Possible topic for discussion

[GregPayne]

I'd be very interest in seeing a bit more about the graph presentation that James did. As I am working more and more with graphs, this can be a great help in reducing clutter on the FP.

Having said that, I am also still in the theory phase of thinking about GUI design. I've seen a lot of bad ones and very few good ones. I agree with James that the web might be a good place to start. Getting it in to LabVIEW is another issue totally!

I have a coloured interface that I am working on at the moment and although it is flat and simple, just trying to change the colour of LabVIEW FP objects is a nightmare.

I also like Steve's idea of a group NIDays presentation, another comfort zone crushing experience  

[swatts]

I put this out there..

I really don't have an issue with graphics and GUIs in LabVIEW, I wonder if we just have difficulties converting requirements into graphics we can do.

Interestingly I've had a similar experience to James Mac regarding undocked graphs, I struggled to pack multiple graphs into one screen, instead I offered undocking. Really easy and the customer preferred it.

The other thing is that we get very few requirements that we cannot achieve. Mostly it's build your own type screens from automotive type customers. Generally they want it because it's what they're used to, not because they need it. Even this difficult requirement can now be met using sub-panels.

I'm building up an idea for a group presentation, the kind of thing I like is....

A bit of design theory explained

LabVIEW Example

A bit of design theory explained

LabVIEW Example

A bit of design theory explained

LabVIEW Example

and repeat...

[NickRH]

Hi all,

This is certainly an interesting topic, as an engineer I too struggle to get my head around UI design and function. I found the following video very interesting with lots of good points. Hope it helps !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OSkB4BCx00

I`m not sure which is harder, designing the UI to work for the user experience or replicating what you want to see in Labview.

Cheers,

Nick

[drjdpowell]

swatts wrote:

Under the latter I'd to call upon Dr Powell to show us how to do the graph overlays that he showed last time (I haven't had time to check it out and like the idea of it)

I can show more on that; and can include my attempt at a bratVI-style extension of a graph to include this functionality.

[swatts]

I like her presentations, she's very straight forward. Which is a rare skill in this business!

[swatts]

This is worth a look, regarding touchscreens

http://content.jki.net/creating-modern-touch-uis-in-labview-webinar/?utm_source=VIPM+Downloads&utm_c...

[swatts]

This guy talks my language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is2O666qDPs

The bit I agree with it not to get to bent out of shape about getting the UI correct, make it work and present it to the user.

[NickRH]

Yup thats a very important point Steve. Always show the end user and get

as much feedback as possible, they are the ones using it at the end of the

day.

Kind Regards,

Nicholas Holland

[swatts]

Yup and with all the whining about LabVIEW struggling to cope I see on various forums, it's still one of it's big advantages. Rapid UI changes should be easy, it's fiddly perfection it struggles with.

[MikeeB]

You should only ever have to fiddle with a few elements. The look and feel should be consistent, which means, you copy and paste lots of things and change the data that goes in or out, but the mechanics and the design of the control are already done.  Working on those few elements can be done independently of the main code and shown to the end customer with test data that is often easier to understand. This also gives you a feel for what the end customer will want changed. "What if the graph line was thicker and in colour X?" This tells me to make those controllable now, ideally from a database, and future changes get easier.  Mike