Monday, October 31, 2011

In-Flight Entertainment

People are traveling more than ever these days. We go from taxis to airports, airports to shuttles, shuttles to taxis, taxis to subways, from subways to; yeah, you get the point. Throughout our modes of daily transportation, it's no secret that advertisers are looking to reach us when we are most "captivated". Digital screens have been popping up in taxis, trains, subways, and planes for a while now and won't be going away anytime soon. They try to cross-sell products/services, keep us informed of travel information, build brand recognition by displaying branded content, or even allow their audiences to order in-travel refreshments. Most important, the digital screens help to lower the perceived wait, or travel, time of the trip. But, in my opinion, digital signage does something even more - add to the customer experience!

Let's take a look at your typical airplane trip. You board the plane looking for "Row G Seat 2." You struggle through the other passengers putting the luggage in the overhead compartment, and after a few minutes of "excuse me" you find your seat. After getting your luggage situated you look forward to see a digital screen in the headrest of the seat in front of yours. On the screen you see "Welcome (Enter name here), thanks for flying..." within the airlines branded content. Once everyone is settled, the Captain does a live broadcast from the cockpit and then the in-flight safety information video plays on everyone's screen. Although the video also explains what else this screen will do for you during your 12 hour flight. This touch screen allows you to call flight attendants, order food and beverages, even check whether the bathrooms are occupied - reserve a spot - and alert you when it's your turn.

Not only does the screen serve as your personal flight attendant, but as your in-flight entertainment as well. The screens make every seat a window seat. With the push of a button your screen shows the view from a camera on the outside of the plane. So if your on the right side of the plane and your Captain says "and to your left you will see the Las Vegas strip", you won't have to crawl across anyone to see it. If that's not enough, you can also watch satellite TV, purchase movies, or surf the web. No more watching boring in-flight movies. You chose what it is you watch. You chose how you are entertained.

Passengers aren't the only ones who benefit from the digital screens, but the airlines and in-flight staff do as well. The airlines benefit from the multi-zone content - In one zone you have the movie that a passenger may have purchased (which is revenue for the airline), but in a smaller zone on the right side of the screen are the ads of the airline, Sky Mall, or other paid advertisements. This would add a new and much needed revenue stream for the airlines. Then there's the in-flight staff. Being able to communicate with passengers via the screens would make their lives a lot easier. Attendants could take beverage or food orders, requests for extra pillows or blankets, etc and save themselves the hassle of making two trips. Airlines could then possibly reduce the number of flight attendants on each plane resulting in less overhead.

There's countless benefits for digital signage in transportation, but as I mentioned all these benefits really add up to just one thing - The customer experience! As many transportation companies are already implementing such technologies, I hope they remember to think about and plan around the customer experience. Goals and metrics should be measured by attributes such as perceived wait time - Measure the actual time of trip v.s. the perceived time, Expectations and Performance - Measure what was expected and how the company performed compared to those expectations.

If companies concentrate on the customer experience, I firmly believe that those customers will become fans of the brand and tell the world about their experience with a company. And today, that's what it's all about.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The High Cost of Wayfinding


























The Mall, According to Wikipedia, is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version of the traditional marketplace.

I kind of chuckled at the word "easily". Honestly, it's not so easy to navigate from point A to point B anymore. There's kiosk shops, carts, photo booths, rides, and other hurdles all over today's mall. But, if I look at the back-lit mall map, I don't see any of these obstacles. Just a clear, easy path to my destination. And sometimes the map is so outdated that when I get to where the Radio Shack supposed to be on the map, I see the new cookie shop that replaced it. Turns out the Radio Shack moved to the other end of the mall for more space. So, why not update the map?

It seems like at least once a month our local mall has a one store closing and another one opening. That would call for a lot of map updating, which could potentially be expensive. Think about it - There is usually several directory maps in the mall and continually printing new graphics is costly. Add in the labor expense to replace the old one and it's easy to see the potentially high cost in updating the ever-changing mall maps.

So, what can be done to keep the mall patrons informed of new stores and store closings while keeping costs down? Simply go digital! By replacing these traditional back-lit maps with screens and designing a digital version, patrons would be able to get clear directions to the shops they are looking for, and the content could easily be updated using a web-based software. No need for printing or labor intensive replacements. Just edit the design and press 'submit!

Not only are digital maps easier to update, but patrons could interact with a digital screen. Let's say I'm looking for Foot Locker. Using my finger, I press Foot Locker on the screen. It shows me how to reach my destination, but also informs me of other shoe stores in the mall and tells me which shoe stores are having sales. Let's see that old kiosk directory do that!

Lastly, digital signage just looks better and brings life into the mall. Using animated or interactive graphics is a lot "cooler" than a boring static images. It's like a fresh coat of paint in your living room. Just ask any company that's replaced static posters with digital signage. They will tell you that more people are attracted to the screen than the poster.
Hyper Smash