The Digital Signage Insider

It's Amazing.

People are starting to realize that a kiosk project without ROI isn't going to be a kiosk project for very long. If I recall correctly, I said something else about this recently.

I think that a lot of the problem comes from the fact that kiosks are still relatively new (despite articles like this one), and many people have unrealistic expections as to what they can do, and how much work it takes to get it all right. Project definition is also another huge project, as the article notes. People without traditional project management skills don't appreciate all of the different steps required, from hardware design to software installation (shameless plug: FireCast kiosk software makes kiosk products quick, easy and inexpensive!), to deployment, ongoing management, and servicing.

In other news, this interesting post from MediaPost suggests that maybe a lot of kiosk projects have been set up the wrong way. While I still have complete confidence in the concept that self-service technologies can reduce expenses, improve customer satisfaction, and drive sales, I think that we (as in members of the Kiosks.org Association) haven't been placing enough emphasis on making employees use the systems to improve their interactions with customers. While it might be all well-and-good for customers to help themselves, it is much more powerful to leverage technology to improve human relationships.

Maybe that's what we'll be seeing in the future...