Working in experiential technology, I am often working on large, immersive environments, with curved LED, LIDAR, spatial audio, and custom content. Many of these environments also include custom fabrication and specialized content, making the projects complex at times.

There are several layers to any experience. The end user experience (audience), the operator experience (presenter), the installation and commissioning experience (technician) and the support experience (services staff).

These layers of experience exist in varying levels regardless of whether a space is a large “wow” space or a small huddle room. Given this, it can often be the little things that matter.

I don’t often do huddle rooms or small conference rooms, but one company I”ve worked with in the past that thinks about “the little things” is DTEN.

I remember setting up my first DTEN D7 in 2019. The kit I received also included a Heckler AV cart to hold the display and make it mobile. Now, there are a lot of interactive whiteboard products, and a lot of great carts from companies like Peerless and Legrand as well. From that perspective the DTEN experience wasn’t highly differentiated. However, when I received the kit I noticed something very small but very important.

The DTEN D7 box and the Heckler box were designed to be the EXACT same size. They were strapped together as well, with the screen side of the D7 protected by the Heckler cart box, in case a stray forklift hit the box. The arrangement not only added protection during shipping, but also made the systems easy to ship, receive and store efficiently.

It was a small touch that took some coordination between Heckler and DTEN from a package design perspective, but it made a huge difference. (I’ve been told that this may have changed with the new DTEN 7X product packaging, and if that’s true, I’d encourage DTEN to look at replicating the previous experience.)

On a side note, the unboxing experience was also well designed, enabling me to assemble the cart, mount the screen, and activate the D7 in under an hour, with no prior experience with the products.

Last month I attended a tailgate event at Georgia State, arranged by Starin and AVI-SPL. The event included some manufacturer “speed dating” that enabled me to have another conversation with DTEN around their DTEN Bar.

Again, there are a lot of android enabled, soft codec camera sound bars on the market that include directional microphones. From this perspective, there wasn’t a lot of differentiation. However, in talking to them about the product, something interesting emerged, a vertical mounting option. In a room with a dual display situation, installing the sound bar above or below can create a less than ideal angle from the camera to the audience. Placing the bar vertically, between the displays can solve that problem.

Not only can the DTEN Bar be mounted in that orientation, but it automatically rotates the camera to maintain a horizontal 16:9 capture area AND it reprograms the microphones to use a coverage pattern that works to still cover the room appropriately. A small feature that makes standardizing on the same product for single screen and dual screen arrangements much easier, simplifying not only installation and configuration from an install experience, but also enhancing the user experience.

At the end of the day, when products are similar and features overlap, sometimes focusing on the little things is the way to gain a competitive advantage without just competing on price.