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Making Lives Easier with Fully Automated Self-Serve Kiosks

The word Kiosk comes from the Turkish word Kiosk – meaning an open pavilion. In business, Kiosks are of various types. While an open retail area in exhibitions and malls is also referred to as a kiosk, in this blog we talk about the digital kiosks, which are cyber-physical interactive interfaces.

These automated machines offer unmatched ease, convenience and freedom in retail services.

Examples of these include –

  • Vending machines
  • Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs)
  • Passbook updating & other banking services kiosks
  • Ticketing booths
  • Airport/Travel Desk self-check-in booths
  • Ordering kiosks at restaurants, laundromats, convenience stores etc.

These smart solutions are aimed at offering self-service, which enables businesses to expand efficiently at lower costs, ensure higher customer satisfaction, decrease wait times and reduce overall resources and operational costs. They also allow for faster physical expansion, as they can be placed at multiple locations – and help businesses automate their service delivery.

While there may be ready-made kiosk solutions available in the market for some verticals, the Customized Interactive Kiosk Solutions are highly sought-after. They address specific requirements and value chains of a venture, helping it adopt and execute high tech solutions to increase customer acquisition, retention and loyalty.

Customized, self-service, standalone kiosks can operate as fully automatic retail stores. A self-service Kiosk acts as a self-order POS system (point of sale). These also empower the consumer, thereby making them feel more in control, and hence delighted, through their interaction and journey with a service. They allow users/ customers to carry out various tasks to fulfill an order/ objective – on their own – without involvement of an employee, which enables functional freedom, reduces wait times, automates tasks and increases round-the-clock convenience and availability.

Your Kiosk Development Journey with Spicules

At Spicules, we have been developing custom solutions for digitally enabled, self service Kiosks for a variety of industry verticals.

From connecting equipment in a facility and streamlining operations to enabling payments and appointment scheduling, a self-service kiosk can be digitally enabled to do it all. We are equipped to customize kiosk functionalities as per unique client and product/ service requirements.

We can also work on existing systems and kiosks to augment them with additional capabilities, integrate with a custom-made digital application, or enhance the overall usage and performance of a legacy system.

Stages in Custom Kiosk Development

When a business decides to have its own tailored Kiosk solution, it needs to first assess its needs and business model. This can be effectively done by partnering with an able and experienced Kiosk Designing & Development company like Spicules Technologies. The solution provider also needs to address these challenges and ensure they are dealt with carefully and effectively at every step of the development journey – to ensure creating a scalable and agile product/ solution that aligns with the customer vision and requirement, and also addresses requisite areas very effectively.

1. Planning and Ideation Stage –

Along with the client, following questions need to be addressed before the actual blueprints are made. These key questions include –

  • Need
  • Services, which kiosk is intended to offer
  • Overall objective
  • KPIs of the system
  • Data & Business Intelligence client would want from the kiosk operations
  • Budgets and Timelines
  • Technological area/ challenges and limitations, if any

2. Software Planning Stage

Basis the objective, KPIs and service delivery plan/ requirement of the kiosk, a well-formed and defined Software Plan for the Kiosk is formulated by the service provider. This is done after a thorough blueprinting of the expected customer journey, while interacting with the system. The expected interfaces like touchscreen, peripherals and requisite data integration with other sources etc. are also supposed to be taken into consideration at this step.

After initial plans, the technical aspects of the software are brought onto the table. An able software application for an automated, self-serve kiosk usually should account for remote management and monitoring, data collection, access and authentication, document processing and printing, as required, payment integration, internet connectivity and miscellaneous other features. Technology and platform for software are also selected and finalized at this stage.

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3. Hardware and Other Peripherals

Choosing appropriate hardware to support all software features and kiosk requirements comes at this stage. Cost effectiveness, specific needs and other important aspects about the final product are considered here. Basic hardware components included at this step are – Kiosk computer, connectivity ports, display panels, peripherals like printers, fingerprint scanner etc., touch panels, if any, accessories like cameras, speakers etc.

Some of these components are general needs for any kiosk solution. However many can be added as per the specific requirements of the system and business, all the while keeping in mind the costs, functionality and effectiveness.

4. GUI for the Customer

Graphical User Interface refers to the actual look and feel of the kiosk, and this is integral to a great product design and development. The overall system efficiency, customer satisfaction, functionality and performance depend on the GUI – to quite an extent. A simple, user friendly and interactive GUI is what we aim to develop. We invest in great UI/UX designers and technical integration teams to ensure there is no lagging at this important step. Revisions, debugging, hand-holding to ensure tweaks, as required – are all a part of Spicules methodology.

5. Installation, Testing

Communication between the developed system and existing processes of a business is very important to ensure the objectives of a kiosk are attained. Thus system integration and data synchronicity are essential steps. This also includes a very deep level of testing and required debugging and tweaking, when needed.

Besides technical testing for functional and non-functional aspects of the kiosk, internal testing and pre and post launch testing is also carried out, post installation.

Common Challenges in Custom Kiosk Development

Despite our best efforts and development processes, some challenges and hitches are always likely in the product engineering process. This is true for kiosk system development too. Some of these common customer challenges include –

Cyber Security Risks –

Whenever a public facing system is introduced, a good amount of security reinforcement is a must to ensure appropriate cyber security. We, along with our clients, work continually to meet this demand, and ensure that the safety, privacy and security of digital kiosks is always in the best shape. App updates, routine patch fixes, debugging, configuration of security settings – all are required and Spicules teams are adept at these.

Mismanagement of system or Misuse of the Kiosk at public places –

This is a very well understood risk and is often taken into account by the client businesses as well as the developer. Since most kiosk systems are left unattended, they are under the risk of getting misused or threats like changing weather conditions etc.

At Spicules, these things are taken into consideration, while selecting the hardware as well as while creating the GUI. Also, most of our kiosk systems are sturdy and robust enough to withstand such potential practices. Post launch, we also offer Kiosk management solutions to ensure the clients can reach out to our teams, in the event of any such mishandling event or system management requirement. Optional device lockdown features are also possible, should a client wish to do so for specific purposes and timings.

Troubleshooting and Fast Resolution of issues –

At Spicules, it is our USP to hand-hold our clients, across their product development and installation journey. We are present with our clients, tweaking solutions and even features, post launch – to ensure any unexpected issues cropping up, while real-time use are nipped in the bud. Timely resolution and support are our benchmarks at all times.

Managing Diversely Located or Different Types of Kiosk Interfaces

– Our thorough customization process ensures that each type of kiosk developed for a certain client is well integrated and connected to the others as well as the existing systems and databases. Post launch services by Spicules also take care of this aspect, should a client wish to invest in them. Our technical and IT professionals are adept at remote management as well as remote support.

Why Spicules?

  • Technical Advantage
  • Prompt Support
  • Customization to the tee
  • Quick Response & Resolution on the go
  • Agile & User-Friendly Solutions
  • True Companion
  • With you as you Market Test