How to position digital signage screens

Identifying the ideal position for adigital signage screen effectively boosts the impact of the messages broadcast, especially when this location is correlated with the target audience and the content strategy. On the other hand, the wrong positioning of screens can, far more easily, convey a poor image of the brand, confer very little impact on the messages broadcast and, of course, spoil the effort, time and money invested in a screen-based communications project. So, once you've asked yourself the right questions when it comes to choosing a location for your digital signage screens, it's essential to avoid harmful areas.

Avoid placing screens too high

Although it may seem like a good idea to place screens high up, since they can be seen from a greater distance, they're usually not seen at all! Indeed, because of our natural tendency to look at others, or to check where we're stepping, we rarely look up, and screens placed too high are therefore invisible. What's more, the position in which they're visible (head backwards) isn't very comfortable (which gives a negative impression), so even if screens are seen, they're only looked at for a very short time, no matter how good the content.

Avoid areas that are too bright

Unsurprisingly, the brightness of the screen and its surroundings can affect message legibility. Poorly positioned, a screen can be affected by reflections or backlighting, both of which impair legibility. Similarly, a screen that's too bright in a dark environment (evening / dimly lit room) can be dazzling (especially if the background content is white) and, conversely, a dimly lit screen can be invisible in a very bright environment (sunny day, bright room...). So identify bright areas and how they change over the course of the day, and avoid placing your screens in areas that could fall victim to light.

Avoid positioning a screen due to technical constraints

Of course, it's often easier to position a screen where sockets already exist, where there's no need to do any work, or pull a bit of cable. At first glance, it also seems more economical. But unless the outlets were installed for that very reason, it's often a bad idea. So is letting the installer decide on the best location for your screens. While a well-placed screen can be very effective and enhance the impact of the messages they broadcast, a poorly-placed screen can degrade brand image, as well as providing no visibility for your messages, thus wasting effort, time and the cost of setting up the system. It's a shame not to be able to reach your target audience effectively just to avoid pulling a little cable. Including screen positioning as part of a global strategy, and giving it real thought at the time of installation, is far more profitable in the long term.

Avoid displaying the wrong message on a well-positioned screen

Broadcasting a 15-second message on a screen in an area where people spend an average of 3 seconds is not really effective! To maximize the impact of your messages, you need toidentify the type of location for your screens and correlate it with your target audiences and objectives. Each location is good for one type of message and bad for all the others. The key is to find the right message for each screen location!

Avoid positioning a screen in the "decompression zone".

The term "decompression zone" describes the few meters immediately after the entrance (to a store, an establishment...). Indeed, the screens or posters located in this zone (and intended for newcomers) are generally invisible: visitors generally arrive quickly in a store, or, at the very least, change environment abruptly between outside and inside. They also change their mental state (especially if they come from outside), they decompress, which requires a few seconds, and therefore a few meters, during which the mind is not really receptive...

Avoid "too sophisticated" content

Particularly at the stage of creating (or validating) content for screens, it's important to bear in mind the conditions under which this content will be displayed and, above all, seen. Depending on the location of the screen, the distance from the visitor, the target audience, its level of attention, how busy it is, the time of day... conditions may not always be optimal to guarantee perfect viewing. Perhaps a head will be in the screen's field of view, or the screen will be viewed at an angle, or a small reflection will hide part of the screen, or it will only be visible for 2 seconds, or the target people will be busy with something else while passing in front of the screen. While it's obviously best to avoid placing a screen in this kind of location, it's a good idea to keep these considerations in mind when creating content. (You can then rely on simple elements: solid colors, large font sizes, large images, strong contrasts... and don't judge the quality of content sitting in front of your computer 30cm from the screen in ideal viewing conditions).

The screen positioning error: to commit or not to commit?

While avoiding these errors is essentially a matter of common sense, they are nevertheless common, and difficult to correct once made (difficult to move an already installed screen, complex to convince hierarchy that 30cm to the left and 10° to the right will make all the difference). On the other hand, these mistakes, which are costly in the long term - in terms of money, time and effort - can easily be avoided upstream, by integrating the choice of screen location very early on in the on-screen communication strategy, and by correlating throughout the project the content to be broadcast, the targets to be reached and the screens to be positioned!

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