It may be all well and good installing a self service kiosk into your business to speed up the time spent in-store for customers, however it is no good when the design and information provided on the kiosk is too slow to upload or too touch sensitive when moving around the system.

A self service kiosk needs to be efficient, effective for the customer to fulfil their transaction, obtain the correct information and be on their way.

Alex Grunsteidl, creator of Digital Well Being Labs through his research into self service kiosks at St Pancreas Station and Westfield Shopping Mall, London, found that simple systems that were easy to move around were the best method when installing a self service kiosks providing they were in-sight and in the minds of consumers visiting the area.

• User Interface Design

Alex said, “Why do designers always try to re-invent the world just when about everyone has got used to one or another interface navigation standard?

“The main navigation menu button is situated at the bottom right, at about hip-height, nicely out of sight for most users. More annoyingly each time you press the menu on the touch display a short animation shows a set of button choices stumbling to arrange themselves into a list.

“If I am in a hurry to reach my train and I have to wait again and again for a 3 second transition to pass by whilst I am navigating the menu, I will soon abandon the kiosk. And what does this animation say about the St Pancras terminal brand?

“Apart from the placement of the Menu button did the designers actually consider it to be good practice to hide the most common menu options from view, so that the users have no clue what options are available at a glance at any time during interaction with the kiosks. I fully support simple looking interfaces but in this case, out of sight, out of mind.

“It seems that the content and some of the navigation is provided by completely different agencies not working to the same style spec.”

About the self service kiosks at Westfield, Alex said, “Even if the touch displays seem not to be as responsive as they used to be shortly after opening, you generally get what you are looking for. Not that it will be any easier to find the actual physical location afterwards.

“The interface to send a way-finding message to your mobile is probably one of the best implementations I’ve seen so far. Sure one can disagree with the level of menu options in the menu bar at the top that includes of all things, “jobs” or the wording of the bread crumbs underneath the menu, but overall this is a very decent job.”

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The main points to consider when developing the software behind the system is to ensure that the information and layout is easy to understand, accessible and to the point.

Customers want convenience and services that are quick and easy to understand and a kiosk that provides this will be successful in any business.

Fancy information or too much information can bore consumers into finding the information or products elsewhere.

Short, snappy to-the-point information leaves the customer feeling satisfied that they have received a high level of service within a short space of time.

Protouch, Europe’s number one manufacturer and distributor in touch screen technology, have a range of self service kiosks that can match the style of your business.

From the wall mounted Xen X4 to the award-winning Xen X5, the team have designed top quality products to appeal to the consumer.

For more information visit Protouch today.

Today, retailers are serving a new breed of customers who are tecnology savvy, time contrained and less willing to wait in line than ever before.

Consumers now demand that busy environments are well equipped with quick, easy transaction in-store kiosks that offer full control over the buying process, such as self checkouts, or on-demand information about products or services available.

A recent study by Radiant Systems found that 76 per cent of consumers preferred using kiosks to being served by a store associate.

But what is the main attraction towards technology devices that don’t offer a welcoming smile or general chit-chat at the checkout? Why are so many people attracted to heartless machines?

It’s simple. They have been designed to be easy to use, consumer friendly, efficient, effective and save the customer time and hassle dealing with another person when simply trying to purchase an item or find out some information.

However, this is what a ‘top quality’ self service kiosk should provide, but what Alex Grunsteidl, creater of Digital Well Being found, many companies don’t consider the fundamental points to creating a self service kiosk, such as its physical design.

• Physical Design

At St Pancras the self service kiosks reflect an early nineties design sensibility. Large vertical units trying to fullfil multiple way-finding and information tasks. There are two screens mounted above each other. On top, a general information streaming display, with time, weather and departure info, arranged in portrait format.

Below, a touch screen in landscape format, suggesting some kind of relationship between the two screens where there is none.

Alex said, “On multiple visits I noticed that some of the displays were out of order. In case you are not aware where you are, the designers ensured to splash the St Pancras name/logo in a prominent position on the totem, instead of using this space for meaningful labels to identify, for example, different meeting location throughout the station.”

However, the design and layout of the self service kiosks in Westfield Shopping Mall, West London told a different story.

“This is seriously clever design,” Alex said.  

The design looks light and modern fitting perfectly into the new digital age.

The design is welcoming to customers accommodating for two people either side of the kiosk to avoid queues, as well as holding a table-like setting to allow users to maintain awareness of their environment without having their views blocked.

The design is the first point of call when purchasing a self service kiosk as consumers need to instantly know that what they are seeing is a kiosk for them to use at their leisure.

On top of this, the design need to fit well into your environment to create a uniform feel throughout.

The self service kiosk also needs to be inviting and accommodating for all customers entering your business whatever the circumstance.

Protouch have a range of self service kiosks for your to choose from to fit into your business.

Thier classic designs can be developed and designed with your logo to feature to create a uniform feel throughout.

For more information about their products and services visit Protouch today.

The current consumer market is driven by technology and digital products, all designed to make our life easier and quicker in this fast paced society.

Over the past few years, consumers have seen the growing trend of self service kiosks and touch screen technologies dominate every supermarket, cinema, shopping department and hospital; in fact they have practically become a part of our everyday lives.

Where would we be without the handy cash point in town or the efficient ticket dispenser at the train station, designed to speed up purely functional transactions.

Then you have the self service kiosks in museums, art galleries, shopping centres, providing consumers with information about products, services or how to get from A to B.

There are, however many companies out there throwing a kiosk into a busy environment trying to engage consumers to test out new dynamic brands or take part in tedious surveys in a trendy modern fashion.

Whatever they are being used for, businesses are investing heavily into self service technology to keep up with consumers and their daily lives and to be frank, the situation is getting into a big mess.

Many companies are struggling to understand exactly how to use the self service kiosks successfully in specific environments for people to receive maximum use out of them.

Through his work on self service systems in busy areas, Alexander Grunsteidl creator of Digital Well Being Labs studied the self service kiosks used in St Pancreas station, London and the self service stations at Westfield Shopping Mall, in White City, West London.

Both self service kiosks fulfil similar functions; find a store or service around you, locate the toilets, highlight any events and push some advertisements etc. Both are located in very dense, high footfall environments.

After spending time researching both kiosks, Alex found that the kiosks in St Pancreas attracted the occasional passerby, yet the kiosks in Westfield were in constant use.

• Placement of kiosks

At St Pancreas the kiosks are nowhere near any main entrances and always just out of the way of high footfall areas like escalators. 

Alex said that he almost had to search for them even when they were highly visible standing throughout the environment.

On the other hand, Alex argues that there is little incentive to use them as most of the few shops and services are located along a linear path from the various entrances to the platforms and you will eventually bump into what you may or may not be looking for.

While at Westfield Shopping Centre, the situation was different.

Alex found that the self service kiosks at Westfield are exactly where you expect them, at dominant locations in the centre of entrance areas and on major cross-ways.

Alex found that the main reason people preferred the kiosks was because the design specifications of the rest of the environment did not allow customers to easily find shops whilst scanning the alleys.

There are no signs protruding into the corridors, so customers need to stand almost in front of the stores before being able to identify them.

The study found that self service kiosks need to be conveniently placed in locations that are accessible to consumers.

On top of this, businesses need to make sure that the kiosks stand in prime positions and aren’t shoved away in corners away from the consumer eye.

The environment should also be inviting for customers, as well as designed to fit around you and your business using the space you have.

Protouch have a wide range of self service kiosks to suit all your needs and requirements. From the wall mounted Xen X4 to the award-winning and free standing Xen X5, the touch screen distributor and manufacturer have carefully considered a range of different styles to enhance and fit around your business whatever space you have.

For more information visit Protouch today.