It can be difficult when crafting a new digital signage product to know if it is ready for production, or it if needs to go through a few prototypes first. Jeff Hastings, CEO, of BrightSign, and Matthew Neutra, manager of experience prototyping at Bose, recently addressed five key questions to answer this question during a keynote session at the Digital Signage Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
"Everyone has an idea, but few people have the way to take that idea and create the experience," Neutra said during the event. He identified the five questions as the five workstreams you need to look at to determine if your idea needs some more development. These workstreams are the product, technology, content, architecture and story. If any of these workstreams need development, it will be risky to push the product through to full production.
Product
First, you need to have a clear idea of what type of product or service you are looking to promote with digital signage, and how you are going to control that product, according to Neutra.
For example, if you are looking to promote a speaker, you need to understand your core target audience for that product, and you need to consider how your display will present or interact with the product.
Technology
Next up, you need to consider the actual technology. Neutra recommends you have a good digital signage partner who can provide you with all the right parts and connections to bring your product to life.
You also need to make sure your technology package works well together and all the parts such as the software, player and hardware are all compatible.
Content
Do you have the right content for the display? Will it resonate with your audience? Who will develop the content? These are all questions you need to ask.
Neutra also points out that you should consider the aspect ratio you will use for the content. If you plan to use different aspect ratios than the traditional 16:9, you are taking a risk.
Architecture
This can vary significantly depending on your project. During the presentation, Neutra showed the piece of plywood that held down a media player as his "architecture." Simply put, the architecture is the space and materials you need to hold your digital signage.
This can be a big issue if you don't have the space in your store, or if the display is hidden from view.
Story
Does your idea work as a story? What story is it trying to tell? In order to get to this point, you need to know if your vendor fully understands the idea.
"You will know that idea is captured when they can articulate that idea back to you, and you understand," Neutra said.
You also need to consider if the story will resonate with your audience. For example, if you are advertising a new bed, you need to ask if it speaks to a key customer concern, such as the overall comfort of the bed.
Determine the risk
Neutra recommends after you examine these workstreams, you calculate the risk of the project. For example, if you have the content, technology and product down, but your architecture and story are a little shaky, then your project has a 60 percent chance of success.
You can help improve your chance of success by crafting prototypes to test elements one at a time. While this is time consuming, it can help save a lot more money than rolling out 1,000 failed displays.
Interested in learning how OnSite Media can help you with your technology rollouts and national/global expansion plans? Contact us today at 435-214-0801, ext. 1 or via email at sales@onsitemedia.com.