Industrial Vehicle Touchscreen Widget Layout for Faster Information Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial vehicle operators face difficulties in navigating through large amounts of information on user interfaces, especially in cold environments where wearing gloves complicates the use of touch screens and menus.
Innovation Solution
A display and processing device with a touch screen that defines widgets for visual representations of vehicle functions, allows icon activation to lock widgets in position, and shifts others, enabling efficient navigation through menus using gestures and physical controls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If operators navigate through multiple screens and menus to access information, then comprehensive information is available, but the time required to locate needed information increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The display screen is segmented into multiple widget spaces, each containing different types of information (vehicle status, navigation, media, etc.). This allows operators to access specific information segments directly without navigating through entire menus, reducing search time while maintaining comprehensive information availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface transitions from linear menu navigation to a two-dimensional widget grid layout. Operators can access information across multiple widget spaces simultaneously, adding a spatial dimension to information access that eliminates hierarchical menu drilling and significantly reduces localization time.
2Loss of information
If multiple widgets are displayed on the screen, then comprehensive vehicle information is provided, but the interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The interface is organized into multiple widget spaces that segment different types of vehicle information (status, navigation, media, diagnostics). Each widget presents information in a standardized, consistent format, reducing the cognitive load associated with interface complexity while maintaining comprehensive information display through the segmented layout.
Data Source
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Figure 2A
AI summary
A processing device comprising a graphical user interface in an industrial vehicle is provided. The processing device comprises a touch screen display that receives touch gesture commands from a vehicle operator, memory storing executable instructions, and a processor in communication with the memory. The processor when executing the executable instructions: defines a plurality of widgets, wherein each widget comprises a visual representation of a current state of an associated function of the vehicle, displays a subset of the plurality of widgets on a portion of the touch screen display defining a plurality of widget spaces, and displays an icon tray on the touch screen display comprising one or more icons, in which at least one of the one or more icons corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of widgets.