An advanced user-friendly screen and navigation system are the hallmarks of the Pro-Link iQ, the new innovative hand-held scan tool from NEXIQ Technologies for commercial vehicle information and diagnostic applications. The Pro-Link IQ was introduced by NEXIQ Technologies, a brand of Snap-on Incorporated in February 2008

In association with Menlo Innovations, a ground-breaking, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based software design and development firm, the NEXIQ Technologies product-development team worked with heavy-duty truck technicians to understand what technicians needed, wanted and expected in the scan tools they use in their maintenance and repair work. What NEXIQ learned was then applied to if the functional design and software programming flow.

The result is iQ unique Graphic User Interface, a clear, easy-to-use, functional touch screen that makes diagnostic scanning intuitive and simple.

The GUI was developed through a proprietary Menlo comprehensive observation and interview process. Menlo dispatched its uniquely trained researchers, known as High-Tech Anthropologists, to scrutinize the way service technicians use scan tools in their daily maintenance and repair work currently, and how they would like to use them in the future.

Menlo personnel, along with NEXIQ product management staff, spent an extensive amount of time with technicians in a variety of repair and maintenance facilities around the country.

Menlo and NEXIQ Technologies found that technicians wanted clear, sharp graphics, easier data downloads, and a screen that would allow more information to be clearly displayed. In addition, simplicity, intuitive use and navigation were “musts.”

The iQ GUI competently addresses those concerns. It is an innovative tool that requires no training to use. Technicians can pick it up and begin using it immediately through a series of easy-to-read touch screens sorted by a set of clearly marked navigation tabs. Data text and graphs are displayed clearly and colorfully in an easy-to-read manner.