07 SCREENS · Displays that think for you
Arrange for what matters now.
You will learn six principles for arranging a screen around what the person must notice and decide. It takes 2 minutes.
The short version
Put the thing that needs action where the eyes land first. Make it look different from everything else. Remove what doesn't help with the task. That's most of ISO 9241-112. The rest of this page shows how.
Find the problem
Something is wrong at this pump station. Find it.
EXAMPLE SCREEN · BEFORE
It's in the bottom corner, in small gray type: "press. hi." Meanwhile a ticker scrolls, and red is used for things that are fine.
Watch it get fixed
The clip fixes the screen one principle at a time. Watch the list on the right fill in.
The name for it
THE NAME FOR IT
ISO 9241-112
ISO 9241-112 · Ergonomics of human-system interaction: principles for the presentation of information
Six principles: detectable, free from distraction, discriminable, interpretable, concise and consistent.
The fixed screen
EXAMPLE SCREEN · AFTER
Nothing new was added. The alarm moved to the top, got words and a limit, and became the only red thing. The codes became names with units. The serial numbers and the ticker left.
The six principles, as a checklist
Run this against any screen, dashboard or status page:
| Principle | Check |
|---|---|
| Detectable | The alarm goes where eyes land first |
| Free from distraction | Nothing moves unless it matters |
| Discriminable | Red means alarm. Only alarm. |
| Interpretable | Units, limits and words, not codes |
| Concise | Only what this task needs |
| Consistent | Same kind of thing, same place, same style |
TAKEAWAY
Arrange the screen around
what the person must notice
and decide.
Ask your agent
Review the screen below against the six principles of ISO 9241-112: detectable, free from distraction, discriminable, interpretable, concise, consistent. First name the one thing the user must notice or decide on this screen. Then, for each principle, give a pass or fail and one concrete fix. Finish with the redesigned layout, top to bottom, with the most important item first. Screen (HTML, screenshot description or list of elements): [paste here]
What good output looks like: the one critical item named first, six short verdicts, and a layout that puts that item at the top.
Sources
- ISO 9241-112:2017, Ergonomics of human-system interaction, Part 112: Principles for the presentation of information.
- The pump station screen is an invented example.