A small part of my work at Gonzaga involves managing content on three smart screens installed in a large atrium hallway. Hundreds of students, staff and faculty walk by at least one of these screens every day, and prospective students and their families stop nearby on frequent tours. This is an ideal place to put photographs of the engineering and computer science work being done, as well as announcements and positioning statements.

When they heard I had changed up what I was doing with our smart screens, other campus departments began to submit their messages.  Most were things that would be helpful — career service offerings, job fairs, mental health support, stress relief, messages surrounding our Jesuit value of Cura Personalis (care of the whole person). The problem: most of the slide submissions were designed like presentation slides. But these were in a hall with a lot of foot traffic. These didn’t have a captive audience reading every word. The lettering was tiny or in a fancy font that wasn’t instantly legible. Instead of absorbing the message with a glance, students took a glance and quickly looked away.

I *want* to include those messages! I know that a message has to be shown to the average person multiple times  in order for it to stick. I want to support the people who are doing difficult jobs at the university. I want to support the students ‘cuz I remember what it was like to be one.

Bottom line, I know there’s a better way. By rethinking the “slides” on digital signage as “billboards,” and applying those best practices, I truly believe our campus can improve messaging efforts.

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