Attract Screens

You have three seconds to catch and keep someone’s attention. A great attract screen can help you do just that.

What is an attract screen?

An attract screen is the idle state of a digital interactive. It is where the interactive lands when it resets between users. It aims to 1) entice a passer-by to engage with the interactive 2) offer a clear entry point to start the experience.

Here’s an example of an attract screen that could use some tweaks.

Not quite right:

• Conflicting calls-to-action: A large QR code distracts someone from diving into the experience.
• Too much information: An attract screen is the entry point of a digital experience. Save the content for later!
• Hard to read: This experience attempts to increase contrast with a semi-transparent component behind the text. That is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go quite far enough to increase legibility.
• Click one spot to begin: A small click area makes it more difficult for someone to get started. Furthermore, in a dense text area animation is not enough to draw attention to the call-to-action.

A series of small changes can make all the difference!

Here’s how we improved the experience:

• One clear action: Removing the QR code leaves one call-to-action.
• Delete extra content: Now a user has an idea of what the interactive is about without being overwhelmed with information.
• Make it easier to read: Making the semi-transparent component more opaque would be one way to address legibility, but another solution helps give the video more prominence. The text now has a solid black background, making it easier to see the full video and read the text.
• Click anywhere to begin: The whole screen is now tappable.

It’s not always obvious at first what changes may help you improve your digital interactive. Testing and iteration are key: Testing provides valuable feedback and iteration enables continuous improvement.