It’s no secret that modern customers are accustomed to ease and convenience. We are talking about the ease of ordering, mapping, and everything in between. Therefore, to cater to your patron’s desires and needs, it only makes sense to implement solutions that enhance the overall customer and visitor experience.
When someone steps into your property, they’re usually on the quest for something. If they’re unable to find it quickly, frustration ensues. When a visitor becomes frustrated like this, they may leave the property without fulfilling their intent, or may decide not to return in the future.
Luckily, you don’t need to resign your building to this fate. At Digital Directory Express, we solve this problem by providing digital wayfinding solutions complete with mobile app integration.
If you’re curious about how interactive wayfinding can elevate your property, buckle up as we delve into the benefits of digital wayfinding for your facility.
What Is Digital Wayfinding Signage?
We’re all familiar with the feeling of walking into an unfamiliar and large space for the first time with no clue as to where we’re going. Of course, the building directory has been the standby solution to this problem for ages. However, in this digital age things are evolving. Today, the most viable solution to this address visitor orientation is digital wayfinding signage. Let’s discuss this.
What is Digital Wayfinding?
Digital wayfinding systems help people plan out their route, find what they’re looking for, and orient themselves when visiting your property for the first time. Effective wayfinding signage is more than giving directions.
When positioned strategically throughout a large facility such as an airport, campus, or shopping mall, digital wayfinding solutions become a valuable resource that helps visitors boost their overall experience, save time, diminish stress, and become more familiar with the organization.
The Hardware Side of Wayfinding Digital Signage
Digital wayfinding solutions depend on smart hardware for accessibility. The interactive wayfinding signs and interactive touchscreen directories are the technological advancement to more traditional (analog) placards typically placed outside of rooms.
Let’s explore the physical elements of modern digital wayfinding signage.
- Room Screens: Strategically positioned outside rooms, these screens identify the room and provide essential information such as the AV capability, bookings, availability, and name.
- Digital Signage: These scrolling strips and wall or overhead screens provide information in real-time. Think of them as airport terminal boards that display flight information and other notifications. The same applies to campuses with frequently changing events.
- Smartphones: What would the era of digital wayfinding solutions be without a GPS in your pocket? SMS directions, satellite maps, and navigation to company-specific apps bring digital wayfinding to the mobile realm.
- Wayfinding Kiosks: Best located in entryways of buildings and atriums, these kiosks represent the ‘You Are Here!’ signs. In addition to informing people where they are, a wayfinding kiosk interactively provides information about the building, floor maps, and staff directories. It offers instructions on how to get to a particular destination. This goes well beyond traditional lobby directory signs.
Advantages of Digital Wayfinding Systems
Here are some of the perks that come with using digital wayfinding solutions.
Easier Navigation
Google Maps is the go-to when we need to get somewhere and would rather do it alone without asking for directions. When potential guests, visitors, or employees step into your facility, arming them with the required tools for independent navigation is a gift they’re silently asking for.
Digital wayfinding signage is a great addition to any tablet, kiosk, or screen that you’ve already positioned in your corridors or lobby. Using digital signage guarantees visitors can conveniently navigate anywhere. As opposed to staff members directing visitors, digital wayfinding systems allow you to take charge of your journey, making navigation easier.
Save On Employee Time
Most reception staff spend their time directing people to the right department, office, or floor. Saving on employee time is one of the greatest attributes of wayfinding digital signage. If one screen can allow an array of visitors to navigate where they’re headed more effectively, it frees up your employees for other revenue-generating activities. They will not have to waste time giving directions to everyone that walks through the door.
With a software sign system provided by Digital Directory Express, you can navigate customer loyalty systems, URLs and also integrate photos. In turn, staff and visitors have further incentive to use your digital screens and learn how to navigate your business.
Quickly Update Floor Plans
With static signs and printed maps, everything quickly becomes outdated. Offices are moved, names are changed, and the path you want patients to take can significantly vary from one week to another.
With digital wayfinding digital signage, you can update your system in a jiffy. For instance, you can close off hallways and redirect traffic. The changes you make are then displayed in real-time on your digital signage. The system ensures your digital screens are constantly up-to-date.
Multiple Platforms
When we think of digital wayfinding solutions, digital screens come to mind. However, it’s also an easily deployable system on mobile and web platforms. It allows staff members to gain familiarity with floor plans before setting foot in the office.
Additionally, it allows anyone on the ground to whip out their phone and have a quick refresh of where they’re headed. It’s a huge perk in learning institutions and hospitals where having a screen in every hall or corridor isn’t feasible due to their sheer size.
Easy Installation
One of the aspects we love about Digital Directory Express is that you don’t have to be tech-savvy to create your wayfinding application. Ready-made or pre-built interfaces are available. So, if you already have floor plans, you can incorporate these and formulate directions with little assistance from your IT department. Otherwise, a web-friendly colleague or in-house developer can follow the guidelines to build your wayfinding app.
Aesthetically Pleasing
What’s more eye-catching? A self-contained, interactive console or a table of pamphlets and brochures? It’s safe to rule out the latter. Interactive digital wayfinding conveys the first impression about your commitment to consumer-friendly and organizational practices.
Visually appealing designs are an essential component of the success of a business, and digital wayfinding signage perfectly fits the bill. Color scheme and imagery selection reinforce your brand further, paving the way for you to communicate your organization’s messaging without clutter.
Gets Rid of Confusion
If you have lost your grandmother in a massive establishment, you know the confusion and panic that can ensue. An interactive digital wayfinding system eliminates patrons’ frustration by providing them with an easy-to-follow map of the building.
Essentially, this state-of-the-art technology is much like having Google Maps, but for a facility’s interior. As opposed to wandering, patrons can head straight toward their destination. Finding the correct route is made simpler with mobile application integration.
Although your grandmother can navigate a smartphone app with no qualms, you may need to give her a rundown.
The Bottom Line
Interactive maps usher in more convenient and fun experiences for visitors. Digital wayfinding solutions address a vast assortment of user needs, stepping up customer service by a few notches.
The design and mapping needs differ from one physical location to another. However, a top-notch digital wayfinding provider can adapt to your current situation while being able to scale in the future when you need to include more features. Digital Directory Express is the perfect partner for your digital wayfinding needs.
We’re here to assist in developing interactive, dynamic experiences that will put a smile on the faces of your customers while establishing a digital indoor mapping foundation that can grow with your business. We’re only a phone call away, so reach out to us today!
