Luxury Customer Clinic

Industry | Automotive

Methods | In-depth interviews, Observation, Task analysis

Timeline | 13-weeks

A major automotive client discovered their JD Power IQS survey results were low for a newly released vehicle.

We were tasked with researching the vehicle's infotainment system to rectify any issues for upcoming models.

I conducted an in-depth, 2-hour 1:1 vehicle evaluation with 32 owners in two (2) markets.

Snapshot

Overview

Objectives

  • Assess users' current understanding and impression of the infotainment system

  • Capture the overall usability of the system, identify areas of improvement and areas of successful implementation

  • Assess the usefulness and desirability of the infotainment system features

  • Understand users' preferences between the TJBA system and a touch-sensitive display

  • Provide deeper insights into market complaints

  • Gain an understanding of the dealership experience related to HMI

My Role

Lead UX Researcher tasked with managing clients, recruiting, conducting research, and delivering findings. I focused on:

  • Understanding how customers perceived the vehicle before purchase and if the vehicle lived up to their expectations

  • Walking through the main features in the infotainment system and notation when, why, and how each were utilized

  • Deep-diving into the frequently used features to capture the full experience, including positives, negatives, desired improvements, etc.

  • Collecting quantitative data to assess how the vehicle and each feature are perceived by participants

Recruiting

Example of recruiting criteria. Script was provided to vendors to screen partiicipants.

Discussion

Participant’s utilization of features were used as the driving force for the discussion.

Recommendations

Given that the client’s internal teams were formed around features, I crafted the report by feature to allow each team to identify the findings and recommendations relevant to them.

Nitty-Gritty

Methods

  • 2hr, 1:1 interviews held inside the participant’s vehicle

  • Quantitative scales measured:

    • Feature Satisfaction:

      "I am satisfied with the performance of this feature" 7-point Likert scale (1= Strongly disagree, 7= Strongly agree)

    • System Usability Scale (SUS):

      11-question quantitative survey that is used to determine a system's perceived usability. Includes margins of acceptability for reporting.

Participants

  • 32 participants were targeted across 2 markets — 16 in Columbus, OH and 16 in Los Angeles, CA

  • An even mix of age (25-55+) and gender

  • A proprietary scale measuring tech-savviness targeted users in 3 categories: Base, Average, and Power

  • An even mix for the length of ownership for this model (1 month to 5 months)

  • An even mix of trim levels (base package to advanced)

Analysis

  • Analyzed ~6k qualitative notes

  • Onboarded 2 additional researchers to assist with the analysis

  • Completed quantitative analysis for 16 scales (53 data points per individual)

Deliverable

  • Created a 103-page report including:

    • Executive Summary

    • Summary Matrix of Improvements

    • Detailed Findings

    • Recommendations

    • Table of Issues

    • Table of Recommendations

    • Table of Identified Bugs

Impact

  • The results of this work directly informed the redesign of this vehicle, replacing IQS survey results as the foundation for innovation & improvement

  • The success of this project resulted in follow-up Customer Clinics of the same study structure

Follow-up

  • I served as a director for 4 Customer Clinics. These clinics have been performed on luxury and standard vehicles across 5+ markets.

  • The report design of these clinics has also evolved given their internal popularity amongst my clients.