Article

KIOSKmarketplace asks: What to consider when choosing a software provider

In this installment, industry experts help you choose the best software provider for your project.

March 21, 2002

Periodically, KIOSKmarketplace questions industry leaders on the issues. This time, we asked, "What should you consider when choosing a kiosk software provider?

We must have struck a chord with our industry experts, because we received the most detailed responses to date. Here's what they had to say:

Billy Giaino, global solution executive, kiosk & wireless e-business, distribution sector, IBM Corp.:

This is a very important question. It's useful to consider the provider and the provider's product.

Provider

It is important for the provider to have experience in self-service software development. The provider should understand a key to successful kiosk deployments: that the user interface, experience and objectives in a public environment typical of kiosks are different from those of an employee using an office PC, or a home user surfing the Web.

Kiosks are unattended, self-service devices. You can't afford to deploy them without someone who understands both the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between them and PC products.

Kiosk projects should deliver business value for five years or more, so you should select a provider you can count on for at least that long. You want to be sure that your partner is going to be around after the initial deployment and has the financial strength to address new requirements and to provide maintenance and driver updates.

Finally, select a provider that understands how to use self-service to deliver value to your business.

Provider's Product

Select a provider based on the quality of its product. Assess the product's reliability by asking if the product has a proven track record and if so, for how long?  Find out if the product has demonstrated scalability, and to what extent. In these areas, more is better.

Remote network monitoring and management should be native to every kiosk application. This is the best way to ensure that your kiosk investments continuously deliver value. They will

Read these "KIOSKmarketplace asks..." articles KIOSKmarketplace asks: What advice would you give to retailers? KIOSKmarketplace asks: Which operating system is best? KIOSKmarketplace asks: What are your standards?

be available and you will be able to tune and refresh applications remotely.

Select an application that delivers market-leading functionality, is built on open standards and is based on a robust, integrated and scaleable infrastructure. This will give you the flexibility to make modifications and add functionality over the life of the project.

If the product is a retail application it should be a natural and integral part of an overall multi-channel strategy. We all know that stand alone, self-service devices that don't tie into other channels are of limited use and value in today's networked, e-business world.

Stated simply, select a partner with kiosk specific experience and the best industry product you can count on for the next several years.

Sylvia J. Berens, vice president, Apunix:

A customer is making an important investment when choosing a kiosk software provider. The kiosk can provide an important part of a customer's marketing and branding initiatives, as well as an opportunity to get a good return on investment. To choose a software provider, ask:

• How reliable and robust is the software? This is an important issue, because many kiosks have to be rebooted periodically, leading to potential problems.
• Is the kiosk software able to deliver the functionality that you are looking for?
• Can the kiosk use existing databases, provide audio, video, Web and other content and multimedia?
• How easily can kiosk content be updated, and new functionality added? It is important to keep kiosk content up to date. The ease of which this can be done can be important to a kiosk's value. It can help keep kiosks affordable.
• Can the kiosks be remotely monitored and administered? Few customers can afford on-site personnel to update, upgrade and monitor kiosks. Remote administration should be considered when purchasing software.
• Does the kiosk software allow you to make changes to the kiosk without the vendor? An open architecture allows customers to choose who will create and maintain the kiosk content.
• How easily can content be created?
• As part of its presentation, is the software vendor able to demonstrate the content process?

John Glitsos, founder and chief executive officer, First Wave Inc.:

In real estate they say, location, location, location. In software for a kiosk it's experience, experience, experience.

There is no substitute for having done a project of the same scope as yours. The software company's experience has to be with public interactivity. Just because someone has done print media, advertising, Web sites, or interactive CD-ROM titles, does not mean that they have a chance of producing a good interactive kiosk.

Two dead giveaways that a company has not done a kiosk project are rollover effects and sound in an attract loop. Rollover effects are the cool sound and video effects that you see when you roll your mouse over a menu selection on a Web site or CD-ROM.

Since good kiosks are designed for a touchscreen, rollover effects are never seen. People don't sit there and drag their fingers around the screen; they simply touch their choice. Feedback after they touch is fine. In fact, good audio and visual feedback indicates that the company has done a kiosk project.

Audio in an attract loop seems like a great idea. How better to get people to use a kiosk than to call their attention to it? But in reality it is a sure-fire way to get the store employees to unplug your kiosks because they can't stand hearing your message over and over all day long.

Another consideration is how much software will be developed from scratch and how much is available from previous projects. For example, if the company has completed a kiosk that allowed a customer to swipe a credit card and authorize a transaction, that code should be transferable to their next project (yours). Reusable code is a big plus because you don't have to pay, or act as the guinea pig, for the development of basic functionality.

Interface expertise is also critical. Kiosks are public. They must be 100 percent intuitive. They cannot have too many buttons, pop-up menus, fields that are tabbed to, or many other interface elements that are common in other media, such as Web sites. When you review projects that the software company has completed, look for big, colorful buttons, easy to understand menu structures and other design elements that make you feel instantly comfortable with the kiosk.

It is imperative that you be able to communicate your ideas, likes and dislikes to your software provider. It, in turn, needs to be able to communicate with you effectively. Insist on a written plan (we call ours a "Treatment") that shows exactly what you can expect in terms of functionality, user interface and work flow before you commit to a software company.

Make sure you have a contract that allows you to get out should things go wrong. You should have checkpoints all along the way where you approve or disapprove what has been done so far. Don't fall into the "90 percent done" trap. If the project seems stalled, it is. You should be allowed to inspect the work yourself as the project continues and have all of your questions answered promptly.

Careful selection of a software company can hopefully prevent the creeping cost scenario that we have seen happen way too many times in this industry. Many companies we have talked to spent $500,000 on projects that were quoted at $100,000 as functionality that was obvious to them was not expected to be in the project by their inexperienced software provider saying, "Oh, you want logs of what people did on the kiosk?  That's going to cost $XXXX!"

Derek M. Fretheim, president, CeroView:

On the surface, this sounds like a straightforward question. Questions to qualify the software solution provider are:

• How long has the company been in business?
• How many kiosks (software licenses) are in the field?
• Do they offer free evaluations of the software?
• How many versions or patches have been released? The more versions or patches released in a short time span may represent an unstable product.
• What type of documentation (i.e. user manual, installation CD) does the company provide? No documentation is a major red flag, as it reflects little thinking through on the software. This is a standard in the software business and should always be provided.
• What type of support does the company provide? This speaks volumes about your investment.
• Does the company have the resources to support the product, both in human and financial capital?
• Are technical engineers available to talk to about your application, and is this assistance offered before you ask if they have this type of support?

Here are my main questions to my customers when they are still pondering a software solution provider:

• What is it you want your kiosk to do? Is it, for example, and information system, pay-per-use, high-end multimedia, etc. This question helps me narrow down the prospects.
• My follow-up to this is the question, what do you want the kiosks to do a year from now, or five years from now?  Matching the expectation with the software solution provider's suite of products typically provides the customer with one to three solid software prospects or products.
• How many systems is the customer rolling out today, and in the future? This is important because I see some customers lose focus on the now, or forget about the future. Once I understand the application expectations, immediate needs and future objectives, I am in a greater position to recommend software choices.

As a kiosk enclosure manufacturer, I invest my time with customers to find the right software solution provider. I do not directly earn from this investment, but it does help me in the long run because any successful kiosk project, no matter who provides the software, creates the application or supplies the kiosk, helps this industry grow and gain credibility.