Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Exploring the retail analogy further

When we need physical food, we go to a Grocery store.
When we need intellectual/social food, we go to a  ______ store.


Can you fill that blank with "library"?
Are libraries of the future akin to an Information store? Do we want to be?

(I would prefer Knowledge store, myself... dare I say even Wisdom store?)

2 comments:

David said...

One thing of note is the use of "Weenies". Weenies was the term coined by Disney's Imagineering group for the attraction that would draw guest deeper into the park. For an example, walking to the gate, the first Weenie is the Train Station. Past the Train Station is the second Weenie of the Castle. Yet as the Weenie draws you deeper, you still can enjoy the other attractions along the way like Main Street USA.

This idea has been taken into the retail space. Using Gallans as an example, the store uses the classic "Race Track" design yet the climbing wall is the Weenie drawing guest deeper into the store.

Speaking of the Race Track layout, this is used by almost every supermarket in America with the keystone of the most wanted items (bread, meats, diary) located along the backstretch.

Now for libraries, what is the Weenie in your layout drawing patron's deeper? Does this Weenie allow them to stop and enjoy your other areas while being pulled in?

BTW Where did the folks at Disney get the idea for Weenie? Well it comes from an old TV trick to get a dog to hit a cue.

For more ideas, here are the Ten Commandments of Marty Sklar, President of Imagineering in 1987
http://www.themedattraction.com/mickeys10commandments.htm

1. Know your audience - Don't bore people, talk down to them or lose them by
assuming that they know what you know.

2. Wear your guest's shoes - Insist that designers, staff and your board members
experience your facility as visitors as often as possible.

3. Organize the flow of people and ideas - Use good story telling techniques, tell good
stories not lectures, lay out your exhibit with a clear logic.

4. Create a weenie - Lead visitors from one area to another by creating visual magnets
and giving visitors rewards for making the journey

5. Communicate with visual literacy - Make good use of all the non-verbal ways of
communication - color, shape, form, texture.

6. Avoid overload - Resist the temptation to tell too much, to have too many objects,
don't force people to swallow more than they can digest, try to stimulate and
provide guidance to those who want more.

7. Tell one story at a time - If you have a lot of information divide it into distinct,
logical, organized stories, people can absorb and retain information more clearly if
the path to the next concept is clear and logical.

8. Avoid contradiction - Clear institutional identity helps give you the competitive
edge. Public needs to know who you are and what differentiates you from other
institutions they may have seen.

9. For every ounce of treatment , provide a ton of fun - How do you woo people from
all other temptations? Give people plenty of opportunity to enjoy themselves by
emphasizing ways that let people participate in the experience and by making your
environment rich and appealing to all senses.

10. Keep it up - Never underestimate the importance of cleanliness and routine
maintenance, people expect to get a good show every time, people will comment
more on broken and dirty stuff.

Martin Sklar, Walt Disney Imagineering, Education vs. Entertainment: Competing for
audiences, AAM Annual meeting, 1987

Anonymous said...

I liked the housing estate

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