Does your kiosk need a keyboard?

Our company often have prospects looking for kiosk hardware or software who have not thought through the entire experience. This includes not considering the amount of information on screen that a person is willing to read while standing at a kiosk, or considering how the person interacts with the software. A common example is the keyboard. The basic question of "Should I have a keyboard on my kiosk?" doesn't seem to go through their minds... so it's our job to help them think through this when we consult for them.

Think about it, you have a touch screen kiosk with a killer app that is going to make your company money, reward your customers, streamline operations, etc... why do I need a keyboard when I can just have an onscreen keyboard? In our experience, there are some pros and cons to having only a touchscreen keyboard. By relying on the touch keyboard, you will need to consider the interface and how much real estate it will consumer onscreen. This means you have less space for your content or form fields that they use to enter data into. It also increases your software development budget, as the keyboard needs to be integrated, customized to your branding, etc. But one of the biggest reasons not to use an onscreen keyboard for your kiosk is your customer. As long as you only are asking for small amounts of data, a onscreen keyboard is great. But if you are asking for much typing from the customer, we have found that the adoption rate or completion rate drops considerably. Nobody wants to enter as much data as they would on a web page, when using a touch keyboard. The user is not accustomed to the flat surface that is perpendicular to the ground, and they will type much slower. A tradition keyboard sits flat and with proper ergonomics, a person can type very fast.

So if you are asking for a good deal of typing from your customers, consider a tradtional tactile qwerty keyboard. While it will still be slower than when they are at their comfy chair and desk, it will be more natural for them and you will get better participation in your programs. There are many different styles to chose from, and each kiosk vendor has their own preferences based upon testing, availability, durability, etc.

At Electronic Art, we integrated a smaller keyboard with a built in trackpad which requires less cleaning than a trackball, has no moving parts, and we believe more people are comfortable with the trackpad that is similar to laptops, than an ball system. The keyboard is not hardened or vandal resistant, but is is also about 1/6 of the cost of a hardened keyboard. We rarely have problems with them, and when we do it is easy to replace.

Hardened keyboards or vandal resistant keyboards are very cool. They are well engineered to resist spills, prying off of keys, breakage, and they are made to take many more cycles of up/down on the keys so they will last longer. There are many reasons to consider using them, such as when you have a kiosk in an unattended environment like a shopping mall. But if you are using it in a monitored area such as a retail shop, you may find them to be overkill. They are also often harder to depress (slightly) and flat without finger curves on top which can lead to some users typing slower or not liking the experience as it makes them feel uncomfortable. Some models are also not in a typical configuration, so the space bar or control keys are in places you would not expect. They add $200-$450 to the cost of a kiosk on average. There are both ruggedized plastic or metal versions depending on your risk tolerance.

Another cool keyboard concept is the software/hardware from Staco Switch that allows onscreen keyboards to feel as if you are really touching a button. It sounds impossible, but when touching an screen it gives the right vibrations to your brain that make it feel like you just depressed a physical button. I'm so hoping to get a customer that will want to integrate this great attention getter into their applications. It would be great on kiosks or touch screen digital signage.

Recently, our technical director passed on a link to me about a brand new methodology of using onscreen keyboards called Swype. While in it's infancy, it seems really cool. Instead of touching each letter individually, you draw a path between letters and a word matching search engine helps to do a predictive text to speed you up. CNet did a quick video on their site about it from the TechCrunch50 show (see below). It would not work for every project, and introducing a new mindset on input may confuse your customers so you should only use it when appropriate to your audience. And expect to have to give assistance while people learn it, but it can provide an impactful wow factor to your edgy project!

So no matter if you plan to use a physical keyboard or an onscreen keyboard... consider your customer. What will they prefer, what will be most intuitive and easy for them. Test with A/B testing if you have budget. But don't let the input method get in the way of your killer app and kiosk's success.