How do you apply an ISA 101 HMI style guide when a partner builds the screens?
Share the client’s style guide and templates before any screens are built, and agree a review checklist based on them. Review the first few screens closely before the bulk is built, so corrections go into the templates once instead of into every screen.
Send us one work packageWhat ISA 101 gives you
ISA 101 is the ISA series of standards for human machine interfaces in process automation. It covers the HMI lifecycle and conventions such as display hierarchy, navigation, the use of color, alarm presentation and dynamic elements. It does not dictate a single look; it expects each site or company to write its own style guide within that framework. That style guide is what a partner needs.
Step 1: share the inputs
Before a partner builds anything, send the client’s HMI style guide, the object or template library if one exists, two or three approved example screens, the tag naming convention and the display hierarchy the client expects. If there is no written style guide, agree one first; a partner guessing at style is the main source of rework.
Step 2: agree a review checklist
Turn the style guide into a short checklist your reviewer can apply screen by screen. Typical items: gray or neutral backgrounds with color reserved for abnormal states; consistent alarm indication and priority colors; the right level in the display hierarchy; standard faceplates used for every device type; units, number formats and labels as specified; and navigation that follows the agreed map. The partner should check its own work against the same list before handoff.
Step 3: templates before screens
Ask the partner to build and submit the templates and faceplates first. Most style issues live there. Fix them once in the library and every screen that uses them inherits the fix.
Step 4: review early, then sample
Review the first two or three complete screens in detail, in your own development environment. Once those pass, review later screens by sampling and by the checklist. Log style decisions as you make them, so the partner and your reviewer work from the same record.
Step 5: keep the client out of the loop until you are ready
The partner delivers to you, not to the client. Your team decides when screens are ready to show, and the client sees them under your name.
Common mistakes when a partner builds to a style guide
The usual problems are predictable. Bright colors used for normal running states, which ISA 101 style guides typically reserve for abnormal conditions. Faceplates that look right but behave differently from the client’s standard objects. Screens placed at the wrong level of the display hierarchy, so navigation feels inconsistent. Text and units that do not match the naming convention. All of these are cheap to catch in the first few screens and expensive to catch at FAT, which is why early review matters more than the review of the last screen.
Related questions
Ajinkya Technologies works behind US control system integrators on HMI, SCADA, MES, testing and documentation, under the integrator’s brand and NDA. Questions: bdo@ajinkyatechnologies.in.
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Reviewed by Amey Kadle, Founder, Ajinkya Technologies. Last reviewed: .