User-centered functional design is the key to making
stand-alone customer kiosks truly self-service
Done well, self-service kiosks can build customer
loyalty and free up your staff for more personalized service.
Done poorly, however, kiosks can backfire, alienating your
customers and frustrating your staff.
The difference? User-centered software design. While many
manufacturers, such as Infologix, offer hardware options to fit
your business need, it's the software that will make the difference
between a rewarding or frustrating customer experience, and usually
that means development of software that is customized to fit your
business' needs.
StoneHenge Partners offers comprehensive software design that
begins with the customer - your customer - in mind. Our
consultants have experience in all aspects of user-centered design,
including:
- Customer-centric strategic goals and measurements, such as
building customer loyalty, reducing customer wait-time in line, and
increasing efficiency of your agents.
- Persona development, including grouping your customers into one
or two identifiable archetypes and then understanding their goals,
needs, and barriers to success on a kiosk.
- User tasks and likely paths through the tasks for each persona,
including the "happy path" and corner-cases. We identify the
barriers to success on each path and brainstorm solutions.
Designing software for a kiosk seems similar to designing
software for a computer, at first glance. Both can be based on
similar software environments and platforms (IIS, SQL Server,
ASP.NET, C#, for example.) The critical difference is in the user
experience. Unlike a computer user, a kiosk user usually is
standing up in a noisy room full of strangers and trying to
accomplish a complex task - like purchasing tickets - using only a
12" touch-screen monitor.
Car rental industry solution
StoneHenge Partners has several consultants experienced in
self-service kiosk usability design for the car rental industry. In
2007-08, StoneHenge consultants, working for Dollar Thrifty
Automotive Group, were instrumental in the discovery, design,
development and deployment of car-rental kiosks for the Dollar Rent
A Car and Thrifty Car Rental stores in Houston, TX. They solved
such questions as:
- Physical location. Where should the kiosk be
placed to maximize its effectiveness? What is the customer traffic
flow and agent task flow? We walked the floor and watched customers
in action.
- Customer personas. Some customers value speed
of service most, so self-service appeals to them; others value
personal attention most, so a counter agent is vital for
satisfaction. How can a kiosk complement a counter agent,
rather than compete against him, to reach the right customer? We
interviewed customers and developed personas to build our user
experience models against.
- Software usability. Using a touch-screen
interface is difficult in a noisy, brightly lit airport terminal,
and renting a car is a complicated transaction with many obstacles
and three likely potential points of failure. We designed a
solution that either eliminated the failure or flagged a counter
agent to intervene.
- Hardware usability. To rent a car, the user
must swipe a driver's license, then swipe a credit card, then
receive a lengthy printed rental contract. All of those posed
usability problems for which our consultants engineered
solutions.
Other industry solutions
Self-service kiosks can allow customers to find their own
answers and speed up service, thereby increasing customer
satisfaction and loyalty. Here are a few examples.
- Retail stores - Kiosks placed strategically
inside a store can give the customer the ability to find items
through an interactive store map, scan items for prices, and check
inventory.
- Hotels - Customers can bypass long check-in
lines by using check-in kiosks, which can be integrated into the
counter so that the customer service agent is nearby to answer
questions.
- Grocery stores - Customers can look up item
sale prices, find an item's location in the store, and even print
related coupons.
- Fast food - A self-service kiosk integrated
into the order counter can allow a customer to bypass long lines to
order a meal directly. Meal upgrades and combos, and current
promotions, can be displayed during the selection process to
increase up-selling.