Top 5 challenges in embedded HMI development – and how to solve them
Human-machine interfaces these days are everywhere – from car infotainment displays to industrial machine controls – and they come with unique development challenges. Creating an effective embedded HMI means balancing a seamless user experience with the technical constraints of an embedded device. Unlike PC or mobile apps, HMIs run on hardware with limited computing resources and often must meet real-time and reliability requirements.
As a result, many challenges in embedded system design surface when building an HMI, ranging from hardware limitations to ensuring software quality. In this article, we explore the top five challenges in embedded HMI development and discuss how to solve them.
Hardware constraints limit HMI performance and features
One of the primary challenges in developing an embedded HMI is dealing with hardware constraints.
Embedded devices typically have far less processing power, memory, and storage than general-purpose computers. For example, an HMI running on a microcontroller or low-power processor might struggle with complex graphics or multitasking. These limited resources necessitate highly optimised code and efficient use of memory to ensure the interface remains smooth and responsive.
Power consumption is also a concern. Many embedded HMIs run on batteries or have strict energy budgets, so the system must perform within tight power limits. All these factors make it a tricky balancing act: the HMI must deliver a good user experience without overwhelming the modest hardware.
How to overcome it
Developers need to optimise software and leverage hardware accelerators to get the most out of constrained devices. This starts with writing efficient code – reducing algorithm complexity, avoiding heavy operations, and using efficient data structures so the program runs faster on limited CPUs. Where available, graphics accelerators or DSPs can offload intensive tasks (like rendering animations) from the main processor.
Careful memory management is equally important. Strategies such as memory pooling, compressing images and fonts, and freeing unused resources help prevent running out of RAM or storage.
In practice, developers often:
- Optimise algorithms and use hardware features: Simplify computations and utilise hardware graphics engines or GPUs to handle visuals more efficiently. This ensures the HMI stays responsive even with a weaker processor.
- Manage memory wisely: Use lightweight data structures and compress large assets (images, icons, fonts) so they consume less memory. Load only what’s needed and clean up resources promptly to stay within RAM limits.
- Consider low-power design: Implement power-saving modes and interrupt-driven updates so the HMI isn’t using full power all the time. For battery-powered devices, every milliwatt saved extends operating life.
By combining these techniques, an embedded HMI can deliver smooth performance despite the hardware limitations.
Designing a user-friendly interface under tight conditions
Creating a user-friendly UI on an embedded system is challenging because you must reconcile good design principles with the device’s constraints.
The HMI should be visually clear, intuitive to use, and responsive to touch – yet the limited screen size, lower resolution, or simple input methods of embedded devices can restrict design options. Moreover, embedded HMIs are often used by people in various environments and contexts.
For instance, an industrial HMI might be viewed under bright lighting or operated with gloves on, while an automotive HMI must be usable without causing driver distraction. If designers ignore these real-world conditions, projects may be hindered. Other common issues include sluggish interface response and screens that don’t scale well to different devices. All these factors can lead to a poor user experience if not addressed.
How to overcome it?
User-centered design is key to solving HMI usability challenges. Start by researching how and where users will interact with the device. This may involve studying the environmental conditions (lighting, noise, temperature, etc.) and user needs. Armed with this knowledge, designers can create interfaces that account for context – for example, high-contrast themes for outdoor visibility or large buttons for gloved hands.
It’s also vital to keep the interface simple and clear despite the system’s complexity. Prioritise the most important information and controls on screen and use a clean visual hierarchy so users can navigate easily. Techniques like responsive design can ensure the HMI layout adapts to different screen sizes or orientations if the product has variants. And because embedded UIs must feel snappy, developers often employ tricks like pre-loading graphics or using lightweight UI libraries to make touch interactions responsive.
Crucially, iterative testing with real users should be part of the design process. Relying solely on design assumptions is risky – what seems intuitive to engineers might confuse end users. Conduct usability tests on prototypes to gather feedback early. This helps catch issues with navigation, terminology, or layout before the product is final.
By iterating on the design with user feedback, you can refine the HMI to be more intuitive and effective. In short, success in HMI design comes from putting the user first: understand the context of use, design for clarity (within the device’s limits), and continuously test and refine. This ensures the interface remains user-friendly even on a constrained embedded platform.
Integrating the HMI with the embedded system
An embedded HMI doesn’t exist in isolation – it must integrate seamlessly with the underlying system hardware and software. This integration poses its own challenges.
The HMI software needs to communicate with various sensors, actuators, or controllers in real time. Often this means handling low-level communication protocols (like I²C, SPI, UART, CAN bus, etc.) to exchange data with the device’s electronics. Each protocol has quirks, and getting reliable data transfer can require careful debugging.
Timing is critical as well. The HMI might need to display sensor readings or machine status updates instantly, so the interface and the device’s firmware must be tightly coordinated.
Additionally, writing or integrating device drivers is often necessary. For example, a touch screen driver and drivers for any buttons or indicators must function correctly for the HMI to receive inputs and show outputs. Ensuring all these components work together can be difficult – a small mismatch between the HMI and device firmware can lead to communication errors or inconsistent behaviour.
How to overcome it
The key to solving integration challenges is a robust software architecture and thorough interface testing.
First, define clear interfaces between the HMI application and the underlying system. This could mean using well-defined APIs or messaging protocols so that data flows in a predictable way. Employ standardised communication protocols and proven libraries when possible – for instance, use existing stacks for CAN or TCP/IP rather than implementing them from scratch, to reduce bugs. When custom driver development is needed, developers should have a deep understanding of the hardware and write efficient, stable driver code.
It’s important to handle communication errors gracefully: build in checksums or acknowledgements for data transfers and implement retry or error-handling strategies so the HMI won’t freeze if a sensor hiccups.
During development, integration testing should be done early and often. Don’t wait until the end to connect the HMI front-end with device hardware – start testing the interface with real or simulated hardware components as soon as possible. This way, issues with communication timing or data formatting can be identified and fixed early. Using tools like hardware-in-the-loop simulators can help mimic the embedded system signals for the HMI before the actual device is fully available.
Additionally, consider employing a real-time operating system (RTOS) or similar frameworks if the application is complex. An RTOS can manage tasks and timing deterministically, which helps the HMI remain responsive to both user input and incoming data from the system’s sensors. Overall, solving integration challenges comes down to careful planning of how the HMI talks to the rest of the system, using the right tools, and relentlessly testing those interactions under real-world conditions.
Ensuring reliability and security in HMI software
Embedded HMIs often reside in critical systems – think of medical device interfaces, automotive dashboards, or industrial machine controls.
In such cases, reliability and safety are paramount. A malfunctioning HMI is not just an inconvenience. It could lead to improper machine operation or safety hazards. Thus, the HMI software must be robust against crashes, glitches, or incorrect outputs.
Achieving high reliability on constrained hardware is challenging, as even minor bugs or memory errors can cause instability over long periods. Furthermore, as embedded devices become more connected (e.g. HMIs with remote monitoring or update capabilities), security becomes a big concern. An HMI may be a gateway into the system it controls, so it must be safeguarded against unauthorised access or hacking attempts.
Unlike general IT systems, embedded systems can’t easily run heavy antivirus or encryption software due to limited resources. This means developers have to build in lean but effective security measures from the ground up. Balancing these needs for reliability and security with the device’s resource limits is a tough challenge.
How to overcome it
Adopt a disciplined, safety-first development approach. For reliability, this means thorough coding standards and testing. Developers should follow best practices such as defensive coding (e.g. checking for null pointers or buffer overflows), error handling, and using static analysis tools to catch issues early. Performing code reviews and adhering to standards (for example, MISRA C/C++ guidelines in automotive) can greatly reduce the chance of critical bugs. Many teams also use an RTOS or carefully crafted scheduling to ensure the HMI responds in real time without fail.
On the security front, implement fundamental protections that fit the device – secure bootloaders to prevent tampering with firmware, encryption of sensitive data, and authentication for any network communications. Even simple measures like locking down debug interfaces and using integrity checks can harden the system. It’s wise to consider security early in the design, not as an afterthought, so that the HMI’s architecture accommodates necessary protections.
Testing plays a huge role here as well.
Do rigorous stress testing to see how the HMI performs under heavy load or prolonged usage – for example, leave the system running for days and simulate rapid user inputs to ensure it doesn’t crash. Conduct failure mode testing: deliberately feed bad data or disconnect sensors to verify the HMI can handle errors gracefully. For security, if the device is connected, consider penetration testing or code analysis focused on vulnerabilities.
The goal is to ensure the HMI software is reliable and secure by design. In safety-critical applications developers must implement robust error handling, conduct thorough testing, and follow best practices for secure coding. By doing so, you significantly lower the risk of failures in the field and protect the system against potential threats.
Comprehensive testing and futureproofing of the HMI
Thorough testing and validation are essential to deliver a successful embedded HMI, but it’s often easier said than done.
HMIs sit at the intersection of hardware and software, which means there are many things to test: functional correctness of the UI, the responsiveness to user input, the accuracy of data shown, and the interaction with the device’s hardware under various conditions.
Testing can be complicated by the variety of scenarios the HMI might encounter. For instance, the device could be used in extreme temperatures or high-vibration environments – especially for industrial or automotive HMIs – and you need to ensure the interface still works in those conditions.
There’s also the challenge of usability testing: validating that real users can understand and effectively use the interface, which often means testing with users who have not been involved in the development.
Finally, embedded products tend to have long lifecycles. If the HMI isn’t designed with future updates or scalability in mind, it may struggle to adapt to new requirements or improvements over time. Lack of planning for updates can make it very costly or even impossible to extend the HMI’s functionality once deployed.
How to overcome it
Embrace a comprehensive testing strategy and design for longevity. On the testing side, employ multiple levels of testing throughout development. Functional testing verifies that every feature of the HMI works correctly – for example, each button press triggers the intended action, and each data reading is displayed accurately.
Automated testing tools can be helpful here: for instance, scripts that simulate touch input on the HMI can repeatedly run through workflows to catch regressions. Next, do usability testing with actual users or stakeholders. Observe them using prototypes of the HMI to identify any confusing elements or inefficiencies; then refine the design based on this feedback.
Also, perform environmental and stress testing. If the HMI device will be used in harsh environments, use climate chambers, vibration tables, or electromagnetic interference tests to validate it can withstand those without the interface failing. Testing such conditions often requires specialised equipment and adds to project complexity, but it’s crucial for mission-critical devices.
In parallel, think about future-proofing the HMI.
Design the software in a modular way so that new features or updates can be applied without needing to redesign the entire system. This might involve using a plugin-like architecture for new screens or keeping business logic separate from display logic, making it easier to update one without breaking the other.
Where possible, enable over-the-air updates or some mechanism for field upgrades, so improvements and security patches can be delivered to devices already in use. Planning for scalability – for example, anticipating that a product line might later get a higher-resolution screen or additional sensors – can save a lot of time down the road. By validating the HMI thoroughly before release and architecting it with the future in mind, you ensure that it will serve users reliably for years to come.
Do you need help with embedded software development?
Embedded HMI development is undoubtedly challenging, but by understanding these key pain points and addressing them proactively, you can significantly improve your project’s outcome. Every challenge, whether it’s hardware limits, user interface design, system integration, reliability, or testing – has a solution strategy that can mitigate risks and set your HMI up for success.
In many cases, overcoming these hurdles requires a multidisciplinary approach: close collaboration between software engineers, hardware designers, UI/UX experts, and test engineers.
Does your team need support in developing an embedded HMI that meets these high standards?
At Spyrosoft, we have extensive experience in HMI software development across automotive, medical, industrial and consumer domains. We offer HMI development and consulting services that cover every stage from design and prototyping to software building, optimisation, and testing.
Visit our HMI development services page to see how we can help turn your HMI vision into a reality.
About the author
Przemyslaw Krzywania
HMI Director
