Auto Technology

The local paper ran a story yesterday on some data that was gathered by JD Power regarding technology in cars; what technology we are using and how we use it. JD Power stated, go figure, that we are often paying for technology in cars that we don’t use; citing that at least 20% of purchasers use less than ½ of the technology features available in the vehicle.

JD Power also drew a conclusion out of this study, that the technology features that are most used in cars are those that must be built into the cars for them to operate. Makes sense: you wouldn’t expect your smart-phone to be your backup sensor or adaptive cruise control. But on the other hand who of us hasn’t used our smartphones for maps or directions? The study also noted that if a purchaser wasn’t given a walk-through of the features by the delivering dealer, they were much less likely to use them. Presumably either unable or unwilling to take the time to learn how to use them.

In this same article manufacturers quipped that they have been giving consumers what they wanted. Really? Having been in automotive product focus groups before I’ve seen how the scripts run…. “Would you prefer your ham sandwich be topped with mayo or mustard”? Hold the train. When did I say I wanted a ham sandwich in the first place? These groups seem formed to document reassuring feedback on narrow topics rather than truly probe consumer desires.

From all the info in this study I draw my own conclusion, which is: as a consumer, once you have a technology available to you which meets your needs, you won’t really go out of your way looking for another solution. While necessity may no longer be the mother of invention, it remains the mother of adoption

However if you are in automotive product engineering, marketing or “Infotainment” development, that is not a pill you can readily swallow. You are in a position where you have to come up with newer, better and more all the time. Company profits and your job depend on this. And if you come up with something which gathers dust rather than market interest, it seems you have the choice of either scrapping the idea or figuring out a way to sell the consumer on it. I am afraid marketing departments spend much of their time on the second approach.

And there you have it. Consumers want transportation and safety, but a manufacturer’s principal concern is profits. You’ll get your safety, but the more doodads they can load a product down with the more they can sell it for. So you’ll get your hands-free blue tooth phone interface, but you are going to get it with a myriad of other bells and whistles that you will never use. 

   

© 2015 D.W. Williams 

The New Job

At some point in our careers each of us takes on a new job, either by choice or compulsion.  In my own case it had been 18 years since I had experienced the rapid-fire revelations that result from being thrust into a new situation with new rules, new expectations and new people. It is really the new people part of that equation which causes most established professionals the most retrospection.

By the time you are 25+ years into your career, assuming you transition into another position in the same industry, you really do know what you are doing. Oh, there are indeed small nuances that change, and sometimes with big ramifications, but by and large you’ve been around the block enough times to weed through the processes and differentiate the crucial from the impertinent.

Not so much with people.

People are dynamic, with fluid needs and a litany of concerns to either address or outright avoid. The problem is that it isn’t always apparent what you are dealing with until the crank gets turned to the “POP - goes the weasel” part of the tune, and by then it’s out of the box; good, bad or ugly, you are dealing with it now.

Inadvertent damage-control aside, a new job is also refreshing. Probably because as the players change, the tensions change too. In fact, based on some decompression I went through (Don’t come up to fast, you’ll get the bends!) I can honestly say that I didn’t really know what type of preoccupations wrestled for my attention until they weren’t there anymore. Like bass on crankbait, the thoughts came.

Once I cut-bait it was kind of refreshing. It took some time sure. I guess that is reasonable since about 2 decades had passed. But maybe, just maybe, if I remain determined about my own direction, controlling what I can and disregarding the rest…..

Ask me in another 20 years.  

© 2015 D.W. Williams