BLE beacons have come a long way since Apple announced iBeacon support. At Beacon Week San Francisco, sponsored by Kontakt.io, we review some tips, insights and idea-starters for the new world of beacons.

1. BEACON EXPLORERS
OVERVIEW
January 2015

2. BEACONS: OVERVIEW
Beacons turn the physical world into
a new digital channel. They bring
digital content and engagement
closer to the point of purchase.

3. WHAT IS A BEACON
This is a beacon. It triggers messages and
media on your phone or tablet.
This Is A Beacon

4. WHAT IS A BEACON
Beacon technology transmits small packets of
data using Bluetooth Low Energy. When a
customer’s phone “hears” the beacon it knows
how close it is and we can then send a
message, a notice, a piece of media or other
information.
These Are Beacons
• Works at 2 inches and up to 100 meters
• Doesn’t drain the phone battery
• Your app will ‘wake up’ when close to a beacon
(app can be closed)
• Works on iOS, Android, etc
• Opt-in technology = consumer acceptance
Benefits

5. WHAT IS A BEACON
Beacons are based on the Bluetooth Low Energy specification. Not the same as
‘regular Bluetooth’, this specification doesn’t drain a user’s battery, can last for years on
a single battery, and is a medical-grade technology.

6. WHAT IS A BEACON
Towards Bluetooth LE 4.2
!
• Low Powered Connectivity: The latest version of internet protocol
(IPv6/6LoWPAN) for Bluetooth Smart devices.
• Bluetooth Smart technology gateways: Internet connectivity with
the flexible Bluetooth Smart Generic Attribute Profiles (GATT)
architecture.
• In 4.2, Bluetooth Smart is up to 2.5x faster with a huge packet
capacity increase – nearly 10x more versus previous versions.
• Keeps Bluetooth Smart devices from being tracked.

7. BEACONS INSIDE
As you move closer to the beacon, different “triggers” can occur.

8. BEACONS INSIDE
A single beacon can trigger multiple interactions. A
message when you arrive; a video as you approach the car;
a “request assistance” button when you stand next to it.

9. BEACONS OUTSIDE
Extend the beacon experience outside with lock screen messages near digital
or outdoor media.

10. BEACONS OUTSIDE
Real-time synchronization between the app and screens in the world around
you.

11. BEACON DEVELOPMENT
DESIGN EXPERIENCES
Beacons extend how we think
about digital development. We
can now more easily design digital
engagement for the physical
world.

12. HotSpot Parking - and referral/data and hand-over
networks.
Before and After

13. Don’t think of beacons as stationary. Think of them as
moving. There’s nothing “locked” about a beacon. A
sales associate, car, dog or product can be a beacon.
We’re All Beacons

14. Think of content as exclusive. Stuff that you can only
get close to a beacon, or even at a specific time. Let
your customers collect these little media snippets or
experiences and create their own take-home
magazines or passbooks.
Lock and Collect

15. You don’t want to slam your customers with coupons
or offers the minute they walk in the store. Tease them,
seduce them - give them a valuable tip, an insight,
some advice. And as they get closer to the beacon,
get them closer to a sale.
Seduction

16. Give tools to the front-line staff. Posting content to a
beacon - a product on sale, say, or just a joke of the
day, is as easy as a few clicks on an app or web site.
Front Line Counts

17. Tweet a shop window. Pin a product in a store. Share a
shelf with friends. Think of the things you can do online
and now apply them to physical things. With beacons,
a store item is like a web page….and just like a web
page, you can turn physical products into
opportunities for social sharing.
Make It Social

18. Beacons go way beyond retail. They’re found in
industrial, education, and warehouse settings. They’re
helping us to ‘see’ the world in a new way.
Track People & Things

19. Beacons can collect thousands, even millions of data
points. Time spent, number of people, heat maps,
media clicked, social sharing.
Big, Smart Data
!

20. 5 COMMON QUESTIONS

21. 5 COMMON QUESTIONS

22. 5 COMMON QUESTIONS

23. 5 COMMON QUESTIONS

24. 5 COMMON QUESTIONS

25. 5 COMMON QUESTIONS

26. OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

27. UX/UI: RISK/REWARD

28. UX DESIGN:
The Real World
START WITH REAL WORLD DESIGN
• Your experience will be magic because it creates a
tangible experience connecting your user’s phone to the
physical world.
!
• Challenge: we rarely design apps based on physical
context.
• Solution: map what your user does, what do they look at,
what’s their sense of place, what are the sign posts?
!
!

29. UX DESIGN:
The Real World (2)
There’s no error console for physical space
• You need to plan carefully for different scenarios from
signal interference to differences in response rates for
different phones.
!
• Challenge: how an app responds to beacons can vary.
Design experiences to account for that.
• Solution: unlike most other apps, you’ll need more
methods for ‘failing gracefully’
!
!

30. UX DESIGN:
The Real World (3)

31. UX DESIGN:
The Real World (3)
Beacons go missing
!
• Challenge: beacons go missing, get moved or run out of
battery.
• Solution: plan for failure and look at robust cloud
monitoring or variance tracking.
!
!

32. UX DESIGN:
The Real World (4)
Bargain beacons?
There can be significant variance in beacons. There’s a ton
of work that goes into creating a great beacon. Use that
expertise.
!
• Challenge: your app won’t respond the same way if the
beacon itself isn’t well configured.
• Solution: rely on decent beacons.
!
!

33. UX TENSION POINTS
•Invisible vs Visible Beacons
•Contextual or Push app interactions
•Creepy vs. Useful
•Big data driven or user choice
!
!

34. QUICK TIPS

35. SOME TIPS
It WILL Happen:
!
•Your Bluetooth is OFF
•You’ll get a LOT of exercise
•You’ll hide beacons in a filing cabinet

36. SOME TIPS
For multiple beacons:
!
•Timers
•Prioritization
•If you want to get fancy, work RSSI
and accuracy readings.
•Whatever you do, remember that
no single signal input is reliable.

37. SOME TIPS
Do NOT use
background modes!
!

38. SOME TIPS
For beacon deployment:
!
•Don’t underestimate the time
it takes to deploy
•You don’t ALWAYS have to
push up the advertising
interval - it often makes very
little difference to the end
user
!

39. SOME TIPS
And remember the badger:
!
!

40. The Tech Keeps Getting Better
!

41. The Tech Keeps Getting Better
!
It’s what we do with it that counts.
!

42. BeaconBeThe
beekn.net
@dusanwriter
doug@dot-3.net

43. THANK YOU

44. Think of how beacons bring
content closer-and-closer to a
specific context.
GETTING CLOSER

45. GETTING CLOSER