Wayfinder 4.8 is LIVE to include an updated UI and features for it's Kiosk and HTML Web AppsPosted by Acquire Digital on December 11th, 2022 Did you know that we regularly update our Digital Wayfinding and Mapping software, ‘Wayfinder’, to ensure it’s always delivering the best experience possible? As part of our ongoing effort to improve our digital wayfinding systems, the team here at Acquire Digital has been working hard and we are excited to announce the release of Wayfinder Version 4.8! The new features are already being deployed to many of our global clients who receive the updates at no additional cost as part of our SaaS service. These features will also be implemented for new Digital Wayfinding and Mapping software client deployments moving forward. Check them out below! KIOSK APPLICATION User Interface Design Updates The first thing potential users and your customers will look at is the user-interface design and functionality of the system. Given the importance, the overall look and feel of the Wayfinder user experience have been refreshed and modernized to provide a functional and clear experience for end-users. Some of the improvements include:
Smart Search Features One of the most important updates to the system is focused on the search popups, as we have updated these to enhance your visitors’ experience even more. Our SmartSearch feature has been enhanced to bring information to the visitor quickly to help users make an informed decision without having to browse too much. More importantly for larger venues, the SmartSearch feature rapidly determines the travel times for each mode of transport and provides a sorted list for the closest and currently open destination. This gives our Wayfinder users options for viewing the list by distance, nearby, or all possible destinations. Categories In an effort to keep the list of destinations clean and functional for users, our categories are now separately placed in their own button. The newly added contextual search option allows visitors to quickly find what they are looking for by typing in a product or store into the Google-style search bar. On the backend, this has been enhanced using our new ‘Tags’ feature to allow users to quickly look for brands or products, even when sold in different locations. System Enhancements The system is hard at work calculating all of the routes and store statuses so when your visitors see search results, they can be shown details if the store is currently closed due to opening hours (or for other reasons), as well as a quick view of where it is located and how far away. These options can be turned on/off via the CMS and are defaulted to your current use. Improved Performance While the overall look of a Wayfinding solution is important, the performance is just as crucial. Everyone wants a premium mapping experience, which is fast, responsive, and intuitive, without lag or glitches. We’ve always ensured this is a priority with all of our solutions. With this in mind, we’ve updated our internal plugin messaging system to streamline user inputs and allow a simpler configuration of skins and features. Wayfinder now runs leaner and faster, with lower latency on touch systems! A big improvement to our system is an update to our UI renderer, which has laid the groundwork for further improvements in future 2022 releases. HTML Web & Mobile API Enhancements For those of you who are using Wayfinder Maps on your website, mobile, or application, there have been further enhancements for these endpoints as well. Improved Map Rendering While our digital web maps have always been one of the quickest in the industry to load, we’ve improved our map rendering to provide a web based solution that loads in under 5 seconds. This was a big focus for the Acquire team as we wanted to provide a good experience for mobile users or those on slower connections, all while providing a solution that doesn’t lower your website’s SEO ranking. New Options For our web-based platform, we have added a whole host of options for your web development teams to customize the experience. The Wayfinder API documentation has been updated with the latest enhancements to allow users to test the new functionality. These options include:
New Directory & Mapping Layout for a Web Experience The new Destination information layout is clearer and shows more information than ever before, and the current status is based upon opening hours and temporary closure status. The SmartSearch function has been improved with a summary of the location for each destination in the search listing. Keep up-to-date on all new product enhancements in our ‘news‘ section as we are working on even more exciting changes throughout 2022! Like it? Share it!More by this author |