CETW: Samsung Transparent LCDs [Video]

So, at each trade show event exhibition, I take some time from manning our booth to investigate what other vendors are presenting.  Aside from gathering some competitive intelligence, I enjoy discovering what technologies are making their way to the concept stage.

Reality Interactive plays with a lot of cool technology, but we don’t have it all. One of the cool concepts presented this year at CETW was powered by Samsung’s transparent LCDs.  Now the concept isn’t necessarily new.  I’ve been following sites like hack-a-day which have posts of basement-lab style prototypes pulling apart laptops and using the LCD panels.

LCDs are already transparent, that’s not the magic. The magic is in how the technology is leveraged within retail or other segments. This year Samsung showcased a screen large enough to cover the inside of a small end-isle beverage cooler.  Although the implementation had some flaws, it gets clients thinking about the possibilities, and that’s what we are all about.

Essential Elements of a Successful Kiosk Solution Implementation: Aspects of Quality Software

The quality of your software will determine your level of success with any kiosk solution or digital merchandising program. Software performance has two essential elements: user experience design and remote management monitoring.

User Experience
User Experience is the most important of all the kiosk elements. When designing the user experience, you’ll need to keep in mind, how and why you are interacting with your prospective customers. Today’s consumers are knowledgeable and savvy, if the value proposition of using the system isn’t great enough for them, they’ll simply walk away.

Ask yourself, what happens when they walk up to the screen? What are you offering them that other sources aren’t? Do you save them time, save them money, or make their life better? In order to be successful, your project must do at least one of these three things.

Kiosk solutions have the unique ability to provide the consumer with the product information that they need right at the point of purchase. Unlike the web, a kiosk solution can be narrowcasted for a specific audience, at a specific time, at a specific location. The software you employ must directly communicate the value you bring that wins out over other outlets where consumers can gain product information.

Remote Management
There’s no sense in creating a great user experience, only to have it not perform well out in the field. Remote management is a close second to user experience in its importance to a digital merchandising initiative or kiosk solution implementation.

A remote management program is crucial to know whether your units in the field are running and how your system is being maintained. It will tell you how the system is being used, by whom, and whether or not it’s being updated and kept current.

Find an Experienced Provider
Any experienced software provider will also know how to address and manage issues that arise. Some common needs are unit malfunction support, troubleshooting, and decision-making about field service calls. You’ll want a provider who is competent in support procedures and can demonstrate how they’ve provided these services to other clients.

CETW: New York 2011

We were at Customer Engagement Technology World on November 9 & 10 at the Javits Center in New York. The show was a great success in comparison to the turn out we saw at the last show in San Francisco.

We met lots of great people and we’re looking forward to learning more about their unique stories and how we can create value together.

As a first time attendee, I enjoyed the opportunity to see what others in our industry were bringing to the table and to touch base with the media outlets in attendance.

Thanks for coming out, if you made it, and let us know what you liked best about the show.