Designers: Tactile Design Teams, Tactile, Seattle, Washington, USA and and Tektronix Design Team, Beaverton, Oregan, USA
Manufacturer: Tektronix, Beaverton, Oregan, USA
The first oscilloscope designed for touch from the ground up, the Tektronix 5 Series Mixed Signal Oscilloscope (MSO) features multiple patent-pending design elements offering a revolutionary experience with unparalleled digital visibility. Used as an electronic test instrument that allows observation of varying signal voltages, an oscilloscope is critical for innovation in the sciences, medicine, engineering, automotive and telecommunications industries. The 5 Series MSO is a seamless solution blending new hardware and software, using a capacitive pinch-zoom-swipe touchscreen, front panel controls, or mouse to analyze and manage multiple signals. An enhanced user interface provides intuitive touch input, visual and statistical feedback, and improved contextual problem-solving. With a 15.6-inch HD display, 5 Series MSO allows most functions to be performed on screen, minimizing knobs and buttons. The limited knobs and buttons offer haptic feedback interaction without interrupting the user flow of typical access points.
Challenge
With over 70 years of supporting humankind’s greatest advances, Tektronix is committed to providing scientists, engineers, and technicians advanced tools to help accelerate global innovation in the health, communication, mobility, and space industries. A leader in the design and manufacturing test and measurement equipment industry, Tektronix wanted to elevate their oscilloscope product line. An oscilloscope by definition is a type of electronic test instrument that’s used to observe varying signal voltages, usually as a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time. Oscilloscopes are critical for innovation in the sciences, medicine, engineering, automotive and the telecommunications industry.
The main objective was to create a next-generation, approachable usability solution while retaining an appropriate amount of Tektronix heritage. Since scientists, engineers, and technicians are using test and measurement equipment to observe the change of electrical signals, they heavily rely on performance accuracy, speed, and ease of use. The design team also set out to develop a long-lasting oscilloscope that would live for 10+ years, a typical oscilloscope lifespan.
Solution
First of its kind for Tektronix, the 5 Series MSO oscilloscope features multiple patent-pending design elements offering a revolutionary experience with unparalleled digital visibility and a cutting-edge pinch-zoom-swipe touchscreen. The new 15.6-inch HD display allows most functions to be performed on screen, minimizing knobs and buttons. The limited knobs and buttons offer haptic feedback interaction without interrupting the user flow of typical access points. Unique to the 5 Series MSO and an industry first, are the locking foldable feet (patent-pending) that give users more viewing angle flexibility by making simple adjustments to the feet and then locking them into place.
In collaboration with Tektronix, the design team traveled all around the US and to five countries to research and understand the user experience. The team identified core design traits based on their research: approachable and easy; trustworthy and durable; and powerful and precise. Collaborative prototyping and user testing were critical in developing the information architecture (IA), user experience (UX), user interface (UI), and industrial design.
A seamless solution blending the new hardware and software, the 5 Series MSO uses panel controls, or mouse to analyze and manage multiple signals. The design team created a user interface providing intuitive touch input, visual and statistical feedback, and improved contextual problem-solving. Operating a highly technical machine can be overwhelmingly complex. The 5 Series MSO offers engineers a dramatic improvement in usability.
