IDEX
Fire truck pump panel
A touch-screen pump panel for firefighters, designed to work with thick gloves, read from across the truck bay, and feel familiar to crews trained on physical knobs and levers.
- Role
- Design and research
- Company
- IDEX
- When
- 2018 to 2020
- Industry
- Public sector
Constraints
- A custom hardware platform with its own design limits
- Usable with thick fireproof gloves
- Readable at a distance
- A look that appeals to the firefighter
Gloves
There is plenty of research on ideal touch target sizes. None of it accounts for fireproof gloves. I designed the interface to respond reliably in the worst conditions, then tested it that way.
Familiar controls
Firefighters train on knobs, buttons, switches, and levers. Skeuomorphic controls carried that training into the screen so a new concept did not cost a crew its muscle memory.
Where it went
The system shipped as SAM, the integrated waterflow solution IDEX Fire & Safety sells today. The video below is theirs; the controls in it are the ones on these screens.
The stakes
A misread on this panel during a fire has real consequences, so every state was tested under the conditions it would be used in.
SAM integrated waterflow solution, by IDEX Fire & Safety
Walkthrough
Screen 1 of 9. Click the screen or use the arrow keys to step through.
Pump panel home: water and foam levels with a push to pump button