UXPA UK World Usability Day – A Glimpse of the Future: Innovative through Technology. My slides from the UXPA event in London on 19 November.

1. The challenge of building apps for iBeacon experiences
@JonPaulLittle
Search jonpaullittle on WordPress and LinkedIn
Product Manager

2. About Kew
iBeacon Technology
The Kew app experience
and audiences
Five challenges
The challenge of building
apps for iBeacon experiences

3. 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”

4. The design scope and challenge
is huge……but so is the potential
The opportunity

5. 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

6. 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

7. The iOS code
Beacons 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. The Kew App experience
Discover Kew app V1 Discover Kew app V2

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. Thank you and questions
@JonPaulLittle
Search jonpaullittle on WordPress and LinkedIn