Screens designed around the decision, not the database.
Most operator screens show everything the PLC happens to expose. A good one shows what the person standing in front of it needs in order to decide what to do next.
The screen is a tool, not a report.
An operator glances at an HMI for a few seconds at a time, often while doing something else, sometimes in poor light and usually with gloves on. That context should drive every design decision, and mostly it does not.
We build to high performance HMI principles: muted backgrounds so colour means something when it appears, deviation shown against normal rather than raw numbers alone, and the most important information given the most visual weight.
The practical test is simple. Can a new operator, thirty seconds after walking up to the panel, tell whether the process is healthy? If not, the screen has failed regardless of how much data it contains.
Design principles we work to
- Muted backgrounds so colour carries meaning
- Deviation from normal shown, not just raw values
- Consistent layout and navigation across every screen
- Alarm priorities that reflect actual consequence
- Readable at the distance the operator actually stands
- Tested with the people who will use it, before handover
What HMI work involves.
From a single machine panel to a full operator workstation set.
Operator screens
The main run screens: process state, key values, controls and the alarm banner, laid out so status is readable at a distance.
Alarm design
Priorities that reflect real consequence, with causes and responses documented so the alarm itself tells the operator what to do.
Recipe & batch screens
Parameter entry, recipe selection and batch tracking with validation that prevents the obvious mistakes.
Diagnostics screens
Maintenance facing views showing I/O state, device health and comms status, so fault finding does not require a laptop.
Mobile & remote access
Perspective screens that work properly on a phone, for supervisors who are not standing at the panel.
Rework of existing HMIs
Rebuilding cluttered legacy screens without changing the underlying control logic.
Answers before you call.
Ignition Perspective and Vision, Rockwell FactoryTalk View SE and ME, Siemens WinCC and Comfort Panels, Wago and CODESYS visualisation, and Opto 22 groov View.
A design approach that uses a grey, low contrast background with muted equipment graphics, so that colour is reserved almost entirely for abnormal conditions. When everything is colourful, nothing stands out; when the screen is deliberately dull, a red indicator is impossible to miss.
Often yes. Removing decorative colour, standardising layouts across screens and fixing the alarm banner delivers most of the benefit for a fraction of a rebuild.
Yes. Target sizes, spacing and confirmation dialogs are all affected by whether the operator is using a finger, a gloved finger or a mouse. It is worth asking before designing.
They should. The half hour spent showing draft screens to the people who will use them catches more problems than any amount of internal review.
Show us your worst screen.
We will tell you what we would change and roughly what it would take.
Or call (801) 946-2710, Monday, Friday, 8:00am, 4:30pm MT