Forgotten Spaces: Day 4

Today's forgotten spaces are from the Sacramento, CA airport. Public art over an entire ticketing area...

really adds a lot of interest to what is normally a forgotten space.

Jazzing up a parking structure...

Adding lovely details to the terminal...

Really created a welcoming feeling.

It's nice to see public spaces doing a better job of adding art to these forgotten spaces.

Don't miss the other Blogfesters taking part this year:
Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!
Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating
Ann Handley at Annarchy
Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren
Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer
Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, #ladiesrooms08, Bathroom Blogfest 2008, visitor experience consultant

Forgotten Spaces: Day 3

Today's forgotten space is courtesy of Southwest Airlines at one of their gates.

They had a couple of these comfy leather chairs complete with power stations at my gate. This is a great solution for the business traveler, and lets us know you're thinking about our needs. Just another reason why Southwest continues to be my favorite airline.

Don't miss the other Blogfesters taking part this year:
Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!
Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating
Ann Handley at Annarchy
Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren
Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer
Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, #ladiesrooms08, Bathroom Blogfest 2008, visitor experience consultant

Forgotten Spaces, Day 2

Today's forgotten space is from the Southwest Terminal at San Diego's Lindbergh Field. This used to be just a blank wall. I don't think there was any seating here before. This formerly forgotten space is between the ticket counters and the entrance to the gates/airport security.

Every time I come through, people are enjoying this space.

Sometimes just placing unexpected seating can really improve a forgotten space. The gorgeous mural doesn't hurt either.

Don't miss the other Blogfesters taking part this year:
Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!
Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating
Ann Handley at Annarchy
Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren
Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer
Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, #ladiesrooms08, Bathroom Blogfest 2008, visitor experience consultant

Forgotten Spaces: The 2008 Bathroom Blogfest continues

Those of you who follow this blog (you know who you are, and thanks!) might remember the last two years I participated in the Bathroom Blogfest. This year, we're extending the focus to include all those forgotten spaces that also make up the customer experience.

As I've been spending a LOT of time in airports lately, that's my focus this year. First up, a little restaurant in the San Francisco International Airport called Lori's Diner.

I have never seen the "under the counter" space used so creatively. The lights on the cars are even on! This forgotten space becomes the Invitation to this restaurant and added a fun flair to the seating area nearby.

Don't miss the other Blogfesters taking part this year:
Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!
Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating
Ann Handley at Annarchy
Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren
Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer
Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, #ladiesrooms08, Bathroom Blogfest 2008, visitor experience consultant

Sunday's signpost

This is an example of an isonometric (iso) view on a wayfinding sign. It's especially helpful on you-are-here maps, as it creates dimension and allows people to understand the landmarks of your site. Many people have trouble reading a straight plan view, so when it's possible, have your designer use an iso view like this one.

One more note: As always, maps (iso or plan) always need to be oriented correctly to match the direction the viewer is facing.
Technorati Tags: visitor experience, wayfinding , you-are-here map , signs, visitor experience consultant

Sunday's Signpost

This interpretive sign at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles left me scratching my head. The white dotted line is labeled "Crude oil and gas escape from fissures below the lake." The figures on the left appear to be men digging... referencing the original quarry that created the lake that became the tar pit? The black horizontal line reads "Surface oil slick." If it's a cross-section of the tar pit, how does it relate to where I'm standing?

When a design gets over-stylized like this, it's best to check it in prototype form with visitors, to make sure they understand it. You might be making assumptions that simply don't translate visually.

What do you think readers? Does this sign work?
Technorati Tags: visitor experience, la brea tar pits, signs, visitor experience consultant

Sunday's Signpost

The first I'd seen: touchscreen building directory. Great for places with lots of changes, or lots of choices. I could see this working really well in a large museum, helping people map their route to galleries they want to see. Especially great if you could choose how much time you had to spend, and it gave you preselected highlights routes, kids' routes, etc.
Technorati Tags: visitor experience, customer service, signs, visitor experience consultant

Vino Volo: Another reason to fly through Sacramento

Sacramento Airport adds another hit to its list of great experiences, like Butter London and great public art.

Vino Volo, currently in 9 airports across the U.S., caught my eye yesterday. I was heading to Starbucks when we noticed it. My companion was excited about the wine, I was excited about the food (cheese plate, great olives, etc.)

The wine bar offered very comfortable deep leather chairs, echoed by the menus.

Great branding.

Wonderful presentation... here a flight of "World Noirs," dark red wines to taste for just $15.

Each had information for the wine connoisseur... great interpretation!

My wine connoisseur companion laughed out loud at the rating chart: light, bright, rich, brooding.

Tip of the day: When you see a place like this, think about which aspects of the experience could be applied to your nonprofit visitor experience. The chairs? The educational presentation of food? The unexpected surprise of finding something like this in an airport?
Technorati Tags: Vino Volo, customer service, branded experience, visitor experience consultant

Sunday's Signpost

I spotted this interpretive panel at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

It's a great way to get a lot of information out there without it being visually overwhelming. Visitors can flip panels (vertically mounted, three-sided) to see various aspects of the area map over time. I especially like how they incorporated historic images as callouts in the map.
Technorati Tags: visitor experience, signs, visitor experience consultant

Blog update

Hello blog readers,
Just wanted to make a note to say that I haven't abandoned the blog... I've been busy traveling the state of California giving workshops through an organization called Infopeople. The final two workshops will be in Orange County on October 15 and San Francisco on October 21.

I'm thoroughly enjoying meeting librarians around the state and learning more about their challenges to creating great visitor experiences.

I'll also be giving my Experienceology workshop in Portland, Oregon next month at the National Association for Interpretation's annual conference. My workshop will be held at the Oregon Zoo and we'll be using the Zoo as our lab for the afternoon, studying aspects of their visitor experience.

Look for regular blog posts again in November, and I'll continue with my Sunday's Signposts as well.

Thanks for reading!
Stephanie