Human-Machine Interface Design and Development
Cut operational and unit costs. Boost throughput yield.
With 35-year experience in manufacturing IT, ScienceSoft offers custom HMI design as well as professional implementation, integration, and modernization of HMI software.
Human-machine interface development aims at designing and building software for industrial machinery operation. ScienceSoft delivers HMI solutions that reflect your unique production processes, smoothly integrate with your industrial infrastructure, and speed up operators’ reaction time by 3-4 times.
HMI Software Architecture
At ScienceSoft, we make sure your machinery automation system answers the latest architecture standards:
By integrating HMI with your Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) via cloud-based Web APIs, we provide remote access to HMI software, facilitate data collection, enable data analytics in the cloud, and simplify integration with other software, including SCADA and ERP.
HMI Application Features
Input control
We analyze your workflows and organize input as one-off actions and data recipes (action sets triggered by a single click).
Security
Based on your existing or planned user roles, ScienceSoft creates data access permission levels and data viewing restriction algorithms.
Output monitoring
Our intuitive HMIs promptly deliver key insights in the shape of graphs, animations, logs, pop ups, notifications, etc.
Personalization
ScienceSoft gives users freedom for as much customization as needed to tailor the workflows to the industry and role needs.
ScienceSoft’s HMI Design Samples
Why ScienceSoft
Achieving project goals in spite of time and budget constraints, as well as changing requirements, is ScienceSoft's top priority. You set goals, we drive the project to fulfill them.
- 35 years in manufacturing and custom software development.
- 30+ business analysts and consultants with 5-9 years of expertise.
- 15+ seasoned UX and UI designers, adherence to ISA101 regulations.
- 550+ developers, more than 50% of them are Seniors.
- ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 27001 (security management) certificates.
- AWS and Azure partnerships.
- Quality-first approach and a mature security management system backed up by ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications.
- 150+ satisfied clients generously shared their experience of working with ScienceSoft.
- ScienceSoft is a 3-Year Champion in The Americas’ Fastest-Growing Companies Rating by the Financial Times.
What makes ScienceSoft different
We achieve project success no matter what
ScienceSoft does not pass mere project administration off as project management, which, unfortunately, often happens on the market. We practice real project management, achieving project success for our clients no matter what.
HMI Development Process
1
HMI Project Conceptualization
Timing: 1–3 weeks
Our business consultants schedule 2–3 conversations with your representatives to understand your existing or planned workflows and IT infrastructure. Collaborating closely with your stakeholders, they define key requirements for the HMI development project.
2
Project planning
Timing: 2–3 weeks
The elicited requirements lay the basis for scoping the project’s tasks, planning the workflow in detail, and preparing accurate time and cost estimates. We also introduce custom sets of KPIs to objectively measure HMI development efficiency and devise a comprehensive risk mitigation plan.
3
UX Research and GUI Design
Timing: 2–4 weeks
ScienceSoft’s UX experts conduct user research, create user personas, draft story maps, and perform usability testing to design UX wireframes of the HMI. When reshaping them into UI mockups, our UI designers prioritize color/image coding over text to facilitate operation.
4
Proof of Concept Development
Timing: 3–6 weeks
Using the finalized designs, ScienceSoft’s HMI developers can launch implementation of a PoC – a simplified interactive version of your future HMI solution. Based on use case scenarios, our interactive PoCs allow you to test what it would feel like to perform key operations and navigate through your custom HMI. The PoC allows for effective usability testing and enables fast and risk-free tweaks to both design and functionality.
5
HMI Software Development and QA
Timing: from 3 weeks
After receiving and analyzing your operators’ feedback on the PoC, ScienceSoft’s HMI developers start implementation of the actual HMI solution. We rely on Agile, Lean, and DevOps processes as well as combine manual and automated testing to ensure speedy and quality HMI software delivery. Our team reports the progress regularly to keep you updated on the completed tasks.
6
Integration
Timing: 1–2 weeks
ScienceSoft’s engineers make HMIs an inherent part of your industrial infrastructure. We integrate HMI apps with your software-hardware systems of choice: PLC (or machinery via Raspberry Pi), MES, SCADA, PCs, smartphones and tablets, or even wearables. We also establish HMI integrations with cloud databases (for collection and analysis of production process data) and ERP (for labor efficiency tracking).
When designing HMI software, ScienceSoft makes sure that all the HMIs comply with ISA101. This way, our custom HMI applications provide high situational awareness and intuitive machinery control for equipment operators.
ScienceSoft’s Practices to Ensure Smooth HMI Development Flow
ScienceSoft’s HMI development teams drive the project to its goals in spite of time and budget constraints and ensure the agile implementation of feasible scope changes. You’re welcome to explore the PM practices behind our value-driven approach.
If you are wondering how this approach can be applied to your case, want proof of our expertise in projects similar to yours, or have any other questions about your HMI initiative, feel free to contact our consultants.
Check our sample RACI-based collaboration model and the communication forms our teams rely on. You can also explore our collaborative knowledge management and sharing practices.
Get an idea of the ISO 9001-approved quality control procedures ScienceSoft enforces throughout the SDLC and check our sample KPI framework for measuring project success.
Check the typical coverage of our post-launch software warranty (note that the terms vary for each project) and explore possible HMI support scenarios in the post-warranty period.
Technologies ScienceSoft Uses for HMI Development
Featured Success Story by ScienceSoft
Modernization of a Web-based Oil Well HMI
- Web app redesign + responsive design for mobile devices.
- Boosted app performance due to data restructuring.
- Server-HMI reintegration for a smooth data flow.
Benefits of HMIs Developed by ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft’s HMI Development Service Options
PoC creation
- Business case analysis.
- UX research, design and testing.
- GUI design and testing.
- A PoC rollout.
HMI design and development
- Project conceptualization.
- UX and GUI design.
- HMI programming and QA.
- Integration.
HMI modernization
- Existing HMI audit.
- Modernization plan.
- GUI redesign.
- Refactoring and reintegration.