The following items present the detailed plans and results for the power management controls project. Our goal is to make the process of collecting, reviewing, and synthesizing the information for the project as transparent as possible, allowing easy access on the web to great majority of project data and publications. Unless noted, all of these are in PDF (Portable Document Format). Documents are listed in order of posting on the web, most recent first.
For brochures and powerpoint presentations, see the Overview page.
The initial draft of IEEE 1621 is available in PDF and MS Word formats.
The standards process precludes the posting of additional drafts without password protection.
Colors: Rationale for Color Selection Used in ANSI/VITA 40-2003. Additional background and discussion on color range selection provided by Craig Hartley of Sun Microsystems, March 2004 (4 pages; 2.5 MB).
The research phase of the Power Management Controls project lasted from mid-2000 through the end of 2002. While the draft User Interface Standard was a key result, the final report for the project contains a great deal of background information, particularly in the eight appendices.
The Power Control User Interface Standard - The main report primarily reviews the process by which the research was conducted (55 pages; 0.4 MB; December, 2002).
Attachment 1 - The Initial Draft of IEEE 1621 (12 pages; 0.1 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix I - The Power Control User Interface Standard: Background and Rationales (17 pages; 0.5 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix II - Insights for Power Controls from User Interface Literature Review (9 pages; 0.1 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix III - Accessibility of Power Controls (4 pages; 0.1 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix IV - Power Indicator Colors and Accessibility (5 pages; 0.1 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix V - Standards Related to Power Controls (7 pages; 0.1 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix VI - Sleep Symbols, The Crescent Moon, and Islam (8 pages; 0.1 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix VII - Testing and Usability of Power Controls (12 pages; 0.1 MB; December, 2002).
Appendix VIII - The "Hibernate" Mode and Power Controls (8 pages; 0.2 MB; December, 2002).
Power Switch Labeling - for Medical and Other Devices (4 pages, 0.2 MB; November, 2002).
The Power Control User Interface Standard:
Fall 2002 Testing Results and Conclusions
(8 pages, 1.2 MB; October, 2002).
This reviews the results of testing conducted in September, 2002 regarding
power symbols and indicator lights. See also one of the
powerpoint slide sets used in the testing process (11 slides, 0.4 MB; September, 2002).
The second half of the user interface standard, on "Dynamic Behavior" (4 pages, 1.0 MB; August, 2002) was released for comment on August 19, 2002. Comments are welcome any time, but most useful before October, 2002.
The standard was described in a paper presented at the 2002 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings as "Fixing the Power Management Controls Problem" (August, 2002).
The new Moon symbol, an explanation of Designing the new Moon Symbol (1 pages, 0.2 MB; June, 2002) and a precise drawing (1 page, 0.1 MB, June 2002) of it. See the "Sleep, ..." discussion below for more background.
A paper Toward a Standard User Interface for Power Controls (9 pages, 1.0 MB; April, 2002) was included in the conference conference papers for the Microsoft Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC). The paper is also available at the WinHEC Conference web site.
Insights from User Interface Literature
(7 pages, 0.03 MB; July, 2001).
The Tentative Recommendations (4 pages, 0.4 MB; July, 2001) we released in July, 2001. Note that a sixth principle of the standard was subsequently added (that Hibernate is a form of off and a new term is needed).
Who is involved in Power Management Controls?
(11 pages, 0.06 MB; December, 2001).
This is our "Institutional Review", our analysis
of the companies, trade associations, standards organizations, government agencies,
and other organizations — that may be relevant to the project.
It was updated from an earlier version based on PAC input.
Sleep, the Crescent Moon, and Islam
(4 pages, 0.6 MB; May, 2002).
User Perceptions of Power Controls, Icons and Power States
by Jonathan Puleio and Jenna Shanis,
Cornell University (26 pages, 1.5 MB; 2002).
Testing the User Interface Standard: UCB Survey Results
(1 page, 0.45 MB; May, 2002).
This covers two separate tests, On, Off, or Asleep?: User Perceptions of Power
Controls on Common Office Equipment and Power Controls -- Form and Function: Mapping the User's
Mental Model. The detailed results for both are available
here.
Instructions for Powering your PC (2 pages, 0.4 MB; June, 2001), a sample set of instructions that could be included in manuals for PCs that meet the user interface standard.
Older, generally obsolete, publications can be found here