Happy operators and service technicians expressing their enthusiasm for the new HMI – this is the story behind Repak’s HMI redesign and how user-centric design makes a difference.

“I want to congratulate the team! The improved screen and the new software are great. The HMI is doing very well and has a more quality look. Very good work!”

This is what the service team leader said when he set up the first machine with the new software at a customer’s site.

It’s great to get positive reactions for a new HMI at a trade fair with all the bells and whistles, but it’s even better when this also happens in the field. To hear that people, who have to deal with the machine every day, do this with pleasure.

How did Repak achieve this?

It started with an approach that was new to Repak at the time: a sprint week where the basic concept for the new HMI was conceived, built and tested in just 5 days.

In addition to the early validation of the main idea, something else had happened in that week.

Because all stakeholders, including the director-owner, worked together in a diverse team, everyone was on the same page. At the end it was clear for everyone which steps had to be taken.

Here’s what the original HMI looked like:

This paper prototype already had all the characteristics of where we wanted to be:

A first digital prototype was built in PowerPoint and tested on the last day with several people from the target group:

In the weeks that followed, the prototype was translated into an interactive design concept that was then further developed together with the software department: