Recommended Approach

It is a recommended best practice to think of any enterprise-level AEM Screens project as a long-term undertaking. A project duration of one or more years is likely, particularly if the solution allows for complex user interaction or will be deployed to a variety of devices and locations.

Guidelines before Developing a Digital Signage Strategy

Refer to the few recommendations before developing and deploying a digital signage project:

• Scope Control:
  If the desired solution is ambitious, it is recommended that you divide the deliverables into discrete phases to control the scope of the project.

• Defined Use Cases:
  Project phases should deliver tightly defined use-cases with clearly identified success criteria.

• Incremental Deliverables:
  Focus on delivering features incrementally.

• Estimating Desired Outcome:
  Start with out-of-the-box AEM Screens features before building custom components and integrations. Always brainstorm if the desired outcome can be reached using the components and features that come standard with AEM Screens.

• Defining Pilots, Rollouts, and POCs:
  Develop a Proof of Concept (POCs) and adapt as needed through a pilot and rollout.

• Pre-defining Content Strategy:
  Establish a content strategy, including short-term and long-term goals. Additionally, align brand goals/KPIs with feature improvements.

  NOTE

  Upfront costs are often higher on an AEM Screens project due to need to invest in hardware, fixtures, and site designs; therefore, keeping initial content solutions simpler can help manage budget expectations.

• Estimating Large Scale Deliverables:
  If the solution will be delivered on a large scale, it is recommended that you roll out the components of the application to carefully chosen pilot locations for trial use. Deliver to new locations and devices as the application passes validation.

  NOTE

  Start collecting analytics during the pilot to help business teams validate the success of the solution against the specific metrics they are trying to achieve. Knowing how the pilot is performing helps the business team determine what improvements need to be made.

• Splitting Deliverables into measurable tasks:
  Splitting the delivery of features into measurable tasks will allow timely feedback, provide more achievable targets, and reduce overall project risks.

• Developing a Roadmap:
  If your client wants a feature rich product, deliver a slice of the planned functionality early in the project and schedule other features for future phases. A feature-heavy first deliverable carries greater risk and will be more difficult to validate with the client.

• Understanding Scope of Custom Integrations:
  Interactive components with touch screen interaction, motion sensor, or RFID will require significant custom development in the implementation method. A slideshow, video advertisement, or static menu can be delivered as graphical content or HTML on a Screens channel.