Proposition of ergonomic guidelines to improve usability of PLM systems interfaces

Abstract

Evolutions of PLM systems are mainly directed towards the integration of more lifecycles stages to offer more PLM functions and information systems. At first, PLM were developed and intended only for engineers in detailed design phases. As engineers are familiar with complex and sparse interfaces, PLM software are not really ergonomic. The emerging problem in the past few years is the lack of evolution of PLM software, decreasing significantly its efficiency and utilization. But now, PLM integrate entire lifecycle of the product, so interfaces should be readjusted so that every actor, other than engineers, can easily use it. In this paper, we assume that simplify and dynamize PLM software interfaces, by meeting usability features and user experience, make the system more interactive and coherent. In a first time, two states of art are realized. The first is about PLM evolution and web interfaces, the second about user experience and usability. A combination between agile method and user-centred design method are applied to these states of art in order to generate PLM software prototypes. Finally, user tests will be conducted on these prototypes in an incrementally and iterative way to correct and to validate them. The final target is to propose some ergonomic guidelines in order to create a generic interface adapted to several kinds of PLM software.