Digital Screens Network Meeting (21/6/23) Notes
The purpose of the Digital Screens Network is to see how useful the digital signage screens across campus are, and how we can improve them. Currently looking at a design refresh.
The full meeting can be watched below.
Representatives from: Library, Economics, History, sustainability, MCI, Humanities Research Centre, Chemistry, Cross Faculty Studies, Computer Science, Modern Languages and Cultures
| Like about Digital Screens | Could be Improved |
|---|---|
| Nice way to get information out to students, visible Look more professional Promote events and display important messages easily Flexibility, video No paper waste Creating own space and design OneLan quick at publishing Better sense of working together |
Could have more across campus Training needed to get most of the screens Like to see how often content appears on screen Software is slow/frustrating and sometimes unresponsive to upload Lack of templates to help create content and share it across campus Better usage guidance Screens get ‘lost’ to students |
If you would like to arrange some training for yourselves or your team, please get in touch with me at DigitalScreens@warwick.ac.uk
Run through of the current screen’s elements including: content zone, date/time, weather, in the press feed, upcoming event from insite calendar.
Refreshed design proposal aims:
- More focus on departmental content, to play that more frequently
- Highlighting cultural/observance dates
- This area could be used for other content, such as Study Space availability.
- Tagging content:
- Grouping similar content by category to make it feel more curated
- Audience targeting – only show content to PG students in PG areas, for example.
- Full Screen Popups could be utilised to shout about key messaging – this concept is still TBC
- Removed:
- In the press, too small to read currently, but plans to have it as a popup in future
- Insite calendar removed, with aims to have departmental specific events automatically listed in the main content zone from sitebuilder.
Feedback/Comments on the proposed design:
1. Do you plan on having templates to help design content?
Yes, we just need to identify which templates make the most sense. There are a lot of different content types, such as events, adverts, videos, so its trying to find some consistency within all the different types. We could incorporate tag groupings and departmental branding into these templates.
2. Could we have the Warwick Logo per departments?
We chose a generic logo, but we can explore using departmental logos in this space. We might not need a logo at all because screens appear on campus, so it’s already evident where we are.
3. Do we need the weather on the screens? What about the date?
General consensus is that the weather was not necessary. Many people have the same information on a watch, phone and laptop. Date perhaps less important than time.
4. Can we split content between staff and students?
Tagging can be used for this, which we can then highlight on the screen using the label on the new design. This tab could be removed per groups of screens within different locations, or renamed. Continued conversation with departments to make sure the screens are relevant to your audiences. We want to design a modular layout that can show slightly different content per department based on what departments know their audiences will respond best to.
5. Can we include our branding design/colours on our departmental screens?
Potentially, we’d need to see what this looked like. We’ve tried to design the screens to be generic and standard, but that the content zone should be branded to the department.
Timeline:
- Add any feedback changes to the design based on the discussion in the group
- Present the new design with the senior leadership team
- Demo the new design
- Work with departments to update their screens
- Then start adding the design to more users who don’t currently use the global playlist.
How often should we meet as the Digital Screens Network?
- Meet once every 3 months, or when there is important news to discuss.
- Set up team channelLink opens in a new window for more ad hoc discussions
Any feedback please send to me at edward.dyer@warwick.ac.uk or DigitalScreens@warwick.ac.uk.
For more information about submitting content please see the Digital Screens pagesLink opens in a new window.