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Creating Exceptional User Experiences in Control Rooms

Control rooms are the central point of communications in many industries. However, creating a user-friendly experience in control rooms is a challenge most businesses face. Today's users require more information, and operations are moving to virtualization and the cloud to enable scale and flexibility – often a private cloud rather than a public cloud for security of data and operations. All of this requires careful design of the control room and operator workspace to maximize efficiency and the operator's comfort.

Where Do You Start?

Control room operators need a user experience (UX) that is intuitive, efficient, and reliable. A "good" UX for operators should enable them to perform their tasks effectively and efficiently without unnecessary complexity or frustration. Here are some key elements that constitute a good UX for control room operators: user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate with clearly labeled buttons and controls, streamlined workflows that enable operators to focus on a task, reliable system performance, access to technical support when problems arise, and user training. A good UX should be straightforward so that an operator's brain is not consumed by running the equipment but instead solely focused on the task at hand.

User workspaces need to be instinctive, personalized and focused on the multitude of tasks at hand. Operators must digest and interact with large volumes of information in real time so should not be distracted by the environment or struggle with complicated interfaces.

Continue to the @Black Box Network blog to discover the wish list for an optimized control room, futureproofing with virtualization, trending KVM-over-IP, and more: Creating Exceptional User Experiences in Control Rooms

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