Rapid prototyping

Device designers in the embedded microprocessor industry are finding new ways to speed up development, shorten requirements generation time, and create embedded graphic user interfaces (GUI) by using tools like the Tilcon GUI Builder on the PC for prototyping. Such tools are more powerful on the bottom line than one might at first imagine. Sure, one could say the tool is all about "building the screens" for the end product, but this is a practical world. Productivity and being on time are key goals in the real world of business. Let's talk about prototyping your embedded GUI and what that really means to your business!
Building and running a live, hands-on prototype is just about the best way that a product design team can reach agreement on the interface and reflect on the requirements' completeness and effectiveness. RAPID prototyping is even better! Flying the Embedded GUI on the screen of your PC with full interactive capability at this stage by real users provides valuable input. Requirements that are incomplete are found and corrected, and new requirements for a better Human-Machine Interface (HMI) implementation can be achieved much earlier in the cycle.
Lack of practical user input, when combined with requirements and specifications that are, frankly, not always complete, becomes a major source of delay and reduced functionality in the electronic product design industry. Oh, and, I almost forgot! Once you start in on the project there is a tiny little thing that might go unnoticed called "CHANGE" that occurs to the requirements and specifications... another adversary to the end goal. Rapid GUI prototyping of the changes on the embedded GUI builder is by far the best way to check out the impact or effect of those changes in an "almost live" fashion.
The Tilcon GUI Builder is codeless and fast. On the development PC the product screens can be built quickly with stock "widgets." Attributes can be quickly modified via tables, and actions and reactions can be defined all within the confines of the GUI Builder toolkit. Turning on a simulation mode makes the widgets come alive! Your team can twiddle, tweak and stress-test the interface to their hearts' content. Then they can write the final specification based on what works!
Lastly, prototyping is improved via the recent integration with Adobe Photoshop. The addition of direct import and export of Photoshop layers leverages the capabilities of the prototype phase by allowing a graphic designer to very quickly add imagery, branding and skins to the embedded GUI prototype. When all is said and done these exact screens can be loaded onto the real-time device board by downloading the 'descriptor files' to the development team's actual product board when it arrives and has been outfitted with the Tilcon runtime engine module pre-built for the specific OS that is running on the device board.
So, there we have it: product design professionals should look for ways to quickly develop GUI prototypes iteratively to very early and very quickly nail down specifications. Simultaneously, this approach reduces the need for an overload of "pretty concept pictures" in far too many Powerpoint presentations created by the varied members of the well-meaning team, without the benefit of the "feel" for the screens the prototype provides.
The product development can indeed proceed earlier at both the technical and artistic levels in parallel with little development disruption when this methodology is used. Higher quality, faster turnaround, and stylish branding are all reasons to adopt an early prototyping strategy. It's time to get that product to market!
Joseph Callaghan has over 25 years of experience in the Embedded design and Product Development industry.

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