For a designer, there’s nothing like seeing your product used seamlessly. When the end user can navigate it intuitively, it’s the ultimate proof that you’ve done a great job. Our many years of experience and commitment to optimal user-friendliness have been appreciated by a wide variety of people who work with our apps, applications, devices, and machines and their applications every day.
On several occasions, however, the praise extended from external experts who recognized this work as worthy of an award. A prize from an independent jury is the highlight of any design project, especially when it is awarded by a renowned institution.
Here are some stories of the times this happened with our projects.
What is good design?
Over time, everyone has probably had to deal with some kind of software. Sometimes more, sometimes less direct:
- Buy a ticket at the ticket machine?
- Get cash or pay with your smartphone?
- Want to check something with the latest app?
- Or do you simply use the search engine?
Think about how frustrating it is when you lose a lot of time searching for functions or getting annoyed with unexpected behavior of the application.
This is where our user experience (UX) designers come into play. Every day, they strive to make people’s lives better and enable them to have good – ideally, almost magical – experiences with the respective products.
At Cloudflight, we develop ideas for our customers to eliminate existing obstacles. Our UX designers work hard to ensure that these obstacles can be resolved in advance so that problems don’t arise in the first place. And, of course, we also work on making every day work easier.
Below we present just a few of our award-winning projects, for each of which we found a special solution.
We would like to thank all our clients who give us the opportunity to work on their projects and we look forward to all future projects with new challenges and new solutions.
Koenig & Bauer
The control panel app for operating Koenig & Bauer printing machines won an award years ago. Nothing was to be changed on the stable running machine; only the planned new functions, such as batch recording of consumables or location-independent machine monitoring and operating, could not be reasonably integrated there.
In order to overcome this, we developed an additional dedicated app that complements the control center seamlessly and makes the printer’s daily work significantly easier. The app accomplished two things: it extended the control panel’s functionalities and, on top of this, made it possible to control parts of the machine’s operations remotely.
Image source: Koening & Bauer
The jury of the German Design Awards saw it the same way and selected the app as the winner with the comment: “A smart solution for a well-known problem.”
Kieback&Peter
In a building complex, such as a hospital or a university, an incredible amount of technical and energy data converges. In order to implement appropriate measures, the data must be reliably displayed and evaluated. It’s a well-known saying in the industry that, in terms of energy use, a heating system works perfectly when it is switched off.
From the technical perspective, things are different. To operate buildings efficiently for all purposes, technical and energy requirements must be considered.
We developed a platform-independent software for Kieback&Peter that combines building control technology and energy management in one system. One of the main challenges was to master a large amount of information: with the system we implemented, it’s reduced to the essentials for the users, so that the content can be easily understood and thus lead to reliable decisions. Our designers also worked hard on the unique ability to switch between different visualizations for a better understanding of the individual technical plans.
Image source: German Design Awards. macio has since rebranded to Cloudflight.
Both the users and the jury were enthusiastic. The winner award of the German Design Award was justified with the comment: “This clearly laid out and intuitively designed interface not only enables users to view statuses at a glance and manage properties with ease, but also facilitates energy-efficient and sustainable operation.”
Siemens
When developing the new control system for oil and gas burners, Siemens placed particular emphasis on quick and safe commissioning. It was essential for technicians to be able to change and confirm inputs without looking at the display. To achieve this, we support the touch display with a rotary push-button for additional haptic feedback.
Image source: German Design Awards
The jury’s reasoning for a Special Mention of the German Design Award was clear: “A cleanly styled device in formal terms with a functional objective design that has an impressive user-friendly interface.” And for the jury of the German Innovation Awards, the application’s innovative ideas were also worthy of a winner.
Winterhalter
Winterhalter’s professional catering dishwasher is used worldwide by a highly varied user base. This means that highly user-oriented design with easy-to-understand workflows is even more essential than in a typical project.
Image source: IF Design Award. macio has since rebranded to Cloudflight.
Despite the extensive functionality, we managed to integrate the content into the product design in a minimalist and harmonious way on a small multi-touch user interface. The project went on to become a clear winner for the jury of the IF Design Award.
YXLON
Operating in a highly specialized niche of non-destructive material inspection, YXLON presented us with an unusual requirement. In their multi-axis machines, many functions must be displayed to set up, check, and run the complex inspection programs. However, the areas on the display where the inspection images are shown must not be touched, not even temporarily because contamination of the display can influence all inspection decisions. Gloves were not an option, either.
Image source: German Design Award
Our seamless solution impressed the juries of the German Design Award and the German Innovation Award, who selected the project as the winner: “This clean and uncluttered interface, split into two monitors, makes the inspection process even easier and more convenient.”
When expertise and innovation come together
While we’re proud of every single project that we deliver to satisfied partners, the award wins are a cherry on top that independently prove we’re on the right track and add a greater sense of accomplishment. We particularly appreciate the projects that challenge and motivate us to continue to find excellent solutions with and for our customers. If you’re looking for a proven partner for an innovative project, make sure to get in touch with us, and let’s discuss your needs in detail.