A regular reader sent in a note from a departure lounge at JFK, where a media company and airport management team decided to put an interactive “experience” screen on a support column.
Problem is, if it’s like the scene at most U.S. airports, an optimal experience for passengers is finding a precious seat at a gate, not killing time taking faux pix with the Statue of Liberty.
So the screen went in, and then someone else decided to put a rows of seats right in front of it. Or no one tagged the display to say this one wasn’t going to work as an interactive piece … because there was a row of seats right there, and interacting meant sitting in someone’s lap.
And those are quite possibly power ports along the bottom of that screen, which pretty much ensures people are going to park their butts in front and charge up their devices.
Things work a lot better when it’s not just about the tech or the idea. It’s also about why the screen is there, exactly where is the there, what’s the best use case and who is going to use and see the screens, and how they’ll get used
Doubtful the stakeholders went through that exercise, and there’s a good chance they don’t even recognize there’s a problem.