Kiosk deployers need to make sure everything works before they put their equipment out for customer use. That may seem obvious, but it's not something every deployer does, says Francie Mendelsohn, president of Summit Research Associates.
Summit Research addresses this and other faux pas of deploying and utilizing interactive kiosks in its latest report, "Interactive Kiosks: Best Practices." The report updates information released from a similar study two years ago. The current report, however, is even more relevant, Mendelsohn said.
"I'm surprised to see that companies are making the same mistakes over and over again," she said.
Kiosk best practices start with FIRE: fast, interesting, relevant and easy, Mendelsohn said. Without those key ingredients, deployments are destined to fail.
In a world of impatience, it's important that kiosks function quickly. The amount of time taken to load a page can determine the long-term viability of a kiosk and the satisfaction (and retention) of its users. An Internet-based kiosk should only take about 3 or 4 seconds to load each page, Mendelsohn said.
It's also important that the kiosks capture the attention of the user, and that content be fresh and without error. If screens feature calendars from last year or text with multiple spelling errors, they're likely to dissuade customers from using them.
In addition, kiosks must be easy to use. Mendelsohn said she is still surprised to see companies that have failed to learn from others. Those businesses often deploy a complex machine that requires customers to receive extensive help from employees. Not that working with employees is bad — the report makes it clear that designated "kiosk ambassadors" should be used when new products are introduced. But deployments should not be so complicated and dynamic that they're not intuitive.
"In general, a kiosk should not require a person to show people how to use it," Mendelsohn said.
Printing is another topic of debate. Printers offer many benefits, including dispensing coupons, tickets and receipts. But printers also jam and break and are usually the biggest reason for kiosk failure, Mendelsohn said.
Redbox has taken the lead on removing printers from all of its DVD-rental kiosks, she said. That's because Redbox printers often produced unwanted litter after receipts were left behind. Now if a customer wants a receipt, Redbox e-mails or snail-mails it to him.
Summit's report details other best practices, but one thing the report doesn't mention, Mendelsohn said, is the important role of having an objective user test a new kiosk application before it is deployed.
"Companies are so in love with what they've done that they can't step back and let someone else take a look," she said. "They need to realize that kiosks always need to be updated and tweaked. You need to be flexible and make adjustments."
For more information about "Interactive Kiosks: Best Practices," visit Summit's Web site here.
