HMI
Docking Viewer
FT NavVision has established an easily recognizable look that is well-known (and well-used) across the globe.
Light, shadows and gradients are used to simulate depth. Any variation to this general light-source denotes an altered state of the component in question. A prime example of this are the buttons used everywhere in FT NavVision. When active, the top part of the button is lighter then the bottom part, giving the impression of being inactive. When clicked, the light-source inverts along with the color of the button, simulating the button to be pressed.
The GUI is entirely adjustable to taste. A user can set his color-scheme (ranging from background and text color to the gradients) and the corner radius used for the element borders. Another big feature, one that has been part of FT NavVision since its early beginning, is the ability to change the representation of any value to digital, analogue or graphical (where applicable). Using these options, one is able to give FT NavVision his or her personal touch, while still retaining the FT NavVision recognizability and its carefully thought out GUI.
Given the fact that the system is also used in night time environments, it is vital that the GUI remains usable with low light intensities. FT NavVision tackles this issue by assigning a dim-factor to the entire screen based on the color assigned to the background. For example: icons are fully bright when the background is a light shade of blue, but will have a brightness of around 10% when used with a black background. Naturally this goes for the entire screen, not just icons.
FT NavVision utilizes icons as representations for her modules. Icons provide rapid location of the desired module (or viewer), and are drawn large enough to be easily used on touch screens (where possible, text labels are used in conjunction with the icons). However, icons are not only used for viewers. They have a much larger role, as they are now used as system state indicators and links.
Docking Viewer: alternate color scheme
Touch screen ready
Demand for touch screens is steadily climbing, which can be attributed to a few factors: their (intuitive) ease of use, their “cool”-factor and more. For FT NavVision, it’s the ease of use that made touch screen compatibility a primary goal.
When executed properly, touch screens (or more accurately: the touch Human Machine Interface they provide) can greatly increase usability of a product, simply through the fact that direct manipulation of objects feels far more natural than issuing commands from a command line.
Transparent
A frequent demand is to have as much data visible as possible. This is often quite a task, due to the fact that the interface is limited by the screen’s edges. Add to this that, at times, users need to interact with the interface in a way that requires additional space, and you’ve got yourself a “problem” to be solved.
FT NavVision deals with this issue by using transparency. Whenever two elements require the same space, the active (often newer) element is positioned over the underlying element, but is partly transparent. This way, the underlying element is still visible, albeit with reduced clarity.
Docking Viewer: night color scheme
User- & goal oriented
While not only the most important focus point of FT NavVision, this focus point also has the greatest impact.
A software package may be very able to complete numerous complex tasks efficiently and correctly. However, if this same package is not user-friendly, there’s an increased risk that its users will grow annoyed of it and perhaps even look for a replacement. Therefore, as developer, it is vital to pay close attention to usability. Free Technics designs FT NavVision to be goal-oriented as opposed to task-oriented. There might seem to be no difference, but when followed strictly beginning with the concept-phase, each approach produces vastly different results.
In short, the difference boils down to this: a user could care less how a task is done (the task itself), as long as the goal of the task is achieved.
More often than not, a graphic interface is judged by its (lack of) pretty graphics. While they certainly are part of any good graphic interface, graphics can only do so much to help lighten the workload. The real user-friendliness stems from the interaction between the user and the software.
In many applications, the user is often interrupted by the software (error reports, dialog boxes etc.), causing a severe disturbance in his or her work-flow. Ideally, the best interface one can have is the one that goes unnoticed.
