Abstract: The general field of the invention is that of viewing systems comprising first means making it possible to process and to store the various data necessary for the accomplishment of a technical or industrial process, second means making it possible to determine the various tasks to be accomplished by a user in the course of the process on the basis of the previous data, a computer for generating graphical images associated with a viewing device and a man-machine interface with the said viewing device. The viewing device according to the invention displays a succession of graphical icons, each icon representing a task to be accomplished, the various icons being ordered according to a time scale extending from the start to the end of the process. The system and the method according to the invention are of global or holistic types. A certain number of operations on these icons can be performed by means of the man-machine interface. The favoured field of the invention is that of aircraft instrument panels.