HMI screen design software

Elevate HMI GUI Designs

From understanding app development to choosing the right development software, learn the ins and outs of embedded HMI & user interface design here.

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Great HMI design made easy

Just like the interface on a smartphone, the usability of industrial machines through Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) applications developed for them should provide users with an efficient and intuitive experience.

HMI and UI design software tools, such as Crank Software’s Storyboard, allow development teams to create user interfaces that can connect a person to a machine, system, or device via intuitive interactions. By integrating design and development into a collaborative environment, human machine interface and user interface development is accelerated while the iteration process more easily embraced helping ensure brilliant user experiences are delivered.

HMI GUI development in the industrial space

HMI screens allow industrial operators to interact through a graphical user interface or GUI that facilitates information exchange and communication between two types of HMI — supervisory and machine level. Development teams can use HMI design software, like Storyboard, powered by Crank Software, to build industrial machine-level HMI or supervisory-level HMI, with GUI applications suitable for both types.

HMI development in the industrial space

Industrial embedded development and design success story

For our manufacturing client, entering a new product market with a working prototype in 3 months meant tackling competitive opportunities with an edge up, in order to grow their movement for mobile living.

The team was able to build out their prototype 75% faster and 75% more cost-effective with HMI/UI design and development software, Crank Storyboard.

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Industrial embedded development and design success story

Why great HMI design is important?

HMIs communicate with controllers and input/output sensors to receive and display information for users to view. HMI screens can be used for a single function, like monitoring and tracking progress, or for performing sophisticated operations, like switching machines on/off or boosting production speed.

HMIs are usually used to optimize an industrial process by digitizing and centralizing data for a viewer. By leveraging HMI screens, operators can see their most important information displayed in graphs, charts, or dashboards, view and manage alarms, and connect with multiple systems, all through one console. Before HMI screens, operators would walk the floor constantly to review mechanical progress and record it manually on paper. By having real-time information go straight to an HMI touch screen, HMI technology eliminates the need for outdated practices and reduces many costly problems caused by lack of information or human error. See what's new in 2020 when it comes to HMI screens.



Exceeding the competition through great UI design

It’s becoming more and more common to see evolved forms of HMI such as high-performance HMIs, touch screens, and mobile devices, along with more traditional models. These modernized user interfaces are creating more opportunities for equipment interaction and analysis in all kinds of industries. For example, pharmaceutical and medical machinery use the latest HMI screen technology to differentiate from competitive offerings while automotive HMIs gain new purpose taking over certain tasks from the driver, enabling drivers to spend their time more profitably and without distraction.

Exceeding the competition through great UI design

Have the vision for your project but lack the resources?

Our experts, specializing in backend, frontend and HMI/UI design, will work with you one-on-one to tailor a solution around your needs. From startups to Fortune 500 firms, we’ve worked with white goods, consumer, automotive, medical, and industrial companies to ensure HMI/UI projects of all kinds are successful.

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Choosing HMI design software for your next project

With HMI technology becoming more and more popular, it’s important to choose an HMI GUI screen design software that is flexible, affordable, and fits the needs of your team and business goals. 

Below are a couple HMI screen software considerations to help with your evaluation process:
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Built-in simulator

A simulator will result in a more efficient, clean-looking project and will reduce your HMI screen development time. You should be able to simulate your entire HMI project on your laptop while it is being developed, without being connected to a target platform.

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Animations

Brilliant animations can enhance comprehension and give operators a visual representation of the desired motion of processes on screen. Your HMI screen design software should make creating animations simple and fast.

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Event management

Your HMI screen design software should include an event manager and provide much more than simple alarm functions. From triggerable actions to changing a screen to playing a sound, all of the event functionality should be easy to code and comprehend.

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Remote access

Your HMI development team should be able to use the HMI software in parallel and on multiple laptop screens if need be. When it comes to testing your HMI, being able to simulate in the software or deploy your HMI project onto a target device should be just as straightforward.

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Ease of use

This covers a lot. Your HMI screen design software should allow wide flexibility in the use of HMI design elements including: typefaces, fonts, and text size and should allow text to be displayed in multiple languages. Importing design files from graphics tools such as Photoshop and Sketch should take seconds. When it comes to development, your software should have a user-friendly layout and offer drag/drop functionality. These elements should also be reusable in order to save your team time and resources for additional HMI projects.

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Storyboard is a key part of us being able to design a unique UI experience from start to finish. If we were using a different tool, it’d be more challenging and take much longer.
Jack Fenkhuber
Electronics Engineering Manager

Take Storyboard, HMI design software, for a test drive

Import your design, add code, refine behavior and see your app on any platform in 10 minutes. How’s that for fast?

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