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| Usability |
Designing
User Interfaces: What Does the
Customer Really Want?
This article discusses usability
issues in the design of embedded
products, and also addresses the
engineers role in the process of making
a product usable. |
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Understanding
Usability Standards for Medical
Devices
Regulatory bodies look for
evidence that the development of medical
devices followed a usability program.
This article discusses that standards
that can be used to show that you are
following good practice. |
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Principles
Of User Interface Design
Usability improvement can be achieved by
constant reviewing and tweaking of a
design, but this articles describes
principles you can chose to apply right
from the first incarnation of your
design. |
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It's
Worse on a Browser
User interfaces are always less usable
when they're served up via HTTP. But
there are ways of improving the user's
experience. Readers' Comments.
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So
This Button Must ...
Niall vents
some anguish about frustrating and
misleading user interfaces. Readers'
Comments
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(Inter)Facing
the User
DEAD This column looks at factors in the
mindset of the engineer that make them
less suitable as user interface
designers. If you are aware of these
issues, it is easy to avoid the common
pitfalls. Readers' Comments |
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Looking
Good - A Lesson in Layout
Programmers need to learn a few
graphic design principles to make the
best of their GUI. Readers' Comments |
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The
Usability Dilemma
Another attack on the engineering
mindset and why you have to think
different when it comes to usability. Readers'
Comments |
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Wordsmith
The text our applications display to the
user has a huge impact on usability, and
so deserves close scrutiny during
development. Readers' Comments
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Modes
and the User Interface
Software engineers should not fall into
the trap of assuming the general
population is as comfortable with modes
as the typical engineer. Readers'
Comments |
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To
Err is Human
Handling user errors is a tricky
business. In this piece we look at how
to let the user off the hook, and how to
design good error responses.
Readers' Comments |
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Put
the User in the Driver's Seat
Designing
user interfaces means striking a tricky
balance between being helpful, being too
helpful, or getting in the way. Here are
some examples to guide you through these
treacherous waters. Readers' Comments |
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| User
Interface Programming |
Parlez
Vous Françias?
Examine translation issues,
dealing with translation houses,
managing code files and translation
files. Readers' Comments
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More translation issues
and a look at double-byte encodings. Readers'
Comments
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More
Prototyping Tips
A
continuation of last months piece where
we look at some more examples built with
Borland C++ Builder and we discuss
graphics prototypes. |
| Graphics
Programming |
Embedded
Graphics Part 1: Bitmaps and Fonts
This article
discussed the use of graphics in
embedded systems, and in particular
methods for converting bitmaps and
fonts from a PC to a form suitable for
compiling into an embedded system. The
companion page
for this article contains downloadable
code and executables.
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Embedded
Graphics Part 2: Objects and
Refreshing the Display
This article discusses
structures that can be used to control
objects on the display to allow
interactive interfaces to be built.
Different refresh policies are examined,
which provide varying amounts of control
over the objects on the display. |
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Color
by Numbers
Embedded GUIs are growing more elaborate
day by day. Developers now have to
contend with such arcana as a color
palette. We also look at the Palm Pilot
and discuss anti-aliasing. Readers'
Comments and further comment from
Niall |
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Light and Magic
This month we look at how we can take
advantage of diasplays with a large
color range to produce shading effects
for buttons and widgets. |
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GUI
Add-On Options
Discussion of the Amulet serial GUI
and the Segger graphics library.
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Dealing
with touch sensitive areas of
graphical objects
This
piece explores various algorithms for
establishing the exact point of
intended touch on an GUI and whether
those touches should be applied to
an object at or near that location. |
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Beginner's
Corner: Watchdog Timers
An introduction to watchdog timers.
Niall Murphy co-authored this piece with
Michael Barr. |
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Watchdog
Timers
More advanced
use of a watchdog timer as a safety
check to make sure your software has
not hung. The second half of this
article deals with RTOS integration.
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Lock
Up Your Software
Interlocks providing mechanical
limitations on software. The key to
preventing software catastrophe is
outthinking an imaginary malicious
programmer.
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Lock
Up Your Software Part 2
Further discussion of interlocks
and dead man controls. We also look at
how the user interacts with such
protection mechanisms. Readers'
Comments
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Assertiveness
Training for Programmers
I look at when and why to use the
assert() macro. Readers' Comments and
Errata |
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Assert
Yourself
More discussion of the assert() macro,
with a look at how to define it in a
style suitable for embedded systems. |
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Forget
Me Not
If using EEPROM or NVRAM, you need to
take precautions such as checksums and
double-buffering if you want to detect
or fix corrupt data. Readers
Comments |
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A
Version Therapy
A follow-on from last month. If you
upgrade your software, but you want your
persistent storage to remain valid then
you need to plan for it in advance. Readers'
Comments |
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Flushing
Out Memory Leaks
First of two parts on memory leaks. This
month discusses the challenges of
measuring usage and leaks, and the
shortcomings of the tools available. |
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Start
Me Up
Curious bugs can creep in if you do
not give sufficient attention to the
initialisation of variables. Readers'
Comments and Errata
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Bugopedia
We all learn from our mistakes, but it's
less painful to learn from the mistakes
of others. This list of bugs shows some
dangers that lurk within subtlties of
the compiler. |
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| Development
Process |
What
have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Niall muses about the real advantages of
objects, and some of the hidden
drawbacks. Readers Comments |
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A
Question of Quality
Can quality be generalized across
multiple industries? ISO 9000 and its
promoters claim it can. Here's a look
at the ubiquitous standard.
Readers' Comments
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ISO
9000 Backlash
Since the last ISO article generated so
much reader feedback, I decided that it
was worth another look. Readers'
Comments |
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Training
for the Long Run
A discussion of the pains and gains of
technical training in the embedded
world.
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Control
the Source
Source code version control system is
vital to allowing teams cooperate. |
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A
Case Load of Tests
Writing
code and testing code are often two
different disciplines. This piece
shows how to create good tests that
catch real bugs without
antagonizing the people who write the
software in the first place. |
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| Technologies |
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Is
Linux Worth the Effort?
A look at the ups and downs of
embedded Linux.
Readers'
Comments and further comment from
Niall
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A
Short Trip on the CAN Bus
A look at the hardware robustness of CAN
and a discussion of how to program it. Readers'
Comment |
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Murphy's
Bookshelf
Niall discusses some fun reads he had
over the years. Readers' Comments |
