Learn HMI design — practical guides for HMI engineers
Practical articles on the symbols and the standards (ISA-101, ISA-5.1, ISO 7010, ASME Y32.11) that actually matter when you sit down to build an operator screen. Written by an automation technician who ships HMIs, with corrections and additions from the engineers in the community forum.
Standards reference
The two standards every HMI engineer reads, condensed.
ISA-101 HMI design standard — complete guide
Lifecycle, situation awareness, calm color philosophy, alarm priorities, display hierarchy, typography. The standard, in plain English.
Read → Standard · 10 minISA-5.1 instrumentation symbols reference
Tag format, letter codes (P, T, F, L, A, W, S, V, Z), modifiers, mounting bubbles (field, DCS, PLC, shared). Cheat sheet style.
Read → Reference · 11 minP&ID symbols explained
Equipment, valves, ISA-5.1 instrument bubbles and line types — what each P&ID symbol means and how to download or build them as PNG/SVG.
Read → Reference · 9 minP&ID valve symbols
Gate, globe, ball, butterfly, check and control valves — drawn in ISA style — plus actuators, fail-safe positions (FC/FO/FL) and tags.
Read → Reference · 10 minHMI symbols & SCADA symbol libraries
What HMI/SCADA symbols are, how they differ from static P&ID symbols, the calm ISA-101 color rule, and vendor-neutral PNG/SVG export for Weintek, WinCC, FactoryTalk, Ignition and AVEVA.
Read → Reference · 9 minInstrument symbols (ISA-5.1)
The instrument bubble and its outline (field, DCS, PLC, shared), the XX-NNN tag format and letter codes — drawn in ISA style, with PNG/SVG download.
Read → Reference · 8 minP&ID pump symbols
Centrifugal, positive-displacement, vacuum pumps and fans — drawn in ISA style — plus motor + VFD pairing and turning a pump into a multi-state HMI object.
Read → Reference · 7 minConveyor symbols for P&ID and HMI
Belt, screw, bucket elevator, roller and vibrating feeder symbols, the switches around them, and reversible FWD / REV arrows on the HMI object.
Read → Reference · 7 minGate, diverter and damper symbols
Knife gate, slide gate, diverter, rotary valve and damper, with the open / closed / travelling states that the ZSO and ZSC switches produce.
Read → Reference · 7 minTank, vessel, silo and hopper symbols
Atmospheric tanks, pressure vessels, silos and hoppers, how to show the level on an HMI without colouring the liquid, and the LT / LSH / LSL bubbles.
Read → Reference · 8 minProcess equipment symbols
Compressors, heat exchangers, filters, cyclones, mixers and heaters: what each outline means and which ones get running states on the screen.
Read →Practitioner guides
Concrete techniques you can apply on your next project.
Alarm management for HMI engineers
Why alarm floods happen, the ISA-18.2 lifecycle, rationalisation and priority allocation — and exactly how to show priority on the screen without breaking the calm palette.
Read → Practitioner · 10 minHMI screen hierarchy: Level 1 to Level 4
What belongs on the overview, the unit display and the diagnostics screen, navigation that works under pressure, and text sizing derived from the real viewing distance.
Read → Practitioner · 8 minThe 9 motor states every HMI should show
Stopped, starting, running, no feedback, manual, disabled, +P1 alarm, +P2 alarm, fault. PLC tag mapping + implementation in Weintek, WinCC, FactoryTalk, Ignition.
Read → Practitioner · 9 minThe calm HMI color palette: why gray wins
The two-axis color rule, the canonical palette, color blindness considerations, anti-patterns. With before/after example.
Read →Glossary & quick reference
Terms you'll find in tender specs, vendor docs and training material.
HMI / SCADA / P&ID glossary
30+ terms — HMI, SCADA, DCS, PLC, P&ID, ISA-101, ISA-5.1, alarm priorities, OPC UA, multi-state lamp, MCC, VFD, OEE — with cross-references.
Read → Cheat sheet · 1 pageISA-101 cheat sheet (printable A4)
9 motor states + canonical alarm palette + ISA-5.1 letter codes + mounting bubbles. Print and pin to your panel.
Open / print →Do, not just read
The guides explain the symbols; these are the places to get them or make them.
Explore symbols published by engineers
Motors, valves, pumps, tanks, instruments and more, drawn in the Symbol Builder and published under CC BY 4.0. Filter by category, download PNG/SVG, or open any symbol in the builder and adapt it to your legend.
Explore → Symbol Builder · freeDraw your own HMI symbol
Shapes, ISA bubbles, connection lines, state badges and the ISA-101 palette built in. Export PNG/SVG for Weintek, WinCC, FactoryTalk or Ignition, and publish it if you want others to reuse it.
Open the builder → Icon libraryGeneric HMI iconography
Arrows, electric and lightning marks, indicators, signals, alarm and state badges, instrument bubbles, connection lines, navigation and system icons: the small pieces every screen needs, consistent with these guides.
Browse icons → Forum · Q&AAsk the community
A guide does not cover your case? Ask about a symbol, a state machine or a vendor quirk. Answers come from engineers who ship operator displays, and accepted answers stay findable for the next person.
Go to the forum →Put a guide to work
Draw the symbol in the free Symbol Builder, or start from one the community already published. A free account gives you 5 downloads a month; publishing your own symbols (CC BY 4.0) keeps their export free.