REDYREF has proven that urban bus shelters can be not only highly functional, but beautiful as well.

KCATA Digital Bus Shelter Kiosk by REDYREF

This fall marked the debut of Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s (KCATA) new modern, digitally-enhanced bus shelters along Kansas City’s MAX bus line, with kiosks, designed and deployed by REDYREF Interactive and its partner Smart City Media.

“From the start, partnering with Smart City Media to create these interactive, ‘smart’ bus shelters for KCATA has been an incredible experience,” said Will Pymm, Managing Partner, REDYREF. “We couldn’t have been more pleased with the entire process, and are looking forward to seeing the project rolled out in its entirety.”

The new downtown Prospect Avenue MAX stations are designed to blend in with the area’s streetscape, making it easier for pedestrian traffic on sidewalks.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Richard Jarrold, senior vice president for strategic planning at the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. “Twelfth and Grand pedestrian traffic is booming, we’re taking too much of the sidewalk.”

Each station features an interactive smart kiosk that gives riders real-time bus arrival information and access to a city-wide directory, as well as protection from the elements and enhanced lighting for improved safety and greater visibility.

KCATA Bus Shelter Kiosk Project

KCATA project manager Linda Clark said she wants people to know the new MAX bus kiosks will also offer information about connecting routes, as well as a web-based portal that will allow community members to advertise events.

“If this community center were having an event, the kiosk out there on 27th and Prospect would tell you about the event. All you have to do is touch the icon,” she said.

Each interactive outdoor “smart city” kiosk features 55” touch displays and is fully ruggedized to be able to withstand the wide variations in Kansas City weather. From 90+ degree heat to snow and freezing temperatures, the kiosks are built to continue operating smoothly and continuously. The digital kiosk displays also offer single- and dual-sided options, as well as additional components such as wireless capability, video cameras and all integrations needed to allow for ADA compliance.

For more information about REDYREF kiosks or digitally-enhanced transit options, visit https://redyref.com.

RedyRef has completed the installation of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ)’s first interactive wayfinding kiosk in Manatee County, Florida. The installation features the new enGAGE H-Series, a 42” modular touchscreen kiosk that was designed to help travelers find any location within the airport’s footprint.  This includes airport gates, restaurants, restrooms, baggage claim and any other services airport visitors may need.

 

 Digital Wayfinding Kiosk

 

The Sarasota project presented some unique challenges for our design team. One of the primary requirements of the solution was to ensure users did not have to search via keyword or click through multiple screens in order to find the needed information.

REDYREF's team of developers rose to the occasion, designing a deceptively simple user interface capable of effectively housing and organizing many layers of complex information. This one-screen solution features a navigation menu on the left, and a map of the airport on the right, which allows users to simply select an area on the menu with a single touch, and immediately see the chosen area highlighted on the map along with their current airport location.

The kiosk is also easy to maintain by airport employees. Said REDYREF Managing Partner, Will Pymm, “Besides offering travelers an enhanced customer experience, Sarasota’s new wayfinding kiosk was designed to be easily updated or refreshed either via smartphone or computer.  We believe this kind of functionality is essential to the success of a kiosk in a busy, at times even chaotic environment, like that found in an international airport.”

Besides its intuitive UI, the new Sarasota airport kiosk is also one of the first live deployments of the REDYREF enGAGE H-Series kiosk. This modular, freestanding enclosure combines sleek, powder-coated steel construction with an extensive range of available options including an expansive array of other hardware components and integrations. Although the H-Series comes standard with a 42″ LCD monitor, it may be built with other display sizes when required.


Considering wayfinding kiosks or digital directories for your company?

Contact REDYREF today at (800) 628-3603 today or request a quote online and we’ll be with you every step of the way to ensure that your interactive kiosk, wayfinding or digital visitor management program meets every one of your business’ unique needs and goals.

Self-service digital kiosks are rapidly entering different market sectors, in particular food service and retail. However, there’s a less-often discussed type of interactive kiosk that is also gaining steam, and that’s the bill-payment or financial services kiosk.  It’s understandable that bill payment kiosks may not be getting the same amount of recognition that other kiosks often do; they certainly don’t offer the same opportunities for fun or innovative integrations that, say, a Wendy’s ordering kiosk or an automated Best Buy vending machine might.  What benefits bill pay kiosks do offer, though, is a solution to a need that is truly evergreen, one that is both desirable to consumers and profitable for those who choose to install them.

pile of american paper currency

Financial Services Kiosks: Product Offerings

Before making a decision to install a self-service bill pay or financial services kiosk, the most important thing to do is to identify exactly what types of products you want to offer.  Are you a utility company and would like to give customers another option to make last-minute payments?  Are you a university that wants to allow students to make tuition payments on campus?  Or are you a retailer that wants to make it simpler for visitors to purchase, reload or check the balance of gift cards in-store?  Each of these scenarios requires different software, hardware and environmental considerations when designing, manufacturing and deploying the related interactive kiosk.

Utility Company Bill Payment Kiosks

The first potential project listed above, the utility company, is probably the simplest in some ways. It will likely only provide a few options for its use, such as basic bill payment or checking an account balance.  However, because this type of bill pay kiosk is going to deal in cash payments, much more so than other kiosks might, it also requires an incredible amount of security built into it in order to detect fraudulent currency (much like an ATM might), as well as the ability to dispense exact change if necessary.

Payment Kiosks for Universities

The second type of kiosk can be both stand-alone, or part of a more complex self-service system.  Universities have actually been amazingly progressive with their use of interactive kiosks on their campuses, using them to do everything from reload “campus cash” cards to pay parking fines and find directions around town.  It stands to reason, then, that these kiosks may require a broad number of different integrations, from receipt and ticket printers, to cash intake slots, to dual monitors that allow two different sets of information to be displayed at once.

Retail Financial Services Kiosks

Our final example is the retail financial service kiosk.  These, too, can, cover a broad range of opportunities for companies to interact with customers.  One of the primary uses is to allow visitors to purchase and reload gift cards, which means cash intake slots and a card dispensing system would both be necessary, as would a receipt printer.  However, retailers are now using the same kiosks to also allow customers to apply for store-branded credit cards, or even apply for jobs.  This means integrating a real keyboard — instead of just a keyboard on the touchscreen — may be optimal for encouraging the completion of either of these tasks. They are also combined with store information and directories, and even bridal or baby registries. Even Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency vendors are getting into the financial services kiosk game, with ATM-style machines popping up everywhere from gas stations to grocery stores.

It’s clear that there is strong consumer interest in self-service kiosks, and now is the time to parlay this enthusiasm into a healthier bottom line for your business. And while there are clearly challenges to designing and deploying a new bill payment or financial services kiosk program, the process does not need to be as difficult or complicated as it may first seem. The key to success is partnering with an experienced, vertically integrated manufacturer like RedyRef. Contact us today at (800) 628-3603 today or request a quote online and we’ll be with you every step of the way to ensure that your kiosk meets every one of your business’ unique needs.

Any player in the QSR space will tell you that, beyond keeping a close eye on margins, the most important factor for success is customer engagement and satisfaction.  One of the easiest and best ways to keep customers coming back is to ensure that they leave the restaurant happy, whether they are served inside the restaurant, or in the drive through.  It’s important to note, however, that it’s estimated that as much as 70% of all QSR revenue comes via the latter, and creating an experience at the drive-through window that is, fast, streamlined and frustration-free is the key to customer happiness.  Today, we continue the drive-through digital menu boards discussion and detail additional advantages, as well as what it takes to ensure a successful deployment.

Let’s start with this fact: According to Lyle Bunn, a signage industry consultant and strategy architect, 80% of adults have seen digital signage in the past month, and 70% of them have made an unplanned purchase because of it.  That information alone should be enough to send QSR decision makers out the door and running to us at RedyRef.  But just in case it’s not, let’s quickly break down those numbers. Bunn’s statement means that out of every 80 adults who have seen a digital sign in the last month, 56 have made a purchase because of having seen it. That makes digital signage, including digital menu boards, hugely influential as part of the selling process. And wouldn’t you know, one of the most effective uses of digital signage is at the drive-through for “pre-selling,” a concept first brought to market by Burger King, long before digital menus were even a twinkle in QSRs’ eyes.

What is pre-selling?  And how does it influence customer purchasing?

Preselling is the process of placing signs along the ordering path of the drive-thru that advertise specials or share other information about the menu, including upsells and promotions. It works to influence customers in several ways.  One is that it gives them a focal point, and helps them begin to consider their options before they even get to the menu board, let alone an ordering window. Second is that, believe it or not, it can help lower customer anxiety.  King-Kasey, the firm who brought the concept of pre-selling to BK, found via their research that customers often panicked when asked “Can I take your order?” Pre-selling signs — in BK’s case, yard signs — helped customers make decisions faster and earlier, leading to a quicker ordering process.  These signs also added space for promoting high-margin items or specials, as well for upselling sides, soft drinks or desserts.

All of the above still holds true today for restaurants using digital pre-selling signage at their drive throughs, whether Starbucks wants to start ramping up excitement over its (in)famous Pumpkin Spice Latte before it even goes on sale, or McDonald’s hopes to appeal to the more health-conscious among us by featuring salads or wraps instead of greasier burger fare.  Pre-selling with digital signage can help sell not just product, but also the restaurant, by changing the way it chooses to present itself to the world. Healthy?  Fun?  Modern?  Youthful?  Digital pre-selling signage can do all of this and more.

While there are clearly challenges to planning and deploying an outdoor digital menu board program for drive-thrus, the process does not need to be as difficult or complicated as it may first seem. The key to success is partnering with an experienced, vertically-integrated manufacturer like RedyRef. Come back next week when we’ll continue this discussion, or, contact us today at (800) 628-3603 today or request a quote online and we’ll be with you every step of the way to ensure that your program meets every one of your business’ unique needs, from indoor digital boards to outdoor, weatherproof dynamic displays.

Can you think of anything much more frustrating than waiting to be seen at the doctor’s office (besides having to wait in an emergency room or urgent care facility, anyway)? Generally speaking, if you’re being made to wait around in any of these situations, you are sick or injured. Possibly even very sick or very injured, which means you’re also stuck with a range of discomfort from moderate to extreme, which could also involve various degrees of pain. In these cases, even trying to focus on content on a tablet or smartphone can be too much work. So much for electronic distraction, right?

Digital signage and patient experience

How Digital Signage Can Positively Affect Patient Experience in Healthcare Environments

Healthcare environments are often where digital signage can really shine, making a measurable impact on patient experience by reducing stress and anxiety. Some of these signs offer information related to the hospital itself, which can include anything from cafeteria menus to doctor profiles or announcements about upcoming health-related workshops. Other hospitals prefer to steer completely away from anything serious in nature, opting instead for pure distraction in the form of popular television show clips, using the digital displays for entertainment over education. Still others decide on a middle ground, featuring clips from shows that focus on wellness, such as healthy cooking, exercise or meditation.

Deciding what content to feature depends greatly on the primary audience; certain digital content will play better to those waiting to be seen in one context over another, but with the variety of options available today, there is something out there that is appropriate for just about any environment. And the good news is, just about anything will distract waiting patients, therefore lowering anxiety and ability to tolerate their current state of discomfort, whatever it may be.

Digital Signage as a Communication Tool in Healthcare

While educational or entertaining content is one way to use digital signage in a hospital environment, engaging and empowering patients is another. Some emergency rooms and urgent care centers are moving toward displaying continually updating waiting lists, so patients know when they can expect to be seen. This is also helpful to front-desk staff, who can spend more time helping to check in the patient in front of them, instead of answering questions from those already registered about they will be seen. Other hospitals are using touchscreen technology to make the switch an almost completely digital registration system, at least for scheduled, non-emergency visits, which puts patients in charge of checking themselves in for appointments, limiting the need for front desk staff even further.

The use of digital signage in healthcare environments may have started off slowly, but it is now growing at an incredible pace, regardless of how it’s implemented. While certainly an investment, it is a wise one that can result in greater patient trust and loyalty. REDYREF understands what makes digital signage work; we invite you to submit a request for proposal online or call (800) 628-3603 today and we will be there every step of the way to help design, fabricate and install the best possible digital signage solution for your environment’s unique needs and goals.

In terms of choices, digital building directories offer such an embarrassment of riches anymore that it can be hard to know where to start. Digital static? Digital non-touch, non-static? Interactive touchscreen? Wall mount, desk mount or floor mount? What about screen size? Refresh rate? Software? It’s no wonder we have so many clients interested in making the switch from old-style strip or paper directories who come to us frustrated from just trying to wrap their heads around the available options, not even counting other innovations such as 3-D mapping, interactive wayfinding and mobile integrations.

Therefore, we thought it might be a good time to get back to the basics, in order to give those considering investing in digital directories a jumping-off point from which they can begin their exploration. Let’s start with the differences and benefits of touch vs non-touch directories, and how they are best deployed in different environments.

First, it’s important to understand the terms touch and non-touch for what they actually are and do. A non-touch digital directory can be one of two things: either a static screen that always displays the same information, such as office numbers and locations, or a screen that rotates through a set series of different informational “slides”. The entire screen can change, or just sections of the screen, but in both cases, both are considered to be non-touch digital directories.

On the other side, we have digital touchscreen directories, which offer different levels of interactivity, depending on the complexity of the software. Some simply allow for one- or two-button operation, giving users the ability to “page through” different screens, and return to “home.” Others function more like a tablet, with full-screen touch capabilities, offering a more fully interactive and even immersive user experience.

While it may at first glance seem that interactive touchscreens would be the most practical choice, offering more opportunities for customization, it is the environment in which the directory will be deployed that should be of primary concern and have the most influence on whether a touch or non-touch display is chosen. Next week, we’ll address the reasons why the three Ss — setting, situation and surroundings — are so important when considering what kind of directory to purchase, and take a look at a few use cases to better illustrate why and when touch or non-touch digital directories may be most appropriate.

Is your business ready for what’s next in interactive wayfinding? As an end-to-end manufacturer of vertically integrated self-service kiosk solutions, we invite you to submit a request for proposal online or call (800) 628-3603 today to find out how RedyRef can help you give your customers a best-in-class, digital wayfinding experience.

Traditional printed, handwritten or analog building directories may still exist — there are plenty of examples in current deployment — but as digital solutions have become less expensive and more efficient over the last few years, even small businesses are beginning to make a welcome change to digital directories and wayfinding.

For those struggling to decide if it’s the right move for their company, it’s an understandable dilemma. After all, creating a digital directory system that increases efficiencies and solves problems for end users can be tricky; it requires balancing several different factors, ranging from design and engineering to software development. Just knowing where to start can feel like a project in and of itself. This means choosing the right partner is critical to the execution of a successful digital directory rollout for businesses of any size.

Starting with a company that has a full range of in-house capabilities, such as engineering and fabrication, can go a long way toward eliminating frustrations from the directory development process, as it creates instant efficiencies. Project management is handled by one point of contact, streamlining communication from design to deployment, saving time and money, while eliminating many of the pitfalls that stem from the participation of multiple players — in particular, communication failures that often translate into expensive mistakes.

Once a partner is chosen to create the new digital directory experience, it’s important that they conduct a thorough interview to understand both the client’s and end user’s needs. For instance, what does the client see as being the primary problem with the directories as they are currently deployed in a given environment? Is it that they require updating frequently which takes too much time? Are they not accessible enough? Do they not have the ability to showcase enough relevant information?

From the perspective of the end user, what types of information is important? How do they use the directory now, and what changes might make them more useful in the future? Are the convenient/easy-to-use/accessible? The answers to these questions will inform not just the UX and therefore the software development, but will also assist the industrial designer with creating the overall concept, and the engineer in bringing that design to life.

One of the greatest advantages of using a fully-vertical manufacturer is that once the design is finalized, the rest of production should be seamless — parts are fabricated, various hardware components integrated and the unit as a whole finished via a range of processes that may include anything from powder coating to printed graphic “wraps”. The most complete kiosk providers — like RedyRef — can also customize software to create the best-possible functionality and user experience, then deliver the digital directory right to its installation point.

If the simple, turn-key scenario presented here seems impossible, then you haven’t met the team at RedyRef. If your company is ready for digital directories, we invite you to contact us today at (800) 628-3603 and let us show you the difference choosing a vertically-integrated kiosk manufacturer can make to the entire kiosk development process.

Last week, we featured part two in a discussion about interactive kiosk UX, because although self-service is experiencing tremendous growth across multiple industries, there are still plenty of kiosk programs that ultimately fail. As many of those failures are related to poor user experience, we wanted to share some key factors that are universal to designing a best-in-class experience for end users. Today, we present the last part of our series on creating a user experience that translates into successful deployment in the field.

  1. The interface should put the user in the driver’s seat. While Millennials are least affected by concerns about new technology, even they don’t like to feel like they aren’t in control of transactions -- especially in public. It’s embarrassing, frustrating and inconvenient to need to seek out help when using a self-service kiosk. Plus, it completely defeats the purpose of eliminating or reducing a level of service, and that means less cost savings for the company deploying the kiosk in the first place. This is really a no-win situation all around, so it’s best to prevent it in the first place via lengthy user testing on the front end to work out any potential bugs in the transaction process. Which brings us to the next point…
  2. Test, test, test and then test again. Why? Familiarity breeds content, and that can lead to your end-user’s contempt if you don’t ensure that plenty of fresh eyes have tested the kiosk (in-lab, and in the field) in order to figure out any sticking points in the UX well in advance of full deployment. It’s essential that testers are from a range of backgrounds, too, because everything from education level to culture to age will play a part in their perception of the experience. While it may not be possible to create a completely universal user experience that appeals to absolutely everyone, unless you are targeting a specific demographic, it’s a good to at least try.
  3. Seriously limit the need for consumers to use any kind of search function, if one is included. This may seem like a minor detail in a sea of much bigger issues, but it’s actually incredibly important. Almost no one likes to type on a kiosk. It’s often annoying and frustrating and when you add in language barriers and differences in education levels, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. The need to type also slows down the transaction considerably, which can lead to a greater risk of the user abandoning the kiosk completely, especially if they see traditional manned lines moving more efficiently around them.
  4. Remember: your brand is on the line. In a world of omnichannel retail, kiosks may be only one way that consumers interact with companies, but it’s a powerful one. Do you want your brand to be perceived as inept, disorganized, or incompetent? Likely not. Think of your brand ideals and mission statement; this is what you want to present to customers via their self-service kiosk experience. Kiosks are an extension of brand, every bit as much so as a website, in-store or mobile experience would be. Every brand interaction matters, no matter the environment, so treat kiosks with the same kind of importance given to any other channel.

And with that, our series on creating world-class interactive kiosk UX has drawn to the close. Hopefully these three blogs have convinced you that RedyRef has what it takes to make your company’s self-service kiosk program a success. As an end-to-end manufacturer of vertically integrated kiosk solutions, we invite you to submit a request for proposal online or call (800) 628-3603 today to find out how we can help you give your customers the best possible user experience, too.

Last week, we began a discussion around interactive kiosk usability, because although they are experiencing massive growth across multiple industries, there are still plenty of kiosk programs that ultimately fail. And those failures are generally related to poor UX. As we said previously, there are some key factors that are universal to designing a best-in-class experience for end-users. This week, we continue to expand upon our list of considerations for creating self-service kiosk usability that translates into successful deployment in the field.

  1. 99% of the time, the goal of a self-serve kiosk is to eliminate the need for human assistance with the transaction -- so you absolutely must ensure that this is true in the kiosk’s real-world use environment. Let me say it one more time: Make it almost impossible that a human will be required to assist a user with a self-service kiosk. There is an entire generation out there that prefers their interactions with other humans to be kept to a minimum, at least when it comes to transactional operations. If it turns out they still need to find someone to help them, they will most likely cancel the transaction rather than seeking help, and just never use that kiosk again. They are at the same time quite likely to let the world know about their dissatisfaction via every social media platform available to them and to possibly anybody else who will listen to them.
  2. Kiosk capabilities should be immediately and abundantly clear. At the very least, everything the kiosk can do should be listed on the start or home screen. Depending on the use case, it could also mean that these capabilities are also listed on custom enclosure wraps on the unit itself. Users do not want to guess about what transactions are possible and if you make them, they won’t bother giving your kiosk a backward glance as they walk away to the first available manned customer service counter or cashier.
  3. The kiosk’s interface should be intuitive, linear and uncomplicated -- these are crucial considerations when developing the underlying software. No matter how complex the transaction may be, kiosks absolutely must not give the outward appearance of being difficult or requiring assistance to use. Operations must be linear; directions crystal clear, including illustrations whenever possible; and all written language incorporated easy to understand at any reading level.

Check back next week for our final kiosk UX blog installment. In the meantime, if your business is ready to enter the brave new world of interactive kiosks now, RedyRef, an end-to-end manufacturer of vertically integrated kiosk solutions, works with companies of all sizes to ensure the success of their self-service kiosk programs. Submit a request for proposal online or call (800) 628-3603 today for more information.

There is no denying that interactive kiosks are not just here to stay, but experiencing massive growth across a number of different industries, from healthcare to food service environments. On the other hand, many kiosk projects, as well-intended as they may be, often suffer from a great deal of criticism, ultimately resulting in a very expensive program failure.

interactive kiosk in use.

How to Create the Best Digital Kiosk User Experience

So if some interactive kiosk deployments are massively successful and others a total loss -- what makes the great ones, well...great? The answer is usability (UX). Usability that is built not just into the physical kiosk to make it universally accessible, but usability as it relates to the software that powers the kiosks and is what experts call “user experience.”

What are the key factors in creating best-in-class interactive kiosk UX with which real, live humans actually want to engage? While it will to some extent depend on how and where the kiosk will be used, there are some commonalities that apply to just about any situation.

  1. If you want consumers to actually use the kiosk, locate it well within the sightlines of the average person. This may seem obvious, but many a kiosk has been horribly misplaced. Understand the traffic flow of the environment in which it will be used, and plan accordingly. This information will ultimately affect not just placement, but also the kiosk’s form factor and software -- something we’ll get to later on in these recommendations.
  2. You can make predictions all you’d like about what people want out of a self-service kiosk interaction, but what you really need is information, and lots of it. It’s time to get your hands dirty. Figuratively anyway. Get out there and observe. Ask actual users real questions. Take note of their frustrations. Buy research if you have to; there is plenty out there to be had. But understand that if you do not truly understand what people want from your kiosk, you will never be able to deliver a world-class user experience, because it all depends on them -- the people who will be using it everyday. Period. All the cool whiteboard ideas in the world don’t matter if you can’t consistently delight your end user in the real world.
  3. Make sure that your kiosk solves problems rather than creating them. People use kiosks in order to save time or optimize efficiency in some way. If a kiosk regularly frustrates consumers due to any number of reasons -- latency, poor functionality, an unattractive or confusing interface, system errors -- they aren’t likely to come back. And worse? In today’s digital age of omnipresent social media, there’s a good chance that any failures, especially if experienced by Millennials who are the primary target for most self-service kiosks -- will be reported upon to the general public with great speed. There are exactly zero brands that need that kind of negative publicity.

Check back next week for more ways to create the best possible user experience via interactive kiosk deployments. In the meantime, if your business is ready to enter the brave new world of touchscreen kiosks now, RedyRef, an end-to-end manufacturer of vertically integrated kiosk solutions, works with companies of all sizes to ensure the success of their self-service kiosk programs. Submit a request for proposal online or call (800) 628-3603 today for more information.

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