A few weeks ago, I led a POPAI webinar about creating content for digital
signage networks. (I'll be presenting an abridged version at the Digital Signage
Expo later this month, too.) We looked at things such as color, contrast and
motion to see how they affect the readability, comprehension and recall of the
content. Not surprisingly, many of our data-driven conclusions seem like common
sense and conventional wisdom to savvy designers and merchandisers. Starting in
a few weeks, I'm going to break down the full two-hour session into a series of
blog posts. But an article I came across in Smashing Magazine compelled me to
give away the ending early: the key to making great digital signage content is
(drum roll, please)...
Simplicity. What, you were expecting something else? Something a bit more complex, maybe? Well, that's the big surprise, and the big takeaway from studying hundreds of content clips from dozens of networks around the world. Whether you're making seven-second commercials for use in stores or 30-minute programs for a waiting room network, a simple rule-of-thumb applies: the less information you present during that period of time, the more likely it is that your viewers will notice, understand and remember it. Sure it seems like common sense, but I'll bet that if you go back and take a look at your content library, you'll find at least a few clips that are too complex. Many of you will find that lots of them are. That's why so many of the suggestions in Smashing Magazine's tips for effective web design struck a chord with me. For example, take the first three:
Don't squander users' patience
All three of these things try to address the problem of how to grab a
viewer's attention, and once you have it, how not to lose it. The answer, simply
enough, is to make sure that the initial burst of content is just enough to get
the critical message across -- without requiring any kind of significant
cognitive commitment (i.e. "thinking"). That initial bit of content is not only
your first and best shot to communicate the most important part of your message,
but it's also a way of asking permission to give the user more. If you've done a
good job and given them a solid pitch -- in five words or less, say -- they'll
reward you with more cognitive resources in the form of attention, thought and
memory. If you don't supply enough information, you won't spark their interest.
And if you supply too much information, you risk lower comprehension -- and
might even create a reluctance to keep watching. (For more on this topic, see
the tips that Wal-Mart and Televisa provided about how to maximize the success
of digital signage, and our article on using lessons from TV and print to
improve digital signage content.)