To provide the customer experiences that consumers are clamoring for, brands must first understand what it is that customers actually want and need. Good businesses will implement successful customer experience programs after soliciting, analyzing, and responding to the information that customer data can provide. This applies to brands across nearly every industry, and especially to those in the auto industry where competition has always been tough and customer expectations have been high.
The Ford Motor Company knows this well, and the automaker is currently seeking to attract new drivers through the use of some exciting and innovative customer engagement research. Moving beyond the limitations of the traditional survey, Ford is going impressively high tech in order to collect a wide range of emotional and logical customer insights. The iconic motor company then plans to use this data to build the next generation of innovative interior designs.
Through the use of high tech devices including eye-tracking measurements, logical function logistics, and even emotional biometrics, Ford wants to learn precisely how drivers “visually discover” new vehicles.
“Vehicle interiors have witnessed one of the biggest evolutions across the history of cars in recent years,” said Raj Nair, Ford’s VP of Global Product Development. “Not only have we introduced a great deal of useful new technology into our cars and trucks, we consistently are adding better materials, improved design and increased features across the board, from high-end vehicles to entry-level segments. All of this leads to a focus on design languages that not only convey the right messages, but deliver on an enhanced user experience.”
These new high tech research tools and measurements will assess and engage customer responses on a myriad of vital categories including interior color, material, and ease of driver usability. Ford hopes that the data collected during this experimental research will allow their design teams to create an ideal customer experience, one that encompasses both form and function. Because, as past research has shown, visually appealing interiors can initially increase sales, however customer experiences will be less satisfying if driver needs are not actually met on the road.
That is, high tech does not always equal ease and accessibility.
So far, Ford has used these new research and measurement tools while orchestrating the interior design of the new Ford GT, which will serve as a test case for many designs moving forward. In addition to including a host of new innovations, the Ford GT streamlines all internal functions in a clear and user-friendly fashion, while also maintaining an intuitive connection to the driver.
“Over the past few years, we have gained some incredible momentum with our designs,” said Ford VP of Design Moray Callum. “As we move forward, we need to build on and evolve what we have achieved so far to continue to deliver exciting and fresh solutions. The interior design of the Ford GT builds on existing DNA and pushes it forward.”