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Enhancing User Experience Through Design
Professional-grade vehicles are becoming more accessible, almost consumer-like, with less emphasis on training and more focus on out-of-the-box use, says robotics expert Professor Henrik Christensen. As they become a more natural part of daily life, we need to design intuitive interfaces that feel as natural as using a smartphone.
He notes that the average 20-year-old American has logged over 12,000 hours playing video games, making them instant experts with game-like interfaces:
Workers interact with advanced 3D environments at home but are stuck with outdated interfaces at work. With the availability of technologies enabling high-quality 3D graphics in industrial interfaces, it’s time to make them more engaging and modern.
Imagine a warehouse worker using visual markers, like arrows projected in the space around the machine, to guide item pickup and drop-off. This application of augmented reality ranges from simple displays to immersive systems. Additionally, 3D and 360-degree real-time views can enhance spatial awareness and operational efficiency.
These intuitive interfaces should be user-customizable, track user position to keep information in view, and offer subtle guidance—like floor cues showing where a vehicle is headed—rather than distracting alerts.
Understanding the user and their expected interaction patterns is essential. Gamer-experienced users might handle lots of on-screen information, while others could find it overwhelming, says Christensen.
He adds that UI design should highlight critical features and reflect the system's intelligence.
A high-tech AI system creates certain expectations, but a simplistic design may lead users to view it as less sophisticated. We’ll also see AI adapting to user interactions, anticipating needs, and providing relevant information.
Collaborative Design Processes
There was a notion that as technology became cheaper, human attention would become more valuable, says Amber Case, a Cyborg Anthropologist and advocate of Calm Technology. How technology affects our attention could ultimately determine its future. However, focusing on the relationship between attention and technology is challenging because attention itself is often invisible.
Based on her experience in industrial settings, she understands that users rely on muscle memory to navigate tasks. Yet, many of the systems created today feel like awkward pauses in a sentence, interrupting the flow and forcing users to recontextualize what they're doing.
She explains that Calm Technology focuses on designing products that work with, rather than against, peripheral attention. For instance, users can be aware of a window and the time of day without direct focus. The window serves as a pass-through technology, making the invisible visible. It's not about eliminating information but about enhancing peripheral awareness to facilitate better decision-making.
In industrial settings, light, sound, and materials play crucial roles in product communication. For instance, a bright blue light can be blinding, while a diffused orange light can indicate the same information with less intensity. Sound is also important. For example, in Japanese car assembly lines, each workgroup has a unique tune that plays when they stop the line—this allows workers to locate issues quickly, she says.
The future of human-machine interaction in industrial contexts should focus on collaboration with intelligence.
Rather than forcing humans to mimic technology, we should avoid creating technology that attempts to emulate human behavior, as this often leads to a pause in productivity.
Designing for Functionality
Aesthetics, originality, and the constant push for innovation often overshadow the user's actual needs, leading to unnecessary features and the replacement of fully articulated physical buttons with sleek but less functional software interfaces. These designs prioritize looks over usability.
If physical buttons aren’t feasible, design touchscreens with adequate button spacing and clear icons, and use constant circuit reduction to prevent flickering. Avoid using PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) and shift it into the orange spectrum to avoid disrupting the night experience and circadian rhythm, Case advises. Incorporate fully articulated physical buttons for primary actions, color-code them, and add tactile bumps so they can be easily located while operating the vehicle.
Textures can help divert attention from the industrial nature of the interface, she adds.
Well-made physical materials will create a more pleasant experience, helping users enjoy their work and stay present. Quality used to be a point of pride, but that changed with the shift to purely digital distribution.
The importance of quality assurance cannot be overstated, especially for touchscreens. There is a growing need for tools that enable comprehensive testing to ensure touch responsiveness, accuracy, and user experience meet the standards set by traditional interfaces. Rigorous testing is essential to ensure these systems function seamlessly, providing the same reliability and usability as older physical controls.
The Importance of Accessibility
In industrial vehicle design, it's often assumed that people with disabilities aren't operating machinery. However, Léonie Watson, Accessibility Engineer and Director of TetraLogical, stresses the need to recognize the broad range of what operators with disabilities do.
Even someone who wears glasses has a sight condition, and if they lose them, they still need to operate machinery. Inclusive design must account for everyone, from those with perfect vision to those needing features like text magnification. She points out.
This highlights the misconception that accessible designs can't be sleek and functional; in fact, constraints often fuel creativity, leading to more innovative solutions.
