7 ESSENTIAL SCADA DESIGN

COMPONENTS TO MAXIMIZE
PLANT PRODUCTIVITY
How Enhancing Design Can Benefit Operators AND
Increase Profits
In 2013, American international beauty company
Avon Products Inc. halted the global rollout of
a $125 million dollar new order management
system that had been 4 years in the making.
Avon CEO Sheri McCoy later told analysts,
“While the pilot technology platform worked
well, the degree of impact or change in the
daily processes to the representative was
significant. This resulted in a steep drop in the
active representative count.” The difficult-to-use
software interface drove huge numbers of their
sales force to quit. As a result of this and other
factors, Avon ended up selling 80% of its North
American business to refocus on other countries.
This modern-day Aesop’s tale is revealing because it speaks
of the huge impact of user experience (UX) in software. For
industrial control systems, bad UX is the silent killer that steals
your company’s time, money, and overall productivity. That clunky
software you hate but have to use at work every day? Most likely
it’s a problem with poor user interface (UI) design, not functionality.
Something that should happen in three clicks instead takes four
times as long. That extra 30 seconds spent reading confusing
SCADA screens can cause operators to stop regularly checking
daily tasks, potentially letting small problems snowball into huge
problems with delivery dates and tainted products.

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For industrial control Confusing UI
systems, bad UX is the
Decreased
silent killer that steals your productivity
company’s time, money, Inaccurate
and overall productivity. feedback

Unresolved
errors

Employee
loss

Figure 1. The seemingly minor thirty seconds lost because of a confusing UI can
snowball into a loss of productivity, accurate feedback from the field, and even
knowledgeable employees.

Ultimately, providing good UX with SCADA software that makes

the operators’ job easier, allowing them to catch errors and resolve
them immediately, can save millions in machine damage and lost
productivity cascading down the manufacturing process.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A
THOUSAND WORDS
Improving SCADA HMIs is not a new concept. We’ve come a
long way since the “mimic displays” of the 1970’s that only used
lights, gauges, and push buttons for highly experienced operators
to interpret and run the plant. The addition of computers
allowed access for more data to be displayed as high-density,
monochromatic text or text-based graphics, but a high level of
expertise was still required to accurately utilize that information.

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Figure 2. The original SCADA HMIs used physical lights and gauges were called
“mimic displays” because they mimicked the actual SCADA system. On the left
side of this picture, the circular arrangement of gauges directly corresponded to a
circular grouping of fuel rods. (Source: NY Times)

In the 1990’s graphical user interfaces (GUIs) become more

affordable and viable for plant usage. Nicknamed “push-
button replacers,” the GUIs were capable of color graphical
representations that were meant to reduce operator training time.
Screen designs were patterned after the mimic displays of old, but
now with a dizzying array of bright colors and later on, elaborate
3D graphics. Little thought was put into usability and what was
actually best for operating the plant.

Figure 3. The SCADA GUIs of the 1990’s boasted of new color capabilities, but not
much consideration was given to readability or effectiveness for actually running a
plant. (Source: Automation.com)

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 Ten years later in the late 2000’s and the industrial world had
enough. Inspired by how the aerospace industry displays a cockpit
full of information to its pilots, the High Performance HMI design
paradigm was introduced. This approach – characterized by a
subdued set of colors, flat graphics, and standardized navigation
– sought to declutter the operator’s vision from normal statuses
while highlighting critical areas.

Is there a way we can

harness the power of
modern-day UI design
Figure 4. The High Performance HMI design paradigm shifted away from overly
with SCADA software, colorful, elaborate displays to flat, straightforward presentations of data. (Source:
Novatech)
keeping people invested
and focused on the most
important tasks while
Fast-forward one more decade, and now what? In this age of
giving them the tools to
visual media, people are used to consuming data through image-
facilitate new ideas for
rich articles, attention-grabbing ads, and YouTube videos. Your
their company?
employees are more accustomed to using smartphones and
laptops, not cockpits. Is there a way we can harness the power
of modern-day UI design with SCADA software, keeping people
invested and focused on the most important tasks while giving
them the tools to facilitate new ideas for their company?

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Figure 5. Best practices for UX design can be applied to industrial control panels
to provide data quickly, reduce training time, and minimize errors. This example
shows Vertech’s award-winning project for an industrial solar farm, based on
Ignition by Inductive Automation. The dynamic window was designed to show up
to 202 solar tracker actuators in the main display without overwhelming the user.

At Vertech, we strongly believe answer is yes. Using a next-

generation approach to SCADA design can achieve the following
goals:

+ Early engagement with problems by bringing the most

important information to the operators’ attention

+ Faster response times through intuitive use of designed

workflow and navigation

+ Engaging, positive experience with SCADA tools that are

easy to use and uncluttered

+ Shortened training by providing an interface familiar to

operators just entering the workforce

+ Reduction of mistakes in plant operation with well-researched

design principles that facilitate best responses

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 7 ESSENTIAL SCADA
DESIGN COMPONENTS
The reason why tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft
have spent fortunes developing the best UX is because they’ve
done the research and recognize the real monetary benefits
The company with the of implementing good design. A 2015 assessment funded by
best-designed, easiest-to- Microsoft and carried out by DMI found that, “Over the last ten
use tools wins, plain and years, design-led companies have maintained significant stock
simple. market advantage, outperforming the S&P by an extraordinary
211%.” Ultimately, the company with the best-designed, easiest-
to-use tools wins, plain and simple.

With a bit of creativity and innovation, the extensive UX

knowledge from the commercial world can be applied to the
stringent demands of industrial automation. The rest of this
whitepaper investigates how to use excellent software design to
enhance your high-performance SCADA system, minimize time-
wasting traps, and increase overall plant profitability.

Usability
Most engineers create SCADA systems from the machine’s
perspective, not from the user’s. Usually the SCADA screens are
constructed after the PLC code is written, and its functionality has
to bend to support the code. Instead, we believe in designing
the UI with ease of use for the operator first in mind . Usability
combined with sound design principles leads to an intuitive and
valuable tool that benefits all.

1. Color
Color (and specifically contrast) is so powerful because it often
communicates before all other visual factors like text are taken into
account. As designers, we use this innate ability to convey instant
meaning to objects, to draw attention to specific places that may
need focus, and to distinguish items from each other.

Color and their meanings are learned over a lifetime, which when
used properly, provide a lifetime of training to a user. By using an

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intuitive understanding of colors in GUIs, people can draw on past
experiences and easily learn a new theme. However, scattering a
color’s meaning or oversaturating a screen effectively destroys all
of this learning. This is one case where more does not mean better;
looking at a visually distracting screen with seventeen clashing
colors makes it impossible to see what matters.

What is more important is consistency. Choose a few colors and

then give them the same meaning across all screens in the software.
For example, what does the color red represent? Does it mean a
machine is not running, an alarm has been triggered, or a power line
is energized? Operators must memorize the designations for each
color, and therefore having a standardized set of colors will decrease
confusion and speed up data interpretation.

Also, according to the National Eye Institute, approximately

8% of men and 0.5% of women are colorblind, and the most
common form is red-green colorblindness. Therefore, a typical
control screen may be rendered unusable if care is not used when
selecting the UI’s color palette. Other visual cues must be used
to communicate the system status. For instance, color contrast
between lighter and darker tones can be used to make one object
stand out compared to its surroundings. The greater the contrast
between two colors, the more noticeable and legible it becomes.

Figure 6. Intuitive use of color provides contextual clues to the operator for instant
recognition of process states. In another award-winning project by Vertech, we
used a clean color palette with properly contrasting text, where a bright, warm
orange draws attention from the dimensional, cool gray background. Instead of
drop shadows, we went with cleaner lines to emphasize the dimensional gradients
and avoid too much noise.

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 2. Layout and Layering
Layout is also hugely important because it gives people a frame
of reference for how they should interact with an environment.
In stores, the layout of the building guides people to highly
profitable items, groups the breakfast foods together, and keeps
the checkout stands near the exits. In magazines, it presents
information in columns, prominently displays the title of the article,
and gives complementary information with a subheader or sidebar.

With software, layout refers to how buttons, diagrams, and other

elements are laid out on screen in an organized fashion. By taking
what we know of human nature, we can design control screens in
a logical, easily readable arrangement. For example, if a “Submit”
button is placed between two text blocks in the same row, the user
will naturally conclude all three items are associated. Care must be
taken not to accidentally group together unrelated information or
switch two similar data points through a poorly organized UI, as
UI layout directly impacts seen with the 1992 crash of Air Inter Flight 148.
the operator’s ability to
find navigation, recall Another common eye-scanning pattern is how English readers
information, and gather tend to look at the top and left sides of the screen first. Knowing
alarm notices, so make this, SCADA software designers can position important or
sure it’s well-designed. summary information in the northwest corner of the page. Bottom
line: the UI layout directly impacts the operator’s ability to find
navigation, recall information, and gather alarm notices, so make
sure it’s well-designed.

Figure 7. Taking advantage of human visual behaviors, like the F-shaped pattern
for reading content, speeds up understanding of information and reduces
training. (Source: Nielsen Norman Group)

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 Layering is the technique of making a 2D object on a screen look
three-dimensional. By adding a z-axis to the visual plane, the
UI can elevate and emphasize certain items over others. Simply
adding a shadow to an object visually brings it away from the
screen, taking advantage of a person’s learned depth perception
to make something appear closer and therefore more important.
A common usage is the appearance of buttons on HMIs. Buttons
usually look multi-dimensional, with a slight gradient or light
reflection applied so the user automatically registers it as an
element that can be interacted with. When clicked, the button may
visually move down and up, simulating an actual analog button
and subtly giving the operator feedback that his or her action has
been accepted.

3. Navigation
Shockingly, information workers spend approximately 2 hours per
day looking for the data they need. Clearly, there is a definite need
for effective software navigation. Take a look at Amazon.com. It
owes much of its success to an excellent navigation system. With an
enormous ecommerce catalog consisting of hundreds of millions of
products, people are still able to find what they want. The website
simply gets you from where you are to where you are trying to go
with minimal delay. In the same way, every SCADA software needs
SCADA software needs well-designed navigation to give users access to critical information
well-designed navigation quickly and intuitively . Basic rules of thumb include:
to give users access to
+ A hierarchy should be consistent
critical information quickly
and intuitively. + The navigation bar should be in the same place on all screens

+ A process overview should provide quick access to any part of

the system

In a poorly planned navigation system, reaction time can be

impaired by taking way too many clicks to get where you’re
going. Not only is time wasted, but decision fatigue starts to
set in. Consider this: why does Mark Zuckerberg wear the same
gray t-shirt every day? Why does Barack Obama always select
the same kind of suit? They do this to minimize the number of
minor decisions they have to make each day so they can focus on

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 the few really important ones. Each decision costs a little bit of
mental energy, so do we want operators wasting mental power
on figuring out how to navigate the SCADA menu or saving it
to make a crucial decision at a critical time? Ideally, with a well-
thought-out, consistent navigation system, someone without
training but familiar with the plant should be able to navigate to
Well-thought-out,
any part of the SCADA without heading down dead ends.
consistent navigation
system, someone without
training but familiar with
the plant should be able 4. Typography, Iconography, and
to navigate to any part Imagery
of the SCADA without Typography refers to the use of fonts, font sizes, and font styling
heading down dead to convey meaning. A style guideline should be created to keep
ends. a clean and consistent look for any text on the UI. Good use of
typography can be used to emphasize and de-emphasize content
– such as by increasing contrast and boldness for important alerts,
displaying hints with plain text, and using certain heights and colors
for headings and subheadings.

As for imagery, remember that a good picture is worth a thousand

words. (A bad picture is worth a few choice words.) However, large
images are not recommended in industrial systems because screen
real estate is precious and loading times can reduce speed. Instead,
intuitive icons and shapes are preferred. A good icon should be
simple, easy to read at different sizes, and clear in meaning.

Figure 8. Clear and obvious icons can immediately convey information, especially
in situations when time may be of the essence. In this craft brewery control
system, Vertech used high-contrast icons on a pop-out navigation menu, similar
to web and mobile UIs. Additionally, space was left for future expansion, such as
packaging, quality control, and shipping.

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5. Feedback
When it comes to effective communication between humans
and machines, it’s important that the person knows if the
machine understood him. For instance, if you click on a button to
execute Order 66, the system should execute those instructions
accordingly. However, the operator usually cannot see the machine
and therefore needs to receive feedback that what he did had an
effect. Case in point: when you make a credit card payment online,
how do you know whether the information was accepted or got
lost in the ether? If you don’t get that “Payment Received” screen
soon, you may click the payment button again and end up getting
charged twice, which is very frustrating. In the industrial world,
pushing a button twice with a badly programmed system can have
disastrous consequences (and ain’t nobody got time for that).
Adding a confirmation screen or other small feedback response
can make all the difference.

The four main components of feedback include speed,

measurability, context, and connection to motivations:

+ Speed or response time connects the operator’s decision

with a subsequent action. If the feedback is too slow, people
assume it did not function, and thus the spinning hourglass,
progress bar, and process loading ring was invented. The
longer people wait for feedback, the less influence that action
has on future decisions.

+ Measurability gives operators information about the results of

their actions. For example, a simple message could show them
“The setpoint has been changed to 54 psi” or “Done”.

+ Context provides operators further understanding of what

their action did or might do. What does a setpoint of 54 psi
really mean? Contextual feedback should be provided to the
operator to frame the setpoint entry in terms of normal or
acceptable. This can be informational only (“Setpoint should
be between 48 and 59 psi”) or for more critical setpoints,
values outside of established limits can be prevented. If the
latter, the operator must be informed of why his entry is
limited.

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 + Motivation encourages operators to keep making good
decisions and actions. Sometimes this comes in the form
of accountability for their actions by recording their button
presses and the values they select. Sometimes it is a simple
thanks by their bosses for saving the day. In some cases,
industrial gamification has been implemented to reinforce
good operational decisions, such as determining the best
times of day to do specific procedures or increasing machine
inspection frequency.

6. Functional Use
A good SCADA system must of course be functional, not just nice
looking. No point in improving its appearance if the operators
can’t do their job at the end of the day. The key is to design with
user operability in mind while not compromising required system
functionality. Ultimately, the UI of a SCADA system must fulfill
its primary directives of allowing people to monitor and operate
equipment, identify and respond to problems, and meet the
functional control specs. While having good UX is desirable for
the long-term success and efficiency of a SCADA platform, the
immediate parameters that engineers care about most – such
as response time, available actions, and feedback – must be
addressed. The best industrial automation systems are able to
combine functionality and standards with usability.

7. Future Scalability
The best industrial Sometimes companies can unintentionally paint themselves
into a corner. When designing a new SCADA system, the list of
automation systems
requirements is laid out and delivered exactly as specified. But
are able to combine
what happens at the end of the software’s life cycle five to ten
functionality and
years later? What if your organization absorbs another company
standards with usability. and two different systems must be combined? The once perfectly
designed SCADA platform has no room for expansion. Therefore,
most companies choose one of two routes: 1) rework the entire
system from scratch or 2) add on an unexpected subsystem.

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Figure 9. Adding new features to a rigidly structured SCADA platform can be
a stressful mess, so leave enough room and flexibility in the software for future
expansion.

What if we told you there was a third option? The key is to make
the software flexible enough to adapt to future changes because,
let’s face it, change is inevitable but also somewhat nebulous. In
1956, development of the U.S. Interstate highway system began,
and architects purposely overdesigned for larger populations and
higher throughputs. More than half a century later, their master
plans live on today and have transformed the economic landscape
and quality of life in America. History shows that scalability can
work, so how can that apply to SCADA systems?

When setting up the design specifications, think beyond the

current needs and push the boundaries with future wants.
Consider the bigger picture:

+ What are the next paths for growth for the plant or company
that might increase manufacturing loads, performance
requirements, workflows, and employee headcount?

+ If your budget suddenly increased, what wish-list features and

resources would you add?

+ Are there any bottlenecks you can predict or have seen in the
past?

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 By communicating these expansion areas early on in the design
The key is to make process, the SCADA engineers can program a system that will
the software flexible easily incorporate future modules and greater volumes. For
enough to adapt to example, an intelligent UI navigation system could be designed
future changes because, to expand and include new features (see Figure 8). By keeping up

let’s face it, change with and adapting the latest innovations in industrial automation,
we can have foresight into what trends may be added next and
is inevitable but also
can plan accordingly to make room for future developments.
somewhat nebulous.

Good SCADA Design Determines

Long-Term Success
The days of accepting poorly designed SCADA screens that inhibit
rather than enhance an operator’s ability to control the plant are
over. Say no to overly complex or visually distracting displays just
because “That’s the way HMIs have always looked.” If you’re going
to be using a tool for most of your work day, you better make sure
it’s darn good, not just good enough.

Instead, it’s time to modernize our approach and include UI best

practices from both inside and outside the industry. Incorporating
these seven user-centric design principles in SCADA systems
– color usage, layout and layering, navigation, typography and
imagery, feedback, functional use, and scalability – creates
software that is easy and even fun to use. Easy and fun are
important because they tangibly affect the operator’s ability to
control the process and respond quickly when things go awry. And
over time, the engagement and performance of well-designed
systems provides positive returns in decision-making speed and
accuracy, plant productivity, and reduced training time.

When your company works with an integrator, such as Vertech,

to develop well-designed, intuitive tools to monitor, analyze, and
control your plant floor and beyond, you’ll be better equipped to
outlast and outperform competitors. Give us a call today and find
out how our seasoned SCADA programmers can do the heavy
lifting and deliver you a system that achieves both employee
satisfaction and profitability.

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About Vertech
Vertech strives to bring tangible value to our industrial clients by
providing modern software tools to their operations, maintenance,
and business management teams. Vertech provides innovative
software solutions throughout industrial automation organizations
from control system integration and migration to industrial
networking and security.

Request A Free Consultation

Contact us for an initial evaluation of your
current system and to discuss if we are the
right partner to help develop your SCADA/
HMI software.

vertech.comvertech.com

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©2017 Vertech Industrial Systems