understanding of the product and
on their previous experience
• Satisfaction can only be expressed by the users.
• As a result, the unifying principle of design techniques that
deliver usable products is that each recognizes the need to
keep users at the center of the process.
• The overall design process that brings these techniques
together is known as "usability engineering."

Slide 6
Importance of usability
• Usability is all important in any product, more so in a software
product
• Research shows more than 50% of code is behind HMI
• Safety - Critical applications have high price on any error by
user.
• User interface holds an important key for the success of any
automation project
• Usability is also critical where productivity is valued. The work
flow should be simpler and easy navigation is desired

Slide 7
Improving Usability
• Following principles aid in increasing product usability
• Know your user
– Identify users – Primary, secondary
– Stakeholder analysis
• Involve users – Early
– Concept
– Architecture
– Menus, icons etc
– Expensive to change later
• Involve users – Continuously
– Understand user goals, priorities, concerns
– Through stereotypes, observations, focus group discussions, task
analysis
– Users may also be not good at requirements
– Alternatives help evolving stable acceptable design
• Have measurement targets for usability metrics
– Considerations for Size, Color, Shape, location, Time,

Slide 8
Usability Engineering – life Cycle

Requirements Usability
Stereotypes Implementation
Capture Evaluation

• user observation
• interviewing, and task analysis
• Other techniques, such as focus
groups, questionnaires, and
surveys, may be employed.
• Additional information on potential
product features may be obtained
from user groups, from sales and
marketing forces, from
maintenance engineers and help
lines, and from analysis of
competitors' products.
• A stakeholder analysis should
first be carried out to ascertain
which parties' requirements
should have a bearing on the
design. Other stakeholders then
must be involved in the design
process. Stakeholder analysis
can radically change design
acceptance criteria.
• Early and Late Prototypes
• Early prototypes for
verifying and validating
the understanding of
designer
• Inexpensive
• Early user involvement
• Later prototypes – use of
tool, background code
close to final delivery,
simulations
• Meet Software
requirements and
guidelines
• Horizontal and Vertical
prototypes
• Horizontal are broad and
less details of features
• Vertical have more depth
• User manual, helplines
•Usability targets have to •Moving from
be defined production,
•For example, evaluation, into actual
– On opening the intended use use of
application, user the product
should be able to set •No surprises – ideally
up the configuration •Feedback for next
of the network within versioning
5 minutes
– User should be able
to identify and
acknowledge critical
alarms to an extent
of >99% by noticing
the change of color
on the screen.

Slide 9
International Standards Specifications on HMI
• ISO 9241 "Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work with Visual
Display Terminals," produced by ISO Technical Committee
159, Signals and Controls Group 4, Working Group 5
(TG159/SC4/WG5) – defines guidelines for dialogue design,
menus, color usage, work place requirements etc.
• ISO 14915 standard on multimedia - design of controls and
navigation, media combination/individual media requirements,
and domain-specific multimedia aspects
• ISO–lEG 11581 "Graphical Symbols on Screens"
• ANSI/HFES 200 "Ergonomic Requirements for Software User
Interfaces" Extends ISO 9241

Slide 10
Thank you

Slide 11