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.

On-Demand Software Pilot with Neo Kiosks

The first Digital Lifeware on-demand software system in a retail partner store is now live at BIG W’s store in the Sydney suburb of Winston Hills, with customers able to browse, click and burn a wide range of PC and Mac software via Fujifilm touchscreen kiosks, which are manufactured by NeoProducts.



The system creates a fully licensed disk and prints a super high quality cover and manual on the spot in minutes. These are put into a DVD case and the customer walks away with an original quality product. The catalogue has around 1,000 titles now, is always in stock and the system is very environmentally friendly. It significantly reduces the need for transportation, storage, real estate and wastage. Digital Lifeware is working with all its partners to further develop the system to include new publishers, ranges and formats, including platform games and movies.

The catalogue currently encompasses language, fun learning, games, multi-media, office software and tools. It has the widest range of language and educational games with over 100 languages available to learn. Customers select the titles they want on the touch screen kiosk; pay for them at the counter, and the Tribeka SoftWide on-demand platform produces the product boxed in a DVD case in minutes. The product is the same as the publisher’s original, and is fully licensed and warranted by the publisher. Customers can feel safe in the knowledge that they have a legitimate product that is theirs for life and can be re-loaded in the event of any computer problems or whenever they replace their computer.

Digital Lifeware developed the retail and customer systems and integrated them with SoftWide. Fujifilm Australia developed the kiosk technology with Neo and integrated it with the Digital Lifeware systems. Tribeka developed the SoftWide platform. Other global users of the SoftWide platform include Carrefour, the second largest retailer in the world, and Microsoft.

Managing Director, Digital Lifeware, Rhett Sampson said: "We are very pleased to be working with BIG W and Fujifilm Australia to provide the best possible retail content shopping experience for their customers. They join some of the biggest and most innovative retailers and software publishers in the world in using our on demand systems to revolutionise the retail content shopping experience."

General Manager (Hardgoods) at BIG W, Charles Davey, said: "The Digital Lifeware on demand system from Fujifilm allows us to carry a wider range of software than ever before. We don’t have to manage inventory and we are always in stock. Customers can come to BIG W confident that they can find the widest range, always in stock, every day."

General Manager, Imaging Networks, at Fujifilm, Paul Rogers, said: "The Digital Lifeware on demand system combines the expertise and experience of Fujifilm Australia and Digital Lifeware in bringing innovative, quality solutions to retail."

This is another example of Neo designing and manufacturing a kiosk to meet a particular need and helping our customers achieve advances through innovation.

---

NeoProducts is an international leader in the design, manufacture and implementation of touch screen kiosks and interactive kiosk software. Since 1987, Neo has delivered over 40,000 kiosks worldwide and has particular expertise in digital photo kiosks; digital music kiosks; job search kiosks, and in the design of self-service kiosk user interfaces. Neo can supply complete kiosk solutions - including hardware, software, project management and support.

---

Kiosk Innovation in the Public Sector

Touch screen kiosks have been used widely by public sector organisations to give information to the public. They typically provide a wide range of functions and services to meet the needs of the local community. They often focus simply on access to the organisation’s website. In the best examples, a special touch screen interface version of the website is developed. In the worst examples, the website is presented without any adaptation to the needs of the general public - thus completely missing the benefits offered by a touch screen. But many public sector organisations are now taking fuller advantage of what kiosks have to offer. And some are even stretching those capabilities into new areas. Here are some examples.

Health Service
Many GP surgeries now greet patients with a kiosk in the reception area. A simple touch screen allows a patient with a pre-booked appointment to announce their arrival. This reassures the patient that their place in the queue is secure and saves the time of the receptionist. Some hospitals have also followed this route: King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Police
Several police forces in the UK have trialled information points in police stations and even in shopping malls. Avon and Somerset Police were early adopters of kiosk technology - using kiosks from NeoProducts. But they and other constabularies are now looking at allowing the public to report minor crimes on kiosks. This, of course, saves police time, but it might also appeal to citizens who prefer not to go into a police station and who do not have access the internet at home.

Public Sector Housing
The Choice-Based Letting (CBL) approach has fundamentally improved the service offered to those seeking public sector housing. The HomeFinder service in Coventry is a good example of this. The Whitefriars Housing Association in Coventry has used kiosks from Neo to make CBL available to the public in their local offices. This takes the process of searching for a suitable property away from a housing advisor - allowing the prospective tenant to browse the database him or herself on the kiosk.

Social Benefits
The local authority offices that handle claims for social benefits tend to be extremely busy. They already use ticket-based queueing systems to marshal claimants who arrive sometimes with and sometimes without an appointment. One leading council is working with Neo on a more sophisticated version of this. Claimants will be directed towards a kiosk to announce their arrival. If they have an appointment, they will be directed to the correct location within the office. If they do not have an appointment, they will be issued with a ticket and directed the correct queue. This is again intended to save staff time but also to demonstrate to claimants that they are being dealt with quickly and fairly.

Public Employment Services
Still one of the best examples of the use of kiosks in the public sector is for job-finding. Most public employment services in the developed world now offer job search on kiosks. Neo supplied kiosks to one of the first systems in Australia. We also supplied kiosks to one of the biggest systems for Jobcentre Plus in the UK.

The public sector is now going beyond using kiosks simply to give information. In some cases it is leading the way for the private sector. The need for massive savings in public expenditure in the wake of the global recession will surely encourage more public bodies to use touch screen kiosks in exciting new ways.

Kiosks are the Future

So thinks HLN's Money Expert Clark Howard. He says: "The best service in the world is yourself" and goes on in his blog to cite the rapid growth of petrol pump and check-in self-service kiosks as a model for the future.

"If you go into a fast food restaurant, which I'm very familiar with, I'm always annoyed if I can’t make my own soft drink. I want to be able to do my own perfect mix. And when they make it behind the counter, it’s not going to be the way I want it. Now, Coca Cola is testing a new kiosk that is essentially a touch-screen computer that allows you to make your own custom beverage."

"In the next few years, even at mid-priced restaurants, you will most likely place your order and pay for your meal at a kiosk. At mid-prices and below, it’s hard to track and retain servers because there’s just not enough tip income. Or you have a server who has to cover too many tables. And it will be so much easier to have a kiosk where people can place and pay for their orders, and the server just brings you your food and beverage."

He concludes by saying that kiosks will not undermine good service: "isn’t it a service if someone puts in a machine that allows you to do something better and more quickly?". I agree with him, it surely is. NeoProducts has piloted food-ordering kiosks with MacDonald's in Australia.

17 Million Brits Have Never Been Online!

We in the IT industry sometimes act as if everyone uses the web as much as we do. But the truth is that 17 million Britons have never been online. That is the challenge facing Martha Lane-Fox, co-founder of Lastminute.com and freshly appointed by the UK government as their Digital Champion.

Have those 17 million people chosen not to go on-line? Do they see it as irrelevant to their lives, too expensive or simply too daunting? I suspect that the last two of these are nearer the mark. In fact I think many of them feel left out and at a disadvantage because they do not use the web.

Ms Lane-Fox has hosted the first meeting of a task force to target the six million poorest Britons. There is a close correlation between social and digital exclusion. The poorest sectors of society make up a large part of the 17 million.

She has a tough job. Professor Bill Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute thinks she is trying to convert those who have no desire to be converted: "The big question is how do you get people to experience a technology that they are predisposed not to be interested in,". I disagree. Who would not want access to cheaper car or household insurance? Who would not like to be able to find a job using the power of on-line searching technology? Who would not like to be able to correspond by emails with distant friends and relatives?

The UK government definitely wants to do far more business on-line. Currently 80% of its transactions are done with the bottom 25% of society, and moving these services on-line offers great cost savings. The Department for Work and Pensions (Jobcentre Plus) jobs website already has a pretty impressive one million searches per day.

And local government is following this lead. For example, Coventry City Council has put applications and bidding for social housing exclusively on-line. The scheme has driven more people to the Foleshill UK Online centre, one of 6,000 centres around the UK designed to get more people computer literate and using the web. "It is an internet-based service and unless you are computer literate it is not easy. It is a way of us helping people to help themselves," said Chrissie Morris, an advice officer at the centre.

By the way, both Jobcentre Plus and Coventry City Council use kiosks from NeoProducts to extend the reach of their on-line services. They recognise that one cannot migrate services to the web without catering for those without access. And the most cost-effective way of doing that is with kiosks. With a simplified touchscreen user interface; context-sensitive help, and good design, they make using the web easy.

One way to include those 17 million people in the digital revolution is to make the most popular and useful on-line services available on lots of conveniently-placed public access kiosks.

e-Choupal Shows the Way

e-Choupal has been created by ITC Limited to enable rural farmers in India to buy and sell agricultural produce like soya beans, wheat, and coffee. It does this by allowing them directly to negotiate the sale of their produce via a network of PCs and kiosks in 6,500 centres spread across 100 districts in 10 states. Previously, the farmers had to go through numerous and sometime corrupt intermediaries.

What a great idea and what a fantastic use of kiosks! Allowing shared public access to interactive technology is what kiosks are all about. And this is only the beginning.

Several rural job portals have recently been launched in India. They are expected to grow rapidly and play a vital role in the Indian government’s vision for inclusive growth in India. e-Choupal has already been identified as a platform to deliver these portals to rural populations. That make’s perfect sense. The infrastructure is there and the system has gained public acceptance.

Of course, NeoProducts can rightly claim to be the world-leader in developing kiosks for job broking. We have delivered national systems on a big scale (in the UK and Australia) and on a small scale in countries as diverse as Ireland, Malta and the Czech Republic. We hope soon to be working with partners in the developing world on systems like e-Choupal.

We will be explaining the benefits of using custom-designed touchscreen kiosks with very rugged components and casings - machines that will continue to deliver reliable service whatever conditions they are placed in and however much use (and misuse) they get.

Why Kiosk Design Should be Left to the Experts

I love the technology behind Intel’s latest foray into retail self-service. Their grocery checkout terminal concept allows shoppers to send grocery lists to their mobile phone and retrieve and scan electronic coupons. The touchscreen interface also provides customers with useful information, like a recipe look-ups. The kiosk provides effective cross-selling opportunities for the grocer and reduces transaction time by giving the consumer the choice of self-checkout.

So far so good. But the kiosk they have designed is far from ideal in my opinion. It breaks lots of rules of ergonomics and would be very difficult for some customers to use - particularly those in wheelchairs.

As a company specialising in self-service systems, NeoProducts has years of experience designing easy to use and very accessible kiosks. Its Affinity model set a new standard for this back in 2001. Its side-mounted screen, with plenty of leg-room underneath, is perfectly pitched for both standing and seated users, and can be reached comfortably without stretching. Thousands of these kiosks have been in heavy daily use since then without any usability issues emerging.

But the lessons of this seem not to have been learned by newcomers to the world of kiosks. Intel!...we should talk.

e-wrap Launched in the Championship

Hot on the heels of its Premier League debut at Aston Villa, e-wrap makes its first appearance in the Coca-Cola Championship.

West Bromwich Albion became the second football club in Europe to launch e-wrap. Fans of the Baggies are now able to personalise their mobile phones, Nintendo DSs and iPods with some great designs.

To help Baggies fans stand out from the crowd, e-wrap has designed exclusive and unique West Brom wraps, one of which is shown here on an iPhone held by Albion centre-half Leon Barnett. There are 18 other designs to choose from.

e-wrap is the latest electronic device decoration and protection technology - high-quality vinyl skins in a wide range of designs for most mobile phones and other hand-held devices. The customer selects their preferred design and device using a NeoProducts touchscreen kiosk. An e-wrap in their chosen design is then cut to fit their device.

e-wrap Launched in the Premier League

NeoProducts launched its exciting new product e-wrap for Aston Villa at their home game with Fulham in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday 30 August.

e-wrap is the latest electronic device decoration and protection technology - high-quality vinyl skins in a wide range of designs for most mobile phones and other hand-held devices. The customer selects their preferred design and device using a NeoProducts touchscreen kiosk. An e-wrap in their chosen design is then cut to fit their device.

Aston Villa have commissioned their own e-wrap design. This will allow their fans to be the first in the Premier League to show their elegance on their mobile phone.

It is possible to e-wrap almost any electronic device from phones through to games consoles and digital cameras in lots of exciting designs. But custom designs (like Villa's) can be added to the range with ease.

For more information and to become part of a genuine world first retail revolution, please contact:
Jurgen Strack
+44 (0)121 486 4302
+44 (0)7855 430662
Press release on prlog.org