Improved usability of industrial devices with touch interfaces

The declared aim of the cooperation between Berner & Mattner and Centigrade is to significantly improve the usability of machine and device control systems via touch interfaces. Together with its partner Centigrade, a specialist for user interface design and usability located in Saarbruecken, the Munich software expert will present specialized development technologies, tried and tested procedure models and award-winning practical examples for the development of intuitive touch software for industrial device control systems for the first time. Visitors of the embedded world will learn about the design and development services of both partners at stand 136 in hall 11 of the exhibition center in Nuremberg. They will be shown how these services improve the usability of human machine interfaces and reduce costs of handling errors, training and support service. Another focus of the exhibition program at the stand of Berner & Mattner will be the range of services for the development of complex embedded systems.

"Intuitively usable human machine interfaces are competitive factors in today's industrial device development. Very often, however, the resulting market opportunities are not being used in the development of new products", explains Dr. Klaus Wiltschi, Head of the Industrial Customers Department. "High-quality touch displays are state of the art for operation. Together with modern software platforms, they offer multiple options for efficient and effective interaction solutions. The development of intuitive touch user interfaces, however, requires specific expertise regarding usability, relevant HMI development processes and innovative GUI software technologies. Together with Centigrade, we have successfully broken new ground in the development of touch interfaces. We apply specialized development tools and processes and support manufacturers of complex industrial equipment who are interested in intuitively usable touch control solutions."

The new development approach is characterized by early verification of the interaction concepts with prototypes, agile software development methods for deep involvement of customers and future users and a parallel development of software and design with state-of-the-art tools. The results are several award-winning products, e. g. the iF communication design award 2010 for a touch-operable measuring instrument developed by Centigrade and Berner & Mattner in cooperation with OMICRON electronics.

Thomas Immich, General Manager of Centigrade GmbH: "The user interface plays a very important role in most industrial software applications. And - for the operator, the user interface is the application. This effect is even further enhanced by the trend towards touch operation because more and more hardware keys are being replaced by switch buttons within the software. This challenge can only be mastered by combining the appropriate design and development methods. Therefore, the cooperation with Berner & Mattner is an important milestone for us towards intuitively usable, visually attractive and technically elegant touch user interfaces."

About Centigrade GmbH

Centigrade supports its clients in creating user interfaces of high usability, visual attractiveness and technical elegance. With its creative and agile team of usability engineers, designers and software architects, Centigrade is able to offer customized user experience services, ranging from requirements gathering to usability evaluations to conception and creation of exclusive screen and icon designs. In addition, Centigrade provides specialized GUI components and look and feels for applications based on Java Swing, WPF or Silverlight. Centigrade's client base includes medium-sized businesses as well as international organizations from diverse business areas. The company has been granted several awards for its work such as the prestigious iF communication design award.

For more information about Centigrade, please visit www.centigrade.de.