Building Amazing User Interfaces with LabVIEW

Back in the good old days (a phrase some of our younger product managers are tired of hearing me say), our sales guys had it easy.  Simply open a blank VI, drop down a knob or toggle switch, make it move, and wait for the oohs and aahs (and orders).  The user interface – how you develop it and how it interacts with your programs – is and will continue to be a key differentiator for LabVIEW.  In recent years, as iPhone apps and other hot new devices have become the talk of the tech world, people have begun to expect that UIs should look sexy, with glossy controls and color schemes. We’ve heard the low, rumbling feedback about  how LabVIEW UI elements could use an update, and believe me, we’re working it. In the interim a few employees and LabVIEW users have formed the UI Interest Group   to share best practices and templates for building modern, eye-catching controls for LabVIEW.  There is actually a lot you can do to create your own custom controls that look very modern, unique, or conform to some specific design themes.  Check out some of their work: 

Creating your own custom controls is fairly simple. Each control is made up of several elements that you can replace with your own images. For example, a LabVIEW gauge is made up of the following objects:

To create your custom control you just replace each object with your custom design:

Now it does take a good eye for design and a decent image editing tool to make these, and I don’t have either. If you’re in my boat, join the UI Interest Group to download the controls they’ve built and learn more about making your own.