Smart Book Fair: a complete digital visitor experience

Context

A concept I developed for the Literature, Publishing & Translation Commission and delivered in May 2025. The goal was to give the Commission one end-to-end visitor experience to align on before any detailed design or build. The phasing is my recommendation, not part of the original brief.

Four objectives

1. 01

   Improve the visitor experience

   Simple digital tools that help the visitor navigate, explore and book events.

2. 02

   Manage crowds

   Direct visitor movement and reduce congestion with the live map, alerts and timed signing slots.

3. 03

   Increase participation

   Points, challenges and rewards that turn a passive visitor into an active participant.

4. 04

   Data-led organisation

   Live data on interaction, satisfaction and visitor behaviour, in an admin dashboard that supports quick decisions.

A secondary objective, strengthening loyalty to the fairs, is tied to one touchpoint only: the offers at the exit, such as discounts for the next fair or offers from partner bookshops.

Competitive analysis: five event and exhibition apps

Swipe sideways to see all six capabilities.

No single platform covers all six capabilities. Event apps such as Whova, PheedLoop and Cvent cover the live map, rewards, booking and surveys, but none offers AR navigation, and crowd management is partial at best. Navigine covers indoor navigation, but not the event side. Smart Book Fair combines all six in one experience designed for book fairs, with AR arriving in phase 3.

Public sources

1. 01

   The Riyadh International Book Fair drew about 500,000 visitors over ten days in 2016, and needed queue systems, signage and crowd management procedures inside and outside the venue.

   Source: Crowd Dynamics (opens in a new tab)
2. 02

   The Cairo International Book Fair recorded 445,029 visitors in a single day in 2025.

   Source: Maspero, Egyptian National Media Authority (opens in a new tab)
3. 03

   A study of an AR navigation system for exhibitions found that visitors in game mode followed the intended route more closely.

   Source: Applied Sciences (MDPI), 2022 (opens in a new tab)

Assumptions and how I would validate them

1. 01

   One QR as the backbone

   The QR code is the app login and the start of the journey.

   Trade-off It depends on a phone, so the QR also works offline and as a printout.

2. 02

   Timed signing slots instead of a physical queue

   The visitor gets a time slot, not a place in a long line.

   Trade-off No-shows. A slot is released after 10 minutes to a short standby list.

3. 03

   A 2D live map first, AR on top

   The live map is the base for wayfinding and crowd alerts.

   Trade-off Indoor positioning needs beacons and venue setup, so AR is a later layer, not the base.

4. 04

   Rewards as a crowd-control lever, not just a game

   Organisers can attach a reward to a quieter area.

   Trade-off A reward can pull people into one place, so rewards need caps (see Risks).

Feature 01

Live map and AR wayfinding

1. Map: phase 1 · AR: phase 3

One scan opens a guided route to the first stand.

Solves problem 01 · Navigation difficulty

The problem

First-time visitors cannot read the layout of the stands or find the fastest route.

The solution

A live 2D map, opened right after the QR scan at the entrance. In phase 3, AR guidance is added on top: a camera view with arrows on the floor.

• Preview the floor plan, and follow the route to a hall or an event.
• In phase 3, follow AR arrows on the floor to the chosen stand.

1. 1Scan the code
2. 2Choose the publisher from the list
3. 3Follow the route

Enlarge

For the visitor

A stronger sense of control over the visit: a guided start straight to the stand they pick, without random exploration.

For the organiser

Meant to reduce requests for help and to spread movement more evenly across the halls.

Success measure

Time to reach a first chosen stand

Feature 02

Rewards system

• Phase 2

Points, challenges and rewards that turn visitors into participants.

Solves problem 03 · Passive visitors

• Points

  Visitors earn points when they attend events, visit stands and take part in challenges.

• Challenges

  Field challenges built into the app: attending a meeting with an author and documenting the attendance, visiting a set number of stands within a set time, or taking a photo in a distinctive spot such as the children's corner or a rare exhibit. Quizzes, book-related competitions and workshops count as challenges too: workshops earn extra points, and exclusive ones unlock higher-value rewards.

• Rewards

  Points can be exchanged for digital rewards (such as e-books or discounts) or for rewards such as signed books or vouchers.

• Rewards that move people

  Organisers can attach a reward to a quieter area, for example a book discount or an exclusive event in Hall X.

Leaderboards are held for phase 3.

Enlarge

For the visitor

Enjoyment and involvement: earning points for visiting stands or taking part in activities makes them an active participant.

For the organiser

A tool for motivating visitors to visit the less crowded stands, and a source of data on interests and the strongest points of interaction.

Success measure

Share of visitors who complete at least one challenge, quiz or workshop

• Enlarge

  Enlarge
  Feature 03

  Book signing

  • Phase 1

  Solves problem 02 · Crowding and queues

  Visitors book a timed slot at a book signing in the app and receive a digital ticket. They are reminded before the slot, and check in on arrival. A slot that is not claimed is released after 10 minutes to a short standby list.

  • VisitorNo long queue: a short, ordered check-in within a slot
  • OrganiserCapacity set per signing, with real data on expected attendance
  • MeasureAverage wait at book signings

  In the concept, each signing slot is a 15-minute window shared by a small group of up to 20 visitors. On the check-in screen, the countdown is the time left until the visitor's slot opens, and the figure beside it is their place in that group's check-in order.
• Enlarge
  Feature 04

  Crowd management

  • Phase 1

  Solves problem 02 · Crowding and queues

  The live map shows crowd density in real time. When an area is congested, the app alerts visitors and suggests a quieter route or a less crowded event nearby.

  • VisitorAvoids congestion, decides faster
  • OrganiserBetter crowd flow, fewer bottlenecks
  • MeasureShare of visitors who follow a reroute alert
• Enlarge
  Feature 05

  Micro-ratings and exit survey

  • Phase 2

  Solves problem 04 · Limited data for organisers

  Two light touches, not one long form: a one-tap micro-rating after an event, never after every stand, and one short survey at the exit. Both feed the dashboard in real time, so organisers can adjust timings or locations.

  • VisitorTheir voice is heard in a few taps
  • OrganiserDecisions based on real ratings
  • MeasureSurvey completion rate

  Exit survey screen drawn for this case study in the visual style of the app.

Enlarge

1. 01

   Live monitoring of attendance and congestion

   Fed by features 01 and 04

   A live map of the site that shows:

   • The number of visitors in each area.
   • Traffic-light signals for congestion.
   • The option to send alerts to visitors, to spread them across less crowded areas.
2. 02

   Following ticket and event bookings

   Fed by feature 03

   • The number of tickets booked, and daily tickets.
   • An updated events schedule, with the attendance rate for each event.
   • Notifications when bookings are full, or when expected attendance is low.
3. 03

   Managing the rewards system

   Fed by feature 02 (phase 2)

   • The number of participants in challenges, quizzes and workshops.
   • Control over starting new challenges, or closing challenges when needed.
4. 04

   Managing ratings and surveys

   Fed by feature 05 (phase 2)

   • A board that shows micro-ratings and exit-survey results and classifies them (general satisfaction, suggestions, complaints).
   • Alerts about immediate negative ratings.
   • Filtering results by date or by type of event.
5. 05

   Statistics and analytics

   Fed by all five features

   • Total number of visitors by day and by hour.
   • The areas of highest activity inside the fair.
   • The average time a visitor stays inside the fair.
   • The rate of visitor participation in events and challenges.
6. 06

   Sending notifications and alerts to visitors

   Fed by features 03 and 04

   A panel for sending instant alerts to all visitors or to a specific group:

   • A change in the location of an event.
   • An alert about congestion.
   • A notice that an event or a signing is starting.

For the visitor

Not directly visible, but its effect on the visitor is large in terms of organisation, speed of response and a smooth experience.

For the organiser

One interface to monitor everything: visitor numbers, congestion points, the level of interaction, ratings and more, which lets the organising team make quick decisions and improve performance in real time.

1. 01

   Privacy

   Movement tracking needs explicit consent and anonymised, aggregated data, in line with Saudi data-protection law.

2. 02

   No smartphone or a dead battery

   Printed QR codes, kiosks and staffed help points.

3. 03

   Network load in a full hall

   Offline tickets and cached maps.

4. 04

   Indoor positioning accuracy

   GPS does not work reliably indoors, and both the live crowd map and AR wayfinding depend on knowing where visitors are. A crowd map only has to show how busy an area is, while AR needs much finer accuracy. Use BLE beacons or Wi-Fi positioning, validated in one hall before scaling. This is why AR wayfinding is held for phase 3.

5. 05

   Gamification side effects

   Challenges can create new crowds and points can be gamed, so challenges are spread across zones and capped.

6. 06

   Survey fatigue and incentive bias

   Points for ratings can inflate scores, so points reward completing a rating, never the score given; micro-ratings are limited to one per event; and the exit survey is the only longer form.

7. 07

   Accessibility

   Step-free routes on the map, screen-reader support, Arabic and English.

Phasing

1. 1

   Phase 1

   QR ticket, book signing, live 2D map with crowd alerts, and the core dashboard (modules 01, 02, 05 and 06).

2. 2

   Phase 2

   Rewards system (points, challenges and rewards) and micro-ratings, with dashboard modules 03 and 04.

3. 3

   Phase 3

   AR wayfinding, leaderboards, personalised suggestions.