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By wayfinding, we imply either 1) Orientation, route decision, route monitoring, and destination recognition in various environments, or 2) A system of signs and prompts designed to assist us with all of the above.

People have been using wayfinding solutions since the ancient times. Although languages and materials have changed, the signs and prompts helping us to find our way around have stayed largely the same. In modern buildings – airports, hospitals, shopping malls – you can find various physical and digital wayfinding tools:

• Color symbolism – different colors used for floors, wings, etc.

• Indoor signage – floor, wall and ceiling visual cues.

• Outdoor landmarks and signage.

• Digital kiosks with interactive instructions.

1. What is Wayfinding? Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

Where These Solutions Fall Short:

• As a rule, setting up indoor and outdoor signage involves high costs of construction and design, especially if your organization operates large or multiple facilities.

• Standalone signs or digital kiosks take up valuable space.

• In most cases nowadays, you have to provide multi-lingual support.

• Physical wayfinding infrastructure is costly to maintain and update.

• Printed signage provides no capabilities for interactive customer engagement.

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With the advent of smartphones and tablets, the emergence of mobile wayfinding apps was only a matter of time. Most organizations adopting mobile wayfinding solutions nowadays have to custom-develop them for their facilities.

Custom-built wayfinding apps often use state-of-the art Bluetooth, GPS or “blue dot” context-aware navigation technology and expensive mobile infrastructure. Features can include:

• Very specific maps and location information.

• Turn by turn directions.

• Photo landmark navigation.

• Easy to use, intuitive interface.

2. The Current State of Mobile Wayfinding Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

Where They Fall Short: Along with the common complaint that users may feel and look awkward walking around holding smartphones or tablets in front of their faces, there are a number of larger issues:

• Custom wayfinding apps require additional hardware in the facility.

• Implementation of turn-by-turn navigation can be lengthy and costly.

• Upgrades and changes take time and additional resources.

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Low-energy Bluetooth beacons are a affordable alternative to custom-built, sophisticated turn-by-turn navigation apps. MobileSmith has partnered with Gimbal™, the market leader in beacon and geofencing technology, to integrate their solution in our code-free mobile app development platform.

Why Go With Beacons?

• Beacons are cheap! No need to build a costly digital wayfinding infrastructure. You can launch a wayfinding apps quickly and cost-effectively compared to a custom-built solutions.

• You can include wayfinding functions and various contextual messaging in any branded apps. This is especially important, as very few of your customers will want to specifically download a wayfinding app in addition to the other mobile app(s) your brand is offering. Why not include a wayfinding function in your main mobile app, and save thousands of dollars on app promotion?

3. Beacons and Geofencing Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

How It Works in Our Platform:

• Deploy your Gimbal beacons and draw geofence(s) in Gimbal Manager.

• Easily customize the push notifications your app will send to users at specific locations.

• Point push messages to specific app pages – maps, parking instructions, check-in, etc.

• Track time spent by your visitors or staff at various locations.

• Include relevant announcements, special offers, and more.

• Prototype your wayfinding apps quickly and test them on real devices.

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4. How it Works: Geofencing Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

Geofencing is a macro-location technology based on GPS. It allows you to locate your app users in areas 50 meters or greater in radius. A geofence is a virtual enclosure that you can set up around a real geographic area, e.g. a building, a street, a parking lot, or a plaza. With the geofence set up, the app on your GPS-enabled smartphone can become aware of a user’s location in relation to it, including arrival, departure and dwell times. This allows for multiple use cases:

• Send a welcome text linked to an app page with detailed entry/parking instructions, maps and more.

• Alert users to the availability of mobile check-in. Automate check-in and queue placement.

• Send contextual content in the proximity of major landmarks.

• Track how much time your visitors spend within the defined perimeter. For example, you can log your employees’ attendance.

• And much more!

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5. How it Works: Beacons Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

Proximity Beacons are a micro-location technology for areas less than 50 meters in radius. A proximity beacon marks a radio-based enclosure that you set up around a smaller geographic area; for example, a room, a lobby, a department within a store, a specific street address, a section of a parking lot, or a landmark in a plaza. Gimbal uses low-cost beacon technology based on the Bluetooth® 4.0 Low Energy (BLE) standard, so your wayfinding app will not drain your users’ batteries. With these cost-effective tools, you can quickly setup various indoor wayfinding and messaging scenarios:

• Send proximity messages pointing to indoor 2D or 3D maps, overlay photos, or other types of wayfinding instructions.

• Push contextual alerts, relevant promotions, coupons, discounts, etc.

• Track the time spent by users in particular rooms or sections of your building.

• Automate check-in or check-out. Use the same beacons for multiple user scenarios or apps!

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6. Case Study: Hospital Wayfinding App Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System was the first to publish a cost-effective hospital wayfinding app using the MobileSmith app development platform. Sarasota Memorial designed its wayfinding app to help patients more easily find their way around its 1.5 million-square-foot main campus on southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. Available for iOS and Android, the app is packed with interactive location-based features. Visitors can: • Receive location-based maps, content and tips

for navigating SMH’s main campus.

• Easily find the ERs, Urgent Care Centers, and other locations within the SMH network.

• Search a dynamic directory of physicians and services by specialty, location, or keyword.

• Store physicians to Favorites; contact them from the app; get GPS directions.

“A hospital can be a confusing, stressful place for patients and their families, so we want to do all that we can to make their experience a more pleasant one. While there will always be a friendly face to greet and direct visitors to their appointments and hospital amenities, our new user-friendly app adds an extra layer of comfort and convenience from their smartphone.”

Peter Taylor, SMH Marketing Director

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No programming experience? No resources to hire expensive iOS or Android developers? No desire to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a custom wayfinding solution? No problem! The MobileSmith platform was designed for non-programmers to quickly prototype, test, and build native iOS and Android apps. MobileSmith is integrated with the Gimbal platform, which enables you to use beacons and geofencing in your custom-designed apps.

• Include wayfinding in any branded apps. • Draw geofences in the Gimbal Manager. • Create/modify beacon-triggered notifications

in real time – no need to resubmit the app. • Point your push messages to specific pages of

your app: maps, photos with overlay wayfinding instructions, coupons, check-in/ check-out interface, etc.

• Quickly install your beacons and test the app! • Distribute your app via an email link or submit

directly to the app store.

7. How to Build a Wayfinding App Quickly Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

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8. Five Tips to Maximize ROI

Wayfinding apps are gaining popularity, as organizations realize how important customer experience is to their organization’s brand image and bottom line. However, without active app promotion, driving user adoption and realizing ROI can be difficult. The key to acquiring users without spending a fortune is to make your wayfinding app highly relevant to them at the very moment when they most need it. 1. When is your wayfinding app most relevant? Most likely, when your customers are on-the-go; possibly driving. Make your app easy to download and open quickly, using one hand.

App Promotion Strategy:

2. Outdoor and Indoor Signage: Your app can be a life-saver for someone circling around your parking lot or corridors, trying to make their appointment on time. Large signs with visible QR codes are a must!

3. Email: For existing customers, email works great to promote new facilities and services. Advertise your wayfinding app for easy orientation and early check in.

4. Social: Thought not efficient in addressing an immediate need, social channels can be great tools to promote the cool new function your brand is offering in its apps.

5. Free Marketing: Along with paid promotion, you can employ a variety of free, no-brainer marketing techniques:

• Create a search-optimized landing page for your wayfinding app.

• Post an announcement on guest blogs and partner sites; feature it on your own website home page.

• Include an app download link in your email signature; place a QR code on your business card.

• Offer app users perks for referring a friend!

Building a Cost-Effective Mobile Wayfinding App

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MobileSmith: a rapid and cost-effective way to create wayfinding apps – no coding!

Talk to Us About Your Wayfinding App Ideas!

Call: 855.516.2413

Email: sales@mobilesmith.com Visit: www.mobilesmith.com

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