Designing intuitive touch screen interfaces.

Aralab’ goal was to improve the user experience and visual layout of their new climatic chamber touch screen interface. The touch screens in the climatic chambers and monitoring software are daily used by partners, employees, and technicians. So, they needed an intuitive and efficient solution to match every type of user’s needs.

We started by visiting the manufacturing plant to better understand the chambers the touch screens were used on. It was important to know the size and dimension of the chambers as well as the context and placement of the touch screens. We were also given a complete tour of all the current touch screens, the various models and shown the different uses. Our research showed that the architecture and visual hierarchy needed to be addressed. Users were being presented with more options than they needed and in some cases divided by various screens. We optimised the product experience for the users and removed all the elements that didn’t add value.

First, our team created wireframe prototypes to test the concept and architecture we proposed. After a few changes and updates based on the client´s feedback, we were comfortable that the skeleton of the solution was ready.

Then we developed a visual style guide based on the constraints of the touch screens, which give us a scalable solution built with reusable elements and components. A visual layout of the page templates was designed and tested on the actual screens to make sure the colour and content contrast worked well. Effective design helps the user stay productive by reducing eye fatigue, as the user's eyes continually focus and refocus. We eased the burden on the user's eyes by reducing contrast and restraining the use of saturated colors. After several tests and iterations, we launched the new interface.