St. Louis-based, B2B startup dedicated to making long wait times at large venues obsolete via real-time, people counting technology
Waiting in line is a universally hated experience, and for large venues like airports and stadiums, long lines result in lost profits. Every 10 minutes people spend in line at TSA equates to an average profit loss of 30% per person on concessions spending. Sixty-eight percent of travelers say they want updates about wait times while they’re in line, and that shortening lines is the number one way to get them to spend more money.
Simple to install and easy to use, CheckTheQ set out to make tracking and displaying live wait times effortless. It was the only plug-and-play, subscription-based, people-counting solution on the market.
I started working with CheckTheQ when the product was just an idea. They initially came to me for simple brand design, as well as early investment pitch decks. Within six months, the team had raised enough startup capital to bring me on full-time to design their product and continue to build the brand.
My Role
Brand Identity
Product Design
Package Design
Installation Guides
Presentation Decks
Brand Identity
One of the challenges the company faced early on was learning that our primary target, the aviation industry, is very complex and slow to adopt new technologies. Being a lean startup, it became clear that we needed to broaden our reach to additional verticals in order to stay afloat. That meant that the brand had to be revised to generally appeal to any type of large venue.
We reworked the company’s mission, vision and value proposition to focus on moving people forward, changing our position from “Never miss a flight”, to “What are you waiting for?”
The brand needed to feel (for lack of a better word) corporate, mature, and contemporary, but also approachable and unpretentious. I decided to utilize a minimal style that would convey a sense of lightness and movement.
Primary Color Palette
The primary palette was inspired by the colors of the sky, which is associated with consistency and reliability. A range of blues and blue-grays were selected to bring a sense of trustworthiness, with a bright orange-red to convey optimism and energy.
Hazy Sky | R 235, G 234, B 238 | C 6, M 6, Y 3, K 0 | #EBEAEE
Orange Rush | R 242, G 101, B 37 | C 0, M 75, Y 97, K 0 | #F26525
Clear Blue | R 33, G 134, B 199 | C 80, M 38, Y 0, K 0 | #2186C7
Stable Gray | R 208, G 208, B 220 | C 12, M 10, Y 3, K 6 | #D0D0DC
Blue Graphite | R 114, G 119, B 152 | C 61, M 52, Y 24, K 2 | #727798
Blue Horizon | R 8, G 43, B 88 | C 100, M 88, Y 37, K 32 | #082B58
Hazy Sky | R 235, G 234, B 238 | C 6, M 6, Y 3, K 0 | #EBEAEE
Orange Rush | R 242, G 101, B 37 | C 0, M 75, Y 97, K 0 | #F26525
Clear Blue | R 33, G 134, B 199 | C 80, M 38, Y 0, K 0 | #2186C7
Stable Gray | R 208, G 208, B 220 | C 12, M 10, Y 3, K 6 | #D0D0DC
Blue Graphite | R 114, G 119, B 152 | C 61, M 52, Y 24, K 2 | #727798
Blue Horizon | R 8, G 43, B 88 | C 100, M 88, Y 37, K 32 | #082B58
Wait Time Colors
Color plays an essential role in how wait times are represented on the CheckTheQ dashboard. The venue managers who would use the product were already familiar with the colors used by the Department of Homeland Security Advisory System, which assigns a color to each risk category. We based the wait time colors on this system.
The Product
CheckTheQ’s product is a subscription-based service that uses discrete sensors to anonymously count the number of people in a space and calculate how long they stay there. This data is sent in real-time to a cloud-based dashboard, where it’s displayed as a live wait time. The dashboard can be configured to send alerts to facility staff and to display wait times on monitors within a queuing area.
Sensor Packaging
CheckTheQ was designed to be plug-and-play, so that customers could order the product and easily install it themselves. Designing a packaging solution for the sensors was one of my biggest challenges. There was no prescription for the number of sensors any given checkpoint would need, so mailer box sizes varied widely. Working on a shoestring budget meant that I had to create custom-sized dielines and construct the mailers myself, as well as produce and print the sensor ID stickers and installation guides.
Sensor Pre-Installation and Installation Guides
The success of the product relied on three key factors: the physical location of the sensors, a constant supply of power, and a stable internet connection. We created an on-boarding process for clients to help them determine the best location for their sensors, how many they would need, and what type of power and internet connection was most appropriate. The Pre-Installation Evaluation was designed so that it could be easily printed by clients on a single sheet of letter-sized paper.
Checkpoint Wait Time Dashboard
Live wait times for each queuing area, or “Checkpoint”, are viewable from the Dashboard. When a client logs in, the default screen gives an overview of the wait times at every checkpoint in their facility. Wait times are displayed in four, color-coded thresholds: <10 minutes, 10-20 minutes, 20-40 minutes, and +40 minutes. Admins can configure the dashboard to automatically alert them and their staff when wait times exceed one of the designated thresholds. They can also reassign staff from slower checkpoints to busier ones, and view historical wait time trends over days, weeks and months.