Human-Machine Interfaces

Operating concepts designed for the people at the machine

Your next device generation has to stand out through function, not just price. Designers and embedded developers plan your operating concept in one team, so what is designed runs on your hardware for years.

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team for design and embedded development

100 %

hardware-agnostic

licences or hidden dependencies after handover

Qualification

When a new operating concept is the right move

These are the situations where the way your device is operated starts costing you customers, tenders, or development time.

Designs your device cannot run
Design proposals arrive that the hardware cannot carry, because memory is short, the device is too small, or other hardware limits apply.
Tenders lost on the operation
End customers complain about how your device is operated, and competitors win tenders with a better experience.
Developers, but no HMI specialists
Your team writes solid code but has no interface specialisation. The result is slow, short-lived, and tied to one device.
Operators who freeze at an error
Staff who speak neither German nor English cannot interpret what the device tells them when something goes wrong.
A new market with new rules
Right-to-left scripts and unfamiliar operating conventions arrive with a market your team has no experience in.

Designs your device cannot run

Design proposals arrive that the hardware cannot carry, because memory is short, the device is too small, or other hardware limits apply.

01.

Tenders lost on the operation

End customers complain about how your device is operated, and competitors win tenders with a better experience.

02.

Developers, but no HMI specialists

Your team writes solid code but has no interface specialisation. The result is slow, short-lived, and tied to one device.

03.

Operators who freeze at an error

Staff who speak neither German nor English cannot interpret what the device tells them when something goes wrong.

04.

A new market with new rules

Right-to-left scripts and unfamiliar operating conventions arrive with a market your team has no experience in.

05.

Capabilities

What a Human-Machine Interface engagement covers

From the first click dummy to a device family that shares one operating concept, built by one team.

Tested before code exists.
Click dummies, wireframes, and rapid prototypes let your users try the operation before a line of code is written.
Controls that fit the context.
Where gloves or the working environment rule out touch, a physical control takes over, its function changing with context and its state clearly indicated.
Names for new ideas.
New interaction concepts get names and nomenclature you can take straight into your marketing.

One concept, a whole device family.
A unified operating concept is designed once and carried into the next product. At one manufacturer, the second device went live in weeks, the first had taken years.
Technology chosen on criteria.
The stack is selected against an explicit catalogue covering licensing, developer availability, maintainability, and long-term viability.
Freed from the lab.
Hardware abstracted in software lets distributed teams develop and run automated tests of fault scenarios overnight.

Embedded and cloud from one source.
Device and cloud teams stay in step. Versioned interfaces let each side ship on its own schedule, and one partner answers for the whole chain.
One display, several devices.
Operate multiple devices of the same or different classes through a single display and selection control.
Agents inside the workflow.
Assistance appears in the operator's work sequence, not in a generic chat window.

Your code, your know-how.
The result belongs to you, including further development. Your developers work alongside ours, so core knowledge stays in your company.
From vision to succession.
Product vision, implementation, test automation, maintenance, feature evolution, and finally the next generation.

We spoke with several providers. Some wanted to sell us a product. Cloudflight wanted to understand our mission. That made all the difference.

Christian Steigelmann

Managing Director (OpenTechCloud)

Reference

10M service requests a year, answered with the right fix

DEBAG is one of the leading manufacturers of professional baking ovens in the bakery industry. In a rapidly changing market, the company aims to simplify the usability of all appliances for various user groups. Together, we developed a platform for DEBAG's products that enables both automatic and manual control of the processes. The design of our solution was recognized with an iF DESIGN AWARD.

100%

of devices networked in one cloud view

operating concept across all devices

Read case study

Collaboration

This is how your operating concept is made

One team from the first product vision to the next device generation.

1
Product vision
Where should your device stand in ten years? The decisions that make that possible are taken today, together.
2
Rapid prototyping
Click dummies and wireframes give your users a first operating experience before a single line of code exists.
3
Design ahead, build behind
Design stays a few steps ahead. Development implements what is already specified, with automated tests at GUI level.
4
Maintenance and evolution
After release come improvements, new features, and fixes, until the product is succeeded by its next generation.

Trust

Why device manufacturers design their HMI with Cloudflight

Designers next to developers

Designers and embedded developers talk directly throughout the project. Whether your device can run a design is an input from day one, not a discovery at the end.

We ship the running device

The operating concept is implemented and tested on your hardware, the code stays with you, and your developers are involved along the way.

Awards as a by-product

User-centred work has won design awards along the way. The goal stays the same: an operating concept that the target group of your device can use with confidence.

We challenge assumptions

Where an assumption holds you back, we say so. One client believed development could only happen in the lab. Abstracting the hardware proved otherwise.

Designers next to developers

Designers and embedded developers talk directly throughout the project. Whether your device can run a design is an input from day one, not a discovery at the end.

We ship the running device

The operating concept is implemented and tested on your hardware, the code stays with you, and your developers are involved along the way.

Awards as a by-product

User-centred work has won design awards along the way. The goal stays the same: an operating concept that the target group of your device can use with confidence.

We challenge assumptions

Where an assumption holds you back, we say so. One client believed development could only happen in the lab. Abstracting the hardware proved otherwise.

Book a meeting

See how your next device generation could operate

30 minutes with one of our HMI designers and embedded engineers. We look at your device, your users, and where the operating concept holds you back.

FAQ

Questions manufacturers ask about their HMI

No. The operating paradigm follows the context. Where gloves, unit cost, or the working environment rule out a touchscreen, physical controls with contextual functions and state indication take over.

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Operating concepts designed for the people at the machine