More than the Box

Why? Recent research has shown that the leading kiosk development issues for providers are: pricing, software, connectivity and time-to-market. These issues are aligned with and reflect the underlying requirements of our customers, and probably most of you who are reading this now. We believe the reliability and performance of hardware has for many years exceeded that of the software configuration, systems and user interfaces that depend on this hardware. Unfortunately the exponential growth in hardware performance has not translated into similar software performance levels.

We also believe the reliability and availability of kiosk hardware has for many years exceeded that of the networking infrastructure connecting the hardware to wider network. So, hardware performance can ultimately depend on the software and the network, and there is a symbiotic link between all three.

In an increasingly networked world, with many sources of data, the responsiveness and reliability of kiosk user interfaces has to exceed that of all competing hand-held touch screen devices. We believe those without access to or the ability to access these small devices are the most in need of a user interface and experience that is fast, interesting, relevant and easy. And for those who are packing the latest iPhone then we believe we should be building more bridges between the device and kiosk, and all available channels, setting information free.

In summary we offer more than the box simply because after 20 years we’re pretty good at making the box. However there is now a pressing need to tackle the familiar kiosk project issues, and misconceptions, for our customers and kiosk users:

- a poor return on the investment due to capital and ongoing costs not matched to the business case;

- software not working as it should leading to frustrated users and staff, and

- other elements not working as they should such as the network or 3rd party data feeds.

How?

At Neo we continually strive to be the leading Kiosk Systems Integrator by creating customer focussed products and services. As a single specialist integration provider, coupled with a global in-house manufacturing facility, we are well placed to deliver kiosk projects and effective larger roll-outs in a cost effective way and fast time-to-market.

Build a platform, use the best tools and become more responsive

By designing simple software that does the bare minimum to enable interoperability we create more innovative services and software solutions for our hardware, or in fact any hardware provider. These products have been designed as a platform and kiosk ’app infrastructure’ on to which more end-user facing products can be built. We have also built network applications that move data to and from kiosks in an asynchronous way and also services that move data between files and SQL database systems. These platform products are designed to be agnostic to the hardware and peripherals, data format, GUI technology and communications protocol. The platform also includes re-usable GUI components that have been optimised for many collaborating users and multi-touch gesture based applications.

The platform together with a focus on responsiveness and agile teams, engineering best practice and user-centred design translate into time savings, effective delivery, high-quality results and a greater ability to change. This is especially important when conducting kiosk trial projects or prototyping new concepts.

We discovered there were no open, modern and extensible libraries or development environments tailored for the development of kiosk software and user interfaces. Those that do exist tend to be closed or limited to programming models or proprietary scripting that are not powerful enough to create cutting edge user interfaces or to link to standard 3rd party libraries or services. These environments were usually designed for a specific application type, such as Internet cafe browsers or digital signage, and then extended to try and meet the needs of more general application development.

We believe GUIs should be carefully hand crafted and built using tools that strike the right balance between expressiveness, ease of use to the developer and interoperability with other tools. It is the other tools for compiling, testing, deploying and configuring that we automate so that we can spend more of our time on new feature requests, ensuring applications are properly debugged prior to deployment and supporting customers.

This approach allows us to add value through design, engineering and the knowledge of how to select, integrate and support the best possible hardware, software and distributed components.

What?

Okay, now you have a general idea of why we are interested in more than the box and how we changed the company to support this new direction it’s time to provide some specific facts and examples to backup these beliefs and to also introduce some of the applications, utilities and services we are now providing, and finally some of the active areas of research and development for the kiosks of the future.

In 2008, Neo delivered application software, content acquisition software, an operating platform, hardware and remote managed services to its first integration customer in the UK.

In 2009, Neo followed up with e-wrap delivering this innovative solution to Australian retailers, again integrating all the elements in house and accepting responsibility for the complete solution and operation support.

In 2010, we have been working on packages, APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and utilities that are all about helping our goal to provide the best kiosk systems integration experience.

The .Net API we have developed is called the Neo Kiosk Framework and this has a corresponding JavaScript API called WebLink. These APIs provide Neo’s kiosk operating platform that sits just above the OS and just below end-user applications. The APIs provide higher level functions to support kiosk hardware peripherals, modern touch based user interface controls, encryption, inter-kiosk and server communications, file transfer, content acquisition, device management, sales order processing and payment services.

I hope that this has given you an insight into our thought processes and current areas of activity. Please contact us for more information on how to license this software and our kiosk management services.

Kiosk Success Factor #3

In this series of blogs, I will describe the critical success factors that make or break a kiosk system - the things that determine whether the kiosks make money, or whether they are just a waste of space. For each characteristic, I will give examples of live kiosk systems that, in my opinion, have got it right.

The third factor I’d like to talk about is usability. Previously, I described how Kiosks must be well sited designed and signposted to attract users to them. So, let’s assume you’ve got users’ attention, how do you keep it? How do you make them feel engaged and confident in what they are doing?

Usability: the quality of being easy to use

Keep it Simple
Like websites, kiosk systems must be usable without any training. Yes, you can have help screens, but in practice most potential users will not have the patience to read them. They might be happy to stand and watch the previous user or to watch a short instructional video, but it is much better to make the system so simple that this is not necessary. People don't like to appear foolish, and standing for too long at a kiosk doing nothing is likely to make them feel foolish. So let them get started quickly with simple choices from a short list. It is better to have more steps, each with a simple set of choices, than it is to have a few steps, each with a complicated choice.

Use very simple language and clear instructions. It is best to test the wording on people who know nothing about your system. You might be using terminology that isn’t generally understood or phrasing that can be misinterpreted. Illustrations or icons can be used to supplement the text. For example, when something like a credit card or photo memory card needs to be inserted, show the location of the slot and the correct orientation of the card using a picture or short video. This is also true for menu options.

Use Menu Screens
If the kiosk supports up to four basic tasks, then all four can be offered on the opening screen. But if it offers more than four functions, which is about the limit for a user to read and understand quickly, then I think it’s better to group the functions under common headings. By grouping functions, you can limit the choice on the first screen to no more than four things. The full range of functionality is then accessed via a second (or even third) set of menu screens.

Reassure and Entertain the User
If a process is going to take more than a few seconds, it’s worth reassuring the user that something is happening. If you don’t do this, the user may assume that the machine isn’t working and continue to press keys or touch the screen. A progress bar or spinning icon are a good way to do this. I can hear you say that this is just good practice for any user interface, but touch screens are particularly susceptible to unnecessary repeated input. Lack of feedback makes the user unsure about whether they touched the screen properly. An audible click or some visible change to the button helps, but the safest thing to do is to suspend all future input from the screen until the process is complete.

If a process is going to take several minutes, then take the opportunity to entertain the user with a video advertisement. However, you should resist the temptation to have the video take longer than the process. Many customers will be in a hurry and it is generally more profitable to have a rapid throughput of many customers than it is to keep a few customers longer than they would prefer.

Allow the User Privacy
I mentioned in Kiosk Success Factor #2 that it is important to give users enough space to use the kiosk. You should also take privacy into account when designing the user interface. For example, if they are selecting images to print from their digital camera, you should only show thumbnail images unless they specifically ask to enlarge a picture. They may not want bystanders to see their photos. An alternative approach is to use a privacy filter to blur the screen image when viewed from a wide angle.

Gain the Users Trust
If you want users to spend money at your kiosk, you need to gain their trust. People are naturally suspicious of technology. They may worry about entering their credit card or inputting their personal details. So you should only ask them to do this things after you have told them what they will receive in return and after you have reassured them about their privacy and security.

Usability is a big subject, and I’ve only covered a few basics here. If you’re going to put a big investment into kiosks, then you should get advice. A poorly designed user interface will kill your system - however good the kiosks look. The next blog in this series will deal with the closely related subject: "Accessibility".

Kiosk Success Factors by Gary Rowing-Parker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Bridging the Digital Divide

The National Health Interactive Technology Network (HITnet) Programme in Australia has teamed up with NeoProducts to promote their latest kiosk, the Zenon, at this year’s Making Links Conference held at Melbourne University in November 2009.

This conference brings together individuals, organisations and groups working at the intersection of social action and ICT.

HITnet wants to be a leader in innovative new media services and solutions to enhance health. They promote health and well-being to disadvantaged populations through creating and sharing new media information in ways that empower individuals, families and communities.

The kiosks allow HITnet to deliver targeted health information to disadvantaged people in an autonomous learning environment with democratic access to technology to bridge the 'digital divide'. NeoProducts has been working with HITnet over the last 12 months supplying, installing and servicing 29 Zenon kiosks to locations all over Australia, some as remote as Thursday Island and the Central Desert, and there are plans to roll out many more in 2010.

"Neo have been a pleasure to work with over the last 12 months. Not only have they been responsive to our unique needs, they have delivered on time to a cost-effective budget. We look forward to an ongoing and mutually beneficial relationship"

Julie Gibson, Technical Manager for HITnet.

Kiosk Success Factor #2

In this series of blogs, I will describe the critical success factors that make or break a kiosk system - the things that determine whether the kiosks make money, or whether they are just a waste of space. For each characteristic, I will give examples of live kiosk systems that, in my opinion, have got it right.

The second factor I’d like to talk about is attraction. Kiosks must attract users to them. Ideally, they will be immediately recognisable for the useful function that they perform. If they have this quality, then they have achieved iconic status. If they have yet to reach that ideal, then they must advertise their presence and function, and they must be placed where users can find them easily.

Attraction: the quality of arousing interest

In my last blog, I said that a kiosk must deliver benefits to the user that are immediately obvious. Let’s assume our kiosk system has that quality. It might still go unused if potential users don't see it, or if they see it but don’t perceive what it has to offer them. You probably have only a few seconds to capture the user’s interest before they walk on by. So, what can you do to grab their attention?

Locate it where your customers go and where the footfall is greatest. This is often towards the front or centre of a store, but for the particular people you want to attract, it might be next to something else they tend to buy or do. However, there are two pitfalls here. First, don’t make the mistake of obstructing passers-by. Secondly, don’t create a situation where your users feel that they are in other people’s way or that they have privacy - more on this in a later blog.

Brand the kiosk using colour and decals. If you’re deploying hundreds of units, then it may be worth having a kiosk designed to meet your specific needs that looks like no other. That way, when your system takes off, your units will have iconic status. If you’re not ready for a custom-designed unit, then it’ amazing what can be done with colours, decals and other branding add-ons.

Advertise the presence of the kiosk with signs and use the screen to display an 'attractor sequence'. This is just a series of messages, images and video that shout out: "come and use me". Be careful with sound though. You must avoid interfering with other business or annoying passers-by. You can go one better by mounting a second screen above the kiosk to run the attractor sequence. This has the advantage of not interfering with the operation of the kiosk (it can run even when someone is using the machine) and it is also up above the heads of the crowd - if you are lucky enough to have one.

Cluster several kiosks together so that they create a bigger impact. This also leads to a kind of critical mass that actually draws in more users. Nowhere has this effect been better demonstrated than by Fujifilm’s digital photo kiosks at Harvey Norman stores in Australia. If you can get a buzz going, with lots of users around a cluster of kiosks, then the crowd will attract even more people. You then have the really nice problem of ensuring that no-one has to wait long to use a kiosk.

Iconic Status is achieved when the kiosd becomes well-known for what it does. RedBox is a great example of this. As are the Jobpoint kiosks in UK Jobcentres. They have such a distinctive shape that they are immediately recognisable by anyone who has seen one before.

Kiosk Success Factor #1

In this series of blogs, I will describe the critical success factors that make or break a kiosk system - the things that determine whether the kiosks make (or save) money, or whether they are just a waste of space. For each characteristic, I will give examples of live kiosk systems from Neo’s portfolio and beyond that have got it right.

The first, and probably most important, factor is Utility. Kiosks must be immediately useful, helpful or rewarding to their users. This may seem obvious, but the number of nicely designed kiosks out there with very low usage suggests that many kiosk owners have got this wrong.

Utility: the quality of being of practical use

A kiosk must deliver benefits to the user that are immediately obvious. That person will pause for only a few seconds to decide whether to use the kiosk or to do what comes more naturally to them - i.e. to seek assistance from another human being. Of course, you could force them to use the kiosk by removing the alternatives, but that is a bold strategy. The positioning of kiosks and adding signage to them in order to attract attention are also vital, but I shall deal with that in a later blog.

The list of useful things that kiosk systems can be designed to do for your customers is long and growing ever longer. For example: they are excellent for giving way-finding information; they can process straightforward transactions quickly; they can allow people to bypass queues; they can help customers find your products, do price comparisons and order items that are out of stock; they can enable people to help themselves to services that were previously mediated by your staff. I could go on. The key is to think first about what the kiosk does for your customer. Save thinking about how your enterprise can benefit until you’ve cracked that one. You won’t make sales, or save staff time, or give a better service through kiosks that your customers choose not to use.

One of the best examples of kiosk utility is at the stores of UK catalogue retailer: Argos. When I went into my local Argos store last year to buy Christmas presents it was very busy. I faced a clear choice. To my right was a long queue to order and pay for items at a checkout. To my left was a bank of kiosks (some being used and some not) offering the same function on a self-service basis. It was a 'no brainer'! In fact I went there because I hate Christmas shopping and I wanted the process to be quick and easy.

Another example is at the UK music, video and games retailer HMV. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this but the moment I walk into a music store I immediately forget the long list of music that I’ve been meaning to buy. I don’t have to worry about this at HMV because they have installed kiosks from Neo that allow customers to search a database of all their products in helpful ways. The kiosk plays you a sample on headphones, tells you whether it’s in stock and, in some stores, allows you to order the item for home delivery or download.

Both of these systems have utility. Users customers don't have to use them - there is an alternative - but the advantage they gain makes them want to do so.

DVD Vending Machines Arrive in Europe

The Redbox DVD rental kiosk has been hugely successful in the States. The units are installed in over 19,000 locations and more than 350 million movies were rented from them in 2009. The process is relatively quick. You use a touch screen to select the film, insert your credit card, and the machine uses internal robotics to dispense the DVD. You can return the DVD to any Redbox location, and, if you’re an iPhone user, you can rent DVDs from your phone and tell the system which Redbox kiosk you want to pick it up from. In addition to a selection of the most popular DVDs, most of the machines also carry Blu-ray disks and Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii games. Rental store giant Blockbuster has risen to the challenge by launching its own kiosks in the US. And now the concept has arrived in the UK. Movie Booth is a newly created brand that supplies Redbox-style kiosks to retail stores in UK and Ireland. So far, they have installed two dozen or so machines in some Tesco, Spar, Budgens and other stores. But all of these systems offer a very limited range of titles, so they will be of little interest to movie buffs or to those looking for a classic movie from the past or something slightly obscure.

This limitation can be addressed by burning DVDs on demand or by downloading titles onto USB drives or memory sticks. The obstacle to this has been (up to now) slow download speeds. Customers do not want to wait long to get their rental movie. But a new video-rental kiosk that allows consumers to download films, TV programmes and games is about to be released in the States. The MK3 DVD+Digital kiosk, developed by Californian firms Symwave and XONA Media, will utilise advanced USB 3.0 technology to achieve faster transfers and make the purchasing process fast and simple. They promise that the entire transaction will take less time than getting cash from an ATM.

Another advantage of the download approach is that the titles are automatically deleted after viewing, thus saving the customer the return trip to a kiosk. It remains to be seen whether enough people feel comfortable yet about using USB devices in this way. The success of RedBox shows that DVDs are still the media preferred by the masses. We suspect that we’ll see a wave of DVD rental kiosks sweep Europe before download kiosks gain mass-market acceptance.

Nevertheless, NeoProducts has already developed a prototype kiosk that burns DVDs on demand, and we stand ready to play a leading role in the rollout of digital download kiosks.