1. A computer-implemented method for configuring a device to perform a measurement function, wherein the device includes a programmable hardware element, the method comprising: creating a graphical program, wherein the graphical program includes a block diagram, wherein the graphical program implements the measurement function; generating a hardware description based on the block diagram of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the block diagram; configuring the programmable hardware element in the device utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured hardware element, wherein the configured hardware element implements a hardware implementation of the block diagram; the device acquiring a signal from an external source after said configuring; the configured hardware element in the device executing to perform the measurement function on the signal; and displaying one or more panels on a display during the configured hardware element in the device executing to perform the measurement function on the signal, wherein at least one of the one or more panels displays the measured signal.