CLICK HERE to read our last post: TOUCHSCREENS AND WEBSITES ARE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE

Now that we have convinced you that touchscreens are very different than community webpages, let’s take a look at how we have incorporated those differences into Pynwheel leasing touchscreen applications.

1- Number of Pages
Your website is likely to have a number of pages, with navigation that lets users explore a number of different avenues. Pynwheel touchscreens keep pages to a minimum, so that your prospects are always one step away from the information that is truly important to them during this stage of the leasing process. Of course, you can always build additional pages into your application - whether they be links to applications, websites, static information pages, or slideshows - but the focus will remain on what gets leases signed.

2- Buttons
When you are surfing the web with a mouse, you don’t need a lot of space to land your cursor on, and you can place clickable items in a row, with no space in between. When you are using touchscreens, there is always the danger of “fat fingering” a button that is too small, or too close to other buttons. Good touchscreen design calls for adequate button size, as well as adequate negative space to prevent clicks on the wrong items.

Here’s another thing we learned about our buttons: If you want people to be curious about a button, animate it! Pynwheel had added animation to our navigation buttons, which draws people into your touchscreen application, without bogging your cool design with unnecessary verbiage.

3- Responsiveness
Remember when we told you that users place higher demands for responsiveness on touchscreens? Our newest software, Pynwheel 4.0, was designed in large part to be robust and responsive. In computer terms, to be robust means to be free from errors and delays. All of our designs were also created with that quality in mind. Allowing design changes without programming changes ensures that buttons always work. Quickly and correctly.

4- “Cookies”
Websites utilize cookies to remember user activity, so that when you return, you can resume that activity or remember things that you liked. Obviously, a touchscreen is going to be shared by multiple users, so cookies are not a good idea . However, touchscreens allow users to select their own cookies, in the form of favorites, from your floorplans, amenities, gallery images and other items. Then, each user can send themselves their favorites, in the form of a self-curated e-brochure. Cool!

[One more thing we have learned: We do not ask users to enter their e-mail until after they have chosen their favorites, because they are more likely to want to see their e-brochure after they have already built it.]

5- Multi-touch
You want your prospects to use your touchscreen, and one of the ways you do that is to make your touchscreen fun to use! Multi-touch allows us to build galleries and community maps that are fun to move around in. Multiple pop-ups can be re-sized, re-arranged, and re-configured to your heart’s delight. Then, with the push of a button, they can be reorganized and the process can begin anew.