The challenge of building apps for iBeacon experiences@JonPaulLittle

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Product Manager

About Kew

iBeacon Technology

The Kew app experience

and audiences

Five challenges

The challenge of building

apps for iBeacon experiences

About Kew

Kew has the largest living plant

collection in the world

Kew’s Herbarium has 7.5 million

dried specimens

The Millennium Seed Bank (MSB)

at Wakehurst is the largest bio

hotspot in the world

Lots of Knowledge, History and

Science

“The MSBS has banked

36,333 plant species and

has 2,115,847,290 seeds in

storage. Today, 60,000 to

100,000 species of plant are

faced with the threat of

extinction”

The design scope and challenge

is huge……but so is the potential

The opportunity

Kew App (20 January - October 2015)

Kew app analytics

200,000

Screen

views

55,000

Sessions

72% of users

giving

feedback had

no issue with

Bluetooth

set to on

iOS downloads

+7000

Android App

launched now

95% of users

live in London

iBeacons are

simple….in principle

iBeacon uses Bluetooth low

energy proximity sensing to

transmit a unique identifier.

This is picked up by your

compatible app or operating

system

iBeacon technology

These are Kontakt

beacons like the ones

used at Kew and Wakehurst

The iOS codeBeacons broadcast data according to the iBeacon API,

which boils down to this:

UUID A24C60F9-21RE-4A2K-81ZQ-32194B29BU6

Major 1

Minor 27

These three fields, UUID, major and minor, are broadcast

using a Bluetooth LE (a.k.a. Bluetooth Low-Energy or

Bluetooth Smart) radio on the fixed “advertising channel”

When you set up your Beacon, you can choose whatever

values you want for UUID, Major, and Minor. It’s

completely arbitrary what you pick.

Technology continued

The Android code Eddystone is an open source, cross-platform

Bluetooth LE beacon format.

The downside to UUIDs in the previous slide

is that they are tied to developers so you

need the appropriate app do anything with

the information.

The key thing about Eddystone is the use of

URL’s. They are more universal and from a

user perspective offer far less friction.

Google want to remove the app layer and

this fits very neatly into their Physical web

led future.

The potential here is huge…think search,

personalisation and omnichannel

Technology continued

69% bring a smartphone to the Gardens

Most interested in:

• Shared experience

• Variety

• Inclusivity

• Personal development

...I want to find out the stories behind the plants, so I can feel more connected

to the world around me

...I want to know the everyday relevance of Kew’s research, so I can

understand the work Kew does

...I want to know what is in bloom, so I can appreciate Kew at its best today

User story examples

As a Nature Connector…

Our audiences

The Audience

As a Discerning Sensualist…..52% bring smartphone

Most interested in:

• Quality

• Substance

• Heritage

• Authenticity

...I want a map showing all the beautiful buildings, so I can appreciate Kew’s

architecture

...I want detailed information about science and conservation, so I can feel better

informed

...I want to engage with experts, so I can find out more about Kew’s research and

conservation

User story examples

As an Exciting New Experience Hunter…

71% bring smartphone

Most interested in:

• Variety

• Innovation

• Socialising

• Adventure

...I want to know about all the different events, so I can get involved

...I want to know what’s happening in the future, so I can decide if I’ll come

back

...I want to do something totally different and unexpected, so I can go home

energised

User story examples

Our audiences

The Kew App experience

Discover Kew app V1 Discover Kew app V2

clicking again may help with that.

What is the context? plan,

explore, engage…

People scan and don’t read

The experience is everything

Capture the users attention

(wonder moments)

Keep the design simple and

consistent

The challenges

What is the context?

What mode are users in? planning,

exploring, engaging, learning…..or all of

these? Understanding this is so important

when building an ibeacon experience.

Possible beacon applications…grows daily

- personalised in-store offers- personalised service based on profile / history- auto check-in to hotels, flights, events etc- guided tours / sight seeing- home automation- health / hospital- security- hands-free mobile payment- asset and stock management

The challenges

clicking again may help with that.

People scan, they don’t

read

Our analytics showed that users switch from

scanning to reading when they found something

interesting(based on dwell time stats)

Extra functionality was discovered as needed in a

beacon zone (e.g. through on screen prompts

without the need to deliver everything all at once

Differentiation matters with all of the complexity

and quantity of information. We deliberately used

images to tell the story

Consistent design reduces the need for users to

rethink

The Challenges

The experience is

everything so design for

the experience

Visiting Kew is all about the experience we were

clear that users want an experience, not just

another version of the website in miniature

offered on their smartphone

Location v Proximity GPS is a location technology.

Bluetooth LE is a proximity technology.

Understand the difference is key.

Every time you ask a user to click, tap or swipe

you lose people. If a user has to do less then they

are more likely to see content relevant to them

The Challenges

Design to capture

someone’s attention

It is so important to capture the user’s

attention within the experience.

Geofences, beacons, WiFi helped to show

content, pictures, audio and video

Most of us are looking for the easiest and

fastest route to get what we need.

Some of our user assumptions in the first

app were wrong. Scrolling has helped us

address the content challenge

Use Geofences to entice people to an area

Then a beacon to offer a micro level

experience

The Challenges

Keep it simple

You don’t want people to have to think too hard

We saw through our analytics that people didn’t

know to swipe through the screens in V1 of the

app, this was/is a massive challenge for us.

Context is king

Understand where the user is, eg would a time

lapse video of a plant that only flowers at night

add something to the experience for that person?

The Challenges

To sum up

The technology works, it is cheap,

robust and sustainable

Feedback from users is 90% positive

and engagement levels in app are

high

Analytics allow battery drain is not an

issue

WiFi and beacons work well together

We stream video in WiFi areas via the

app

Physical challenges like size and

scale matter and affect performance

of beacons

We tried QR codes unsuccessfully and

beacons offer less friction

I believe iBeacons help

to filter a digital

experience.

If designed correctly,

they should allow for

simplicity, not

complexity

Stick to UX and Product Management

principles but be flexible

The next big challenge is the physical web

and designing for those interactions

The challenge for you all of us here is that we can now

deliver content and experiences based on people’s

precise proximity to things using iBeacons.

Just think of all the things you are near every day?

To sum up

Thank you and questions

@JonPaulLittle

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