System 800xA

Guideline
Operator workplace and process
graphics
Operator workplace

Fig. 1. System 800xA Extended Operator Workplace with individual and large overview display screens.

Introduction Physical screen set-up and screen size

This document is a practical guide to designing operator Deciding on the correct number of screens and screen types
workplaces and process graphics. This subject is receiving is a delicate matter. It is recommended that a task analysis of
increasing attention and this guideline is based on ABB expe- operator duties is performed first. Human factors and opera-
rience of best practices. tions workflow need to be taken into account before mak-
ing a decision. The following information gives some simple
However, since new and better solutions are being devel- practical advice on factors to consider. Good guidance in
oped all the time, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) designers this area can also be found in EEMUA 201 (3) and EN 894-
should always consider new possibilities as early as possible 2 (4) (see Further reading). Please also see ABB document
in a project. Operator issues also need careful consideration 3BSE069852 Extended Operator Workplace EOW-x Compari-
and the importance of making good and consistent design son with sight-angle standards and related issues of operator
choices must be recognized. Collaboration between key ergonomics.
personnel from different disciplines is essential from the start.
Further reading is listed at the end of this document for more Having too little screen area at an operator’s disposal may
in-depth knowledge of the field. lead to vital information not being available and increase ac-
tions needed to navigate and retrieve this. At the same time,
the size of an operator’s visual field is limited, and this limits
the number of displays that can be attended to at any one
time. In general, high-resolution monitors should be used and
‘the more pixels the better’. Currently, monitor manufacturers
are moving towards 16:9 format monitors with full HD, and
using this format in the control room is therefore practical.
Screen format 16:10 is also available on the market, however
the format 16:9 is the most common one and therefore prob-
ably the most future proof one.

2
Note that limitations in the operators’ visual field reduce the The EOW-x functional keyboard allows the operator to man-
effective number of wide-format screens that can be used age all operation and window management with one single
compared to traditional 4:3 screens. Designing graph- keyboard. The EOW-x also provides a complete ‘packaged’
ics to make the most out of this more horizontal format is ergonomic working environment with integrated features such
therefore very important. We do not recommend upgrad- as lighting and sound system, integrated live video, motorized
ing from 4:3 to 16:9 (or 16:10) monitors unless the graph- height-adjustable desk and monitors adjustable in depth as
ics are re-designed at the same time. If the graphics are well as angle. Research also shows that the EOW-x exceeds
merely converted, operators risk a reduced overview of the standard sight angle recommendations. Please see document
process since more information is moved into the peripheral 3BSE069852 Extended Operator Workplace EOW-x-Compar-
part of their field of vision. ison with sight-angle standards and related issues of operator
ergonomics.
A good set-up for most projects is to have two to four
monitors dedicated for operation and one to two oth- Display hierarchy
ers available for trends, alarm lists, shift reports, status Displays should provide different levels of details and be
and maintenance logs or additional graphics. An operator arranged to allow the operator to ‘drill-down’ to increased
workplace with four to six monitors can be split between levels. We recommend creating a display hierarchy in the form
two operator stations to allow additional personnel to step of a tree consisting of no more than four levels:
in during busy periods. Using an operator keyboard with a
built-in keyboard switch allows a single individual to operate –– Level 1. Process Overview pages, typically used on a large
the two workstations with a single keyboard and mouse screen.
during normal operations. When extra help is needed, an –– Level 2. Unit Overview, gives a quick overview of the most
extra keyboard can be brought into action. important information (primary displays).
–– Level 3. Unit Process pages, where the complete process
All tools used regularly by operators (e.g. shift log tool, control is available (secondary displays).
maintenance records, and procedural support) should be –– Level 4. Detailed auxiliary and support pages, e.g. lubrica-
integrated into the operator station. If operators are forced tion and compressor control pages.
to physically move to use a tool, its use is likely to be sig-
nificantly degraded. Each display should have a unique and unambiguous identify-
ing name that is presented consistently in the same position
Large and complex facilities should always have an over- and that expresses the display content.
view display available as well. The Extended Operator
Workplace (EOW-x) provides an interactive overview display Multiple displays may be needed to cover the same equip-
as well as smaller screens. All images can be transferred ment. These can be purpose-built to cover specific tasks
freely between the large display and the smaller screens, such as start-up, shutdown or product transitions.
which is not the case with a traditional wall mounted solu-
tion. Part of the large screen can be configured to provide
traditional static overview graphics while the operator can
make free use of the remaining screen real estate.

3
Navigation Multiple navigation techniques should be included for flexibili-
Workplace navigation should facilitate quick, direct access to ty. These should be designed to minimize the need to remem-
primary displays and minimal keystrokes to secondary and as- ber how to get to a specific graphic.
sociated displays. We recommend always having buttons for
navigating to primary displays located at a dedicated space Tabbed navigation is a very useful tool for navigating in graph-
in the workplace, preferably along the top or bottom of the ics (Fig. 2). While buttons to primary graphics are always
screen (Fig. 2). These buttons can be combined with alarm located at the top of the screen, tabs to secondary displays
and/or status information of the related area so that opera- should change according to the current graphic’s position
tors can easily locate and navigate to process areas that need in the display hierarchy. This will help operators maintain an
attention. overview while navigating through the process.

As far as possible, navigation techniques should be designed

for a multi-screen set-up. This allows the operator to redirect
a graphic to another screen (Fig. 3). When a large screen is
available, it can also be helpful for the operator to send a
graphic from the operator station to the large screen without
needing to move to another workstation.

Fig. 3. Navigation button for a two-screen set-up. Clicking the right of the
button (as shown) will open the display on the right screen. Clicking the
left will open it on the left. Clear indications of which screen will be used
are provided on mouse-over.

Fig. 2. Workplace with buttons to primary graphics (level 2), including

alarm and status information along the top of the screen, plus tabs for
navigating to secondary graphics (level 3).

4
Context-sensitive navigation
Information related to a specific object in the workplace (e.g.
a valve or vessel) should be made available through the con-
text menu for that object. This context-sensitive navigation is
an efficient and intuitive means of accessing information such
as trend displays, CCTV video, procedures etc. (Fig. 4).

Items available in the context menu should be sorted accord-

ing to their importance or frequency of use. Use separators
between groups within the menu. It is recommended to limit
the number of items on the context menu to 15 to keep it
simple and avoid submenus for often used items.

Fig. 4. Context-sensitive navigation makes accessing information efficient and intuitive.

5
Fig. 5 and 6. Workplaces with buttons for multi-screen navigation to the primary display and tabs to secondary displays along the top of the screen,
a main area for graphics in the middle, and toolbar with access to key functionality along the bottom.

Workplace layout –– Navigation features should reflect the hierarchical display

The operator workplace should provide easy access to navi- structure. This can be done, for example, by using tabs for
gation features and important system functionality without navigation. The most important graphics should be reach-
compromising the space required for process graphics. A able via a single mouse click (and/or operator keyboard).
main area for process graphics is needed, as is an area for –– If an operator keyboard is used, the screen layout should
alarm information, navigation buttons, and buttons to impor- as far as possible be consistent with the keyboard layout.
tant system functions (Figs. 5 and 6). –– In the main area, include easy access to functions such as
tag search and display search, the most important alarm
When setting up the workplace, keep in mind the following lists, trend, block log and shift log, alarm silence, print and
factors: next/previous in history.
–– Tooltip function should be available to provide more infor-
–– In addition to the main area for process graphics, define a mation about elements. Typical information to display in
static area for navigation buttons, alarm/status information tooltip is tag name and description. In addition, values like
and buttons to system functionality. Define the area with control set point and engineering unit can be shown.
alarm information as a safe area where overlap windows
are not allowed. Window management
–– The eye’s scan path tends to travel from the top-left to- Operator workplaces should be run in full-screen mode. Make
wards the bottom-right of the screen. It is therefore good access to system functionality available via system buttons in
practice to place critical information towards the top-left the workplace.
part of the screen. This means that alarm information such
as alarm bands or alarm lines should preferably be placed Keep the use of overlap windows to a minimum. We recom-
at the top of the screen. mend defining a limit for the maximum number of simultane-
– – Buttons are easier to hit if they are placed along the edge ous overlap windows. Faceplates can be set to pop up next
of the screen. For a one-row, multi-screen set-up, place to the relevant object or in a set place on the workplace (e.g.
buttons for navigation and access to important system bottom right by using the view classes functionality. The latter
functions, e.g. alarm and event lists, along the top or bot- practice will ensure that faceplates never overlap important
tom of the screen. Take extra care in designing workplaces information.
with a two-row screen set-up.
– – Make sure the hit area for all buttons is large enough. This
is particularly important for buttons that are not placed
along the edge of screen.

6
Process graphics

General
Process graphics should convey a good and representative The amount of information must be balanced between the
illustration of the process flow. Their design should support need for content (purpose of the single graphical page) and
pattern recognition and highlight the most important informa- legibility (simplicity of presentation). We thus recommend
tion for the operator. All information essential to monitoring using compact symbols that emphasize the most important
and operating the process must be presented and grouped in information and deemphasize less important.
a structured manner that supports the operators’ tasks. The
following sections include some practical advice for achieving Using colors
this goal. Create color palettes to reflect the layered approach to the
information presentation. Within each layer, vary the color
Information layering mainly by differences in hue. Use lightness and saturation
Information should be sorted and presented in a layered ap- to differentiate between the layers and to provide and in-
proach according to the following structure, which is de- crease contrast to the background layer for more important
scribed in ISO 11064-5: ­information.

– – Background. Select backgrounds to optimize foreground Control rooms are usually brightly lit, and a light background
information. Backgrounds are all large areas, including the color is therefore preferable (Table 1). Avoid large contrasts
page background and large static devices, that form the between background colors and the surroundings as this can
backdrop for other (more important) information. cause problems with glare and eye strain. Adjust all other
–– Static data layer. Its purpose is to provide context to the colors to ensure sufficient contrast to the background color.
displayed information, thereby helping users interpret the Aim to create good contrast for the most important informa-
meaning of information presented in the information and tion; live values and alarm information. Too light a background
priority layer (e.g. showing the structure and flow of the will reduce contrast to the yellow alarm color, while a darker
process). background will reduce contrast to live values. If you choose a
–– Information layer. This layer presents dynamic data (e.g. light background, show yellow alarm information with a darker
process and status values). It should be easily distinguish- colored frame. For a darker background, show live values on
able from the background and static data layers. a lighter background. Both solutions will add to the amount of
–– Priority layer. Alarm information should be presented in a ‘non-information’ and therefore clutter the graphics. However,
priority layer where any changes are brought immediately as alarm information is (or should be) displayed only excep-
to the operator’s attention. This information should be the tionally, framing it with a darker color is not so disruptive.
most eye catching of all.
To ensure sufficient contrast to live values, do not use a back-
ground color darker than RGB (167,167,167) See Table 2.

Table 1. Light grey is recommended as default

background color.
Table 2. Different background colors and their main
RGB Example attributes.
Default 191,191,191
Background color (221,221,221). Good contrast to live
24.5
values, borderline contrast to yellow alarm indicators.
Fill of devices 180,180,180
Background color (194,194,194). Good contrast to live
24.5
values and alarm indicators.
Embedded trend back- 221,221,221
Background color (167,167,167). Borderline contrast
ground 24.5
to live values, good contrast to yellow alarm indicators.
Bar graph background 116,116,116 Background color (148,148,148). Poor contrast to live
24.5
values, good contrast to yellow alarm indicators.

7
Table 3. Colors suitable for static data layer with Table 5. Example colors for the priority layer.
application examples.

RGB Example RGB Example

Static labels 77,77,77 Priority 1: Red 255,30,102
21XY3203

Major labels, page headings, 58,58,58 Priority 2: Orange 255,174,11

Reformer
units and letters for function
(T,P..)
Priority 3: Yellow 255, 242,102
Device contours and dividing 163,163,163
lines
Priority 4: Cyan 113, 232, 223

Table 4. Example colors for the information layer. Grey is Status fields for blocked/ 40,125,245
good for indicating process flow. shelved or hidden alarms

RGB Example
Live values, embedded trend 0,0,0 (black)
45.4
lines

Set point value 0,35,145

45.0

Contour color of dynamic 150,150,150

elements

Filling color if using gray scale 150,150,150

for dynamic elements to indi-
cate ‘active’ state (open valve,
running pump/motor etc. )
Bar graph fill color 221,221,221

Table 3 shows colors suitable for the static data layer together the correct environment. Since different screen types may dif-
with application examples fer widely in their color presentation, always verify palettes for
the chosen screen type and room lighting.
Grey colors can also indicate process flow (Table 4). However,
on large sites where the operators need to navigate through The key to success when setting up a color palette is to re-
a substantial amount of process graphics, more subtle colors serve the highest relative color contrast for the most important
help the operator to effectively identify the various graphics. information. More information on calculating color luminance
contrast and color difference can be found in Appendix A.
Alarm colors should follow the international safety code, i.e.
use red for high priority alarms and yellow for warnings (Table It is good practice to use different colors for different media.
5). If orange is employed, use it for priority 2 and yellow Of course the recommendation is to use logical colors for this.
for priority 3, as humans usually perceive orange as being There is good support for logical colors in 800xA.
between red and yellow. Avoid using orange for lower priority
alarms. Humans regard green as a ‘safe color’ and its use for Higher contrast versions of medium colors can also be used as
alarms should therefore be avoided. filling for equipment or for embedded trends and bar graphs.
Using medium color in embedded trends can, for example,
Always use logical colors in graphics. This makes it easy to make it easier to quickly identify different measurements.
adjust the colors after testing with control room operators in

8
Static display elements

Text Lines and arrows

Use a single font for all displays. Tahoma or Calibri are recom- Simple guidelines for presenting process lines and arrows
mended types. Calibri, a Clear Type font, is now the default include:
font in all Microsoft Office 2010 applications. Clear Type uses
anti-aliasing at the sub-pixel level to reduce visible artifacts –– Make main process lines easily distinguishable from minor
when text is rendered, making the text ‘smoother’ and less flows. Use line weight to indicate the relative importance of
jagged. In Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), which is the lines.
the basis for System 800xA graphics, all fonts are rendered as –– Process lines should be solid, instrument lines dotted.
Clear Type. –– Give process lines rounded corners when they turn +/- 90°.
Instrumentation lines should not have rounded corners.
For a typical viewing angle, ANSI/HFS standards recommend –– Keep the number of bends and turns to a minimum
a preferred font size of 3.5 mm with 2.8 mm as minimum and –– When lines of same size (importance) are crossed, horizon-
4.1 mm maximum. ISO recommends a text height between tal lines are continuous, and vertical lines split.
2.9 mm and 3.2 mm. To achieve this, font sizes must be ad- –– When lines of different size (importance) cross, primary
justed according to screen resolution and size. For a default lines are continuous, secondary lines split.
23” screen, a 1920x1080 resolution and font sizes 11 pt. and –– For horizontal lines, locate text describing the process line
12 pt. can be used for labels and numbers. above the line.
–– For vertical lines, center the text before or after the line.
Table 6. Process lines showing different weights and
patterns. When lines that exit or enter the picture continue in another
picture, place a button at the end of the line by which opera-
Line Line Example
tors can call up the next picture. Add an arrow to the button
Weight Pattern
to indicate the flow direction. If a line exiting the picture is not
Main process pipes 4 pt Solid
continued in another, simply place an arrow at the end. Figure
8 to 10 show examples of line use.
Less important process 3 pt Solid
flows Vessels
Small pipes into more 2 pt Solid Depict vessels as 2D shapes similar to their physical shapes.
important pipes, chemi- Keep details to a minimum, using them only to make it easy to
cal injection, etc. identify different tank types (Fig. 11). The size of the elements
Instrumentation lines, 1 pt Stippled should reflect their importance in process and/or physical
controller/ transmitter size. Located dynamic elements such as bar graphs and em-
input and output lines bedded trends inside the vessel shape.

Fig. 8. End-of-line navigation button.

 
Fig. 9. Positioning text describing process lines. Fig. 11. Examples of vessel shapes.

Fig. 10. How to split of process lines.

9
Dynamic display elements

Live values Dynamic equipment symbols

It is recommended to avoid frames around live values as they We recommend a simple fill/no-fill philosophy for displaying
add visual clutter to the process graphics. Instead, select equipment status such as on/off, open/closed (Fig. 13).
a background color that provides good contrast to the font
color used for live values (see Using colors). Some guidelines recommend using white to indicate the ac-
tive (open valve, running pump/motor/fan) state of devices.
Most numbers can be presented with three digits. The num-
ber of decimals displayed should then be: Use the same size for all equipment of the same type within a
display.
–– Normal value range 0.00 – 9.99: Two decimals
–– Normal value range 10.0 – 99.9: One decimal Alarm and status information
– – Normal value range greater than or equal to 100: Zero Provide alarm and important status information as a separate
decimals indication symbol next to or directly above the value.

Align numbers at the decimal point. Display numbers with Alarm priorities should always be presented redundantly.
their function code directly in front or their engineering unit Always make the color of the alarm status indicator the alarm
directly after (Fig. 12). priority color. Use 800xA Status box to display object status
(Fig. 14).
Display important information as embedded trends. Level indi-
cators presented by in bar graphs are recommended. Alarm presentation must be consistent across a site, i.e. do
not mix the presentation of priority numbers or alarm types in
alarm icons. (Table 7).

Fig. 12. How to present live values. Fig. 13. Pump and on/off pump Fig. 14. The status box can be applied in three ways to
state indications. display object status. Horizontal, vertical or rectangle.

Table 7. Explanations of status in the status box.

Condition Remark Symbol

Alarm State Position 1, alarm acknowledged (steady) or alarm unacknowledged (flashing).
Manual Mode Position 2, manual mode.
Forced Mode Position 3, input or output forced mode.
Local Mode Position 4, local mode, internal mode, panel mode, external set point, etc.
Action Mode Position 5, priority command active, interlock command active or action from voting logic.
Disabled/Inhibited Mode Position 6, disabled alarms or inhibited actions.

10
Embedded trends

We recommend embedded trends for key parameters, espe-

cially in level 1 and level 2 graphics. A High performance trend
can be used to display historical data in a graphical manner.
It efficiently draws attention to abnormalities and deviations
(Fig 15).

Small, low-resolution embedded trends are not useful for op-

erators. Ensure that the embedded trend elements are large
enough by testing them on the operators. If different time
frames are used for the embedded trends, make sure they
include an indicator of the time frame displayed. The current Fig. 15. Embedded trend element.
value may also be displayed.

Take great care if normalized values are presented in embed-

ded trends on, for example, large screen overview displays.
To avoid misunderstanding, it is critical that all operators are
acutely aware that the values presented are normalized.

A radar chart can be used to display a grid with configurable

number of spokes up to 99 (Fig. 16). Visual indicators are
displayed if the property value is outside the limits.

Fig. 16. Radar charts.

11
Appendix A – Color use in operator
graphics

The legibility and prominence of a symbol is more strongly A contrast ratio of 3:1 is the minimum level recommended by
influenced by the relationship between its luminance and ISO-9241-3 and ANSI-HFES-100-1988 for standard text and
that of its immediate background than by its own absolute vision. For text on web pages, WCAG 2.0 guidelines recom-
luminance. A good guide is therefore to calculate the rela- mend a minimum contrast ratio of 7:1 for text that is smaller
tive luminance contrast between colors in the color palette that 18 pt (if not bold) and 14 pt (if bold). Note, however, that
to ensure that important information (alarms and dynamic these recommendations focus on text legibility. For symbols, a
information) has a greater contrast against the background smaller contrast ratio will be acceptable.
than static information.
Luminance contrast is not the only factor that influences the
The luminance contrast ratio can be calculated with the prominence of objects in a graphic. Color difference strongly
formula (L1 + 0.05)/(L2 + 0.05), where L1 is the relative influences the ability of objects to ‘pop-out’ of a page. This is
luminance of the lighter color and L2 is the luminance of the why highly saturated colors should be used only for alarm in-
darker. More information on measuring contrast can be found formation. To make it easy to discriminate alarm colors, keep
at the number of saturated colors to a minimum.

http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-WCAG20- The w3 also has a formula for calculating color difference: dR

TECHS-20070517/Overview.html#G18 + dG + dB, where dR, dG and dB are the differences in the
Red, Blue and Green component of the two colors.

The NASA Color Usage Research Lab provides more useful

guidance on color use in display graphics.

12
Further reading

Bullemer, P., Reising, D. V., Burns, C., Hajdukiewicz, J., & An- ISO 11064-5. (2008). Ergonomic Design of Control Centres -
drzejewski, J. (2008). ASM Consortium Guidelines. Effective Part 5: Displays and Controls.
Operator Display Design . ASM.
ISO 9241-12. Ergonomic requirements for office work with
EEMUA - The Engineering Equipment and Materials Users’ visual display terminals (VDTs) – Part 12: Presentation of
Association. (2007). EEMUA Publication 191, Alarm Systems information.
- A Guide to Design, Management and Procurement (2nd
Edition ed.). EEMUA. Statoil. (2009, 10 12). StatoilHydro Governing Document, SAS
Operator Station HMI. Technical and professional requirement,
EEMUA - The Engineering Equipment and Materials Users’ TR1212, Final Ver. 2. Statoil.
Association. (2002). Process Plant Control Desks Utilising
Human-Computer Interfaces. Publication No 201, A Guide to US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Regula-
Design, Operational and Human-Interface Issues . EEMUA. tory Research. (2002). NUREG-0700 Rev. 2, Human-System
Interface Design Review Guidelines.
EN 894-2+A1:2008, Safety of Machinery – Ergonomics re-
quirements for the design of displays and control actuators, NASA Color Usage Research Lab, Using Color in Information
2008. Display Graphics, Design Methods, Color Science and Color
Guidelines, http://colorusage.arc.nasa.gov/index.php, ac-
Hollifield, B., Oliver, D., Nimmo, I., & Habibi, E. (2008). The cessed July 2010.
High Performance HMI Handbook. A Comprehensive Guide to
Designing, Implementing and Maintaining Effective HMIs for Gallimore, J. & Shinkle, J.A., Color Usage in Graphic Displays
Industrial Plant Operations . PAS. for Process Control, Report written for the Center for Opera-
tor Performance, Nov. 2008.
ISO 11064-1. Ergonomic Design of control centres - Part 1:
Principles for Design of Control Centres.

13
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