By Shawna Miller
This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, Jul/Aug 2006.
Even before urban legends became the bane of e-mail curmudgeons, people passed around the tale of the man who spent years assembling a plane (or a boat) in his garage (sometimes it was a barn). When the craft was ready for its maiden voyage, however, the man realized the doors of the building weren’t big enough to let it pass. He had forgotten to measure them.
The poor sucker in the parable was just a guy with a toolbox and too much time on his hands. Business people — including those who contemplate, order and deploy kiosks — are supposed to be smarter. Unfortunately for their bosses and the would-be users of the machines, such advanced smartness is not always evident.
What constitutes an environment as far as a kiosk goes comprises four distinct but undividable considerations: signage, traffic flow, workspace and user privacy. Each should be maximized to give the kiosk the greatest opportunity to do its job, whether it’s gift registry, photo, bill payment or credit application.
Signage
Signs are what point your customers’ way to the kiosk from across the room, terminal, office, or wherever else you may want to attract them. Then, once the customer has been drawn in, additional signage helps the customer understand how to accomplish the task at hand.
Effective signage consists of the simultaneous presence of visibility, readability and understandability.
Visibility. Signage must be unobstructed and readable from a distance. If you hang a sign from the ceiling above an information kiosk in the wide center aisle of a discount store, the sign should be clearly visible from either end of the aisle — not hidden by ceiling supports or other signs.
Readability. The lettering should be of a font and weight that is easy to read whether the customer is standing immediately below it or at the far end of the aisle.
Understandability. Signs should use terms and language that the customer can understand. Of the 16 kiosk environments evaluated in Forrester Research’s 2005 “Best and Worst of Kiosk Environments” report, 10 failed the signage component based on the words they used. According to the report, clever marketing names and proprietary terms for the devices confused users, rendering the signs useless. The report recommended sticking to simple language that clearly described the kiosk’s purpose.
Traffic flow
The more successful your signage, the more important is traffic flow. Once all those users arrive at the kiosk, passing from sign to sign like Tarzan swinging through the jungle on vines, there is a good chance lines will develop occasionally.
Traffic flow — the dynamic between flow to the kiosk and flow around the kiosk — affects the current user, would-be users and customers who must negotiate the jam to continue their business. Mess this up and you leave a bad taste in the mouths of all.
Many kiosks work best in high-traffic, easy-to-reach locations, but not all. Let the kiosk’s purpose govern where it’s placed.
“There are times when traffic is not the sole determiner of (kiosk) placement,” said a representative from hardware manufacturer Affordable Kiosks (now Slabb). “Typically, any kiosk which involves a fairly long user session should be placed just slightly off the beaten path — and you’ll need to plan the surrounding area to allow for the unique new workflow the kiosk will create.”
The environment plan should include kiosk placement in a visible, accessible location; intuitive line progression to the kiosk, away from it and around it; and sources for assistance.
Workspace
Once the customer has finally made it to the kiosk, where will she park her shopping cart? Is there a ledge suitable for a soft drink? Is everything she needs at the kiosk to accomplish her task?
Think of whether a kiosk space is an adequate workspace in the same way you would an office cubicle. Both the self-service device and the business work area should offer essentially the same things: a work surface on which users can rest personal items; floor space where they safely can leave larger items (luggage, shopping carts or strollers); appropriate seating where the kiosk transaction requires longer user sessions; and productivity materials needed to complete the task (pens, forms, envelopes, etc.).
Privacy
Kiosks that require the input of sensitive information such as financial details, personal or legal information or health conditions should make every effort to protect users. The industry has responded to this concern by offering myriad security add-ons, such as:
- Special monitors or filters, such as 3M Touch Systems’ Light Control Film that can be added to a monitor or touchscreen to confine the field of view.
- Wings, solid flaps added to the sides of an enclosure to shield the monitor from prying eyes.
- Peripheral devices like webcams, biometric devices and “ring-down terminals,” which allow users to dial a help desk.
Pressure-sensitive floor mats, such as one marketed by MontegoNet, that automatically log users out of secure applications when they step away from the kiosk. Presence or proximity sensors offer the same functionality as the mats and may be built into the kiosk enclosure or into nearby walls.
Many of these, however, are not easily added after market. They must be integrated into the kiosk or its environment during the planning stages.
The presence of any one of these privacy devices may serve to reassure the user — if they realize it’s there.
“It is only when the user perceives it (privacy) to be high that they will be comfortable using the kiosk,” said James Kruper, director of kiosk software developer KioWare.
