Machine button label question?

Subject: Machine button label question?
From: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 10:37:18 -0500


Tom Johnson wondered: <<The company I work for builds grinding machines that sharpen things like drill bits and end mills. Machine operators remove the grinding wheel gang by holding the wheel with one hand while using the other hand to simultaneously press two buttons.>>

Perhaps I'm not understanding this correctly, but this strikes me as a design guaranteed to damage either the equipment or the operator. A safe design would lock out the control panel and turn off the machine whenever the operator has to work on the equipment, and would let the person use both hands to avoid accidents, no? I've chaired workplace safety committees in the past, and although my experience with mechanical stuff is relatively limited, it does strongly suggest that the operator should be focusing on the task at hand, not on the control panel.

<<The buttons would correspond to 4 and 6 on a telephone pad. These two buttons have the same label, "REL HSK" (Release HSK). So far, so good. Operators can also release a different component by pressing a single button, "REL COOL" in position 1.>>

Again, an interface design problem: if releasing one component requires two buttons, a consistent interface would require two buttons for all release actions. One way to accomplish this would be to use one button labeled "release" combined with a second button that specifies what should be released. This lets you add an important safety feature: when you press "release", the machine shuts down, sending a clear visual message to the operator (the wheel is no longer rotating) that it's safe to touch the machine.

I know that you probably can't make interface changes, but if I've understood the process correctly, it would be unethical not to raise the objection that the interface may endanger the operator or the operator's income (if they're held responsible for damaging the equipment).

<<The control engineers currently label the button in position 3 as "NOT USED". Here's their logic. They want to make removing the wheel gang intentional. If someone releases the wheel gang without holding onto it, they could ruin one or more grinding wheels costing several hundred dollars each. They don't want to do that. dropping the coolant manifold won't hurt anything, probably. So, they want to condition the operators to push two buttons ONLY when they are removing the grinding wheel and to push a single button to remove the manifold. To reinforce proper technique, the "NOT USED" button disables the "REL COOL" button.>>

Which means that the button really is used, and the label is a,ehm> clearly misleading. In fact, can you imagine trying to explain to someone that the reason they can't release the coolant manifold is that they pressed the NOT USED button? Really dumb.

<<Completely removing the button isn't an option.>>

<rant> Actually, yes it is. Engineers like to say this, but it's rubbish. (cf Alan Cooper's delightful _The Inmates are Running the Asylum_) I've seen countless designs with space left open in a keypad or interface to allow buttons to be selectively added. In fact, the keyboard I'm typing this message on has a lovely little plastic cutout below the space bar where the more expensive model would have a trackpad. Okay, perhaps they're buying a standard component that automatically has all the buttons in place. Objection withdrawn. </rant>

<<Leaving the label blank could be. Does anyone have any suggestions for a concise label that would work in this situation? Two short words (six letters each) is about the maximum that we can fit on a button and still make it readable.>>

The question is what the button actually does. If it only disables the cooling manifold, then perhaps "DIS COOL"? Your suggestion of "LOCK COOL" would be another good choice. But if the button serves multiple functions, then you've got a problem: you'll have to label it "Control" or "Function" or something similar that indicates that the function varies depending on what other key is pressed.

On a somewhat unrelated issue, I note that you presented all your button names as all-caps. Using a mix of upper and lower case would seem to allow you to provide longer and more legible labels in the same space. There may be a standard of some sort that requires the use of all-caps, but if not, it may be worth trying more standard capitalization (such as that on most computer keyboards).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --
Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo:
http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 7.5 Professional: New version with new features, improved performance and reliability, plus much more! Download your free trial today at www.componentone.com/techwrlfeb.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



References:
Machine Button Label Question: From: Tom Johnson

Previous by Author: Any Apple employees or contractors out there?
Next by Author: Departmental budgets?
Previous by Thread: Machine Button Label Question
Next by Thread: ratio of devs to writers


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads