What's Your Color? Human Influence in Screen Design is an Important, Yet often Neglected, Consideration

TAKE A WALK IN ANY PLANT with recently designed and installed human-machine interfaces (HMIs) and you will likely see screens in use that are vastly better than those of even the recent past. As graphical operator interfaces become more prevalent in our working world, it becomes increasingly important to focus on factors necessary to design the best screens possible. Recent improvements are generally due to advances in three major areas: increased understanding of the human factors involved in human-machine interface, more effective operator interface design, and improved operator terminal design and manufacture.