Abstract: From 1908 to 2022, Ford stood at the point of change in the automotive industry
▲ Image source IC
Text | Lee Woo Yin
Edit | Zhao Cheng
A hundred years ago, in the era of automobile hardware, Ford promoted assembly line production, increased efficiency and reduced prices, and let cars drive into ordinary people's homes.
Nowadays, in the era of automobile software, Ford reshapes the core value of the automobile, taking the customer's perceived experience as the yardstick to create software and hardware, and reshape the core value of the automobile.
Will Ford get his wish?
Only time will give the final answer. Still, I feel like he's on the right path.
Earlier this month, I came to the Ford China Design Center in Yangpu District, Shanghai, and as one of the first media guests, I met a mysterious Ford team, ECDX (Intelligent Networking and Digital Experience), and experienced a variety of smart cockpits for sale and development.
In the traditional automobile era, the hardware parameters visible to the naked eye of the competition are testing the production process and cost control of the automobile factory; in today's automobile era, rich software systems are installed on the hardware, making the original cold machine more intelligent.
Over the past few years, I've been able to see the rudiments of change. The enlarged size of the car screen, the chip computing power of the arms race, and the assisted driving have gradually become the standard. From the perspective of hardware parameters and functions alone, the existing level of automotive intelligence has been significantly improved. Even so, when it comes to smart cars, most people still feel "indifferent.". There are only a few cars and features that feel like smart. The traditional automobile field is even more obvious, and it is still difficult for consumers to link traditional brand cars with intelligence.
"The automotive industry is moving from passive intelligence to active intelligence." Fang Yuliang, vice president of intelligent networking and digital experience at Ford China, told me that only through data, optimizing user experience, and then creating suitable software and hardware can users really feel that "this is a smart car, this is an intelligent service with temperature." ”
In fact, when a large number of ticket companies pile up to build parameters, they often ignore the essence of things. For example, the digital screen in the car as a way of interaction, the final place should be gradually "invisible", so that the occupants can interact with the vehicle more naturally, rather than the bigger the better, which is the end of the world.
The best smart experience should be like water, silky and seamless. Yang Yi, product manager, told me that whether it is commuting or self-driving, every scene of the user in the car, every software involved in it needs to cooperate with each other, so that the user feels that the car understands him, and only then will he feel the intelligence of the system.
It is easier said than done, the development of smart cars has reached today, and the slogan driven by user experience is not new to tell the truth.
But there are still two major difficulties, one is to identify the real needs, rather than drawing snakes to add to the footwork.
So far, I can always see on the models of different car companies, the kind of hard, full of paternalistic care "I am all for your own good", and the production of the hard demand. Whether it is the seats in the car or the intelligent interaction, we often see wishful care and ignore reality.
Here, I see that the core value points of the automobile are changing, and the times are accelerating the transformation: there are more and more new faces in the automobile factory, software engineers, innovative designers, human-computer interaction, and user experience have become more and more important skills. Meng Xia, senior manager of innovative design, told me that car companies need to let consumers feel the intelligence of vehicles and need to do a good job of interaction design.
▲ Image source network
Second, the discourse power of the user experience department, in addition to software development, tests the overall coordination of software and hardware, and requires a strong impetus to support.
It is said that ECDX has received full support from Ford's headquarters, not only sharing advanced technology in vehicle research and development, but also trying to import cars overseas in the future, and will also replace ecDX's local research and development system.
As we all know, Chinese consumers are more receptive and demanding for intelligent connected cars, in order to better explore the needs of Chinese consumers in order to further export globally. To this end, the original EC (Enterprise Connectivity, Intelligent Networking) and DX (Digital Experience, Digital Experience), the two teams were merged together, ECDX has a higher voice in China.
At Ford, I saw that evolution had begun, and on the spot I saw two screens, one very similar to the existing mass-produced EVOS, and a Demo version was already very different. Meng Xia told me that behind this, the development team verifies the smoothness of the user's use through eye tracking data and background data after the vehicle is listed. Workshop, Lab, targeted push to seed users and other common user research methods of Internet companies, agile open form, are very common here.
Just like IBM's methodology Design thinking, ford ECDX attempts to involve users in every design process. Let users co-create from the early concept divergence, and then experience the cockpit, let users continue to give feedback; and finally push to the seed users, get more realistic data feedback.
This set of evolutionary logic is not a patent for electric vehicles, and oil vehicles can also do it. After EVOS adopts the FNV intelligent interconnection network-wide architecture, compared with the previous CAN bus, the data transmission is significantly faster with the help of broadband connection to its various ECU controllers. Transferring 1M files from the past few minutes to the current few seconds, the function has not lost to the new power of the electric car.
Although, when there are senior media people on the scene looking at the many functions in the smart cockpit, they keep shaking their heads. They want cars to be simplified, focused on driving, and less "fancy" stuff. But the word I heard the most at the communication meeting was "post-00s", and car companies were paying attention to this group of consumers born in the Internet age. As a back wave, their right to speak is bound to become stronger and stronger, which is the inevitable of the times.
In my opinion, with supply-side reforms, new demand can often be generated. One day in the future, the in-car experience will use voice instead of clicks, and then guess the occupants' favorites according to the scene, recommend the needs one step in advance, and become a smart assistant in life.
When a global leading car company, down-to-earth and pragmatic transformation, looking up at the stars to seek a distant place, looking at this seriousness, always makes me full of expectations.
Write in the back: Welcome to my column, whether for or against, welcome to leave a message, add micro, let's piece together a more complete fact.
The column title "Attracting Chestnut" is the use of the three words of Li Haoyin, and I personally believe in the concept that interesting people will eventually meet, and look forward to finding similar values in work and life, and moving forward together. In the long run, Mr. Yang Guoan is the career goal.
Therefore, when writing, I never like to hide myself, rather than just recording the things that are spoken in the moment. I like to be close to the scene, listen to the views of the parties and multiple parties, try to go to Know How and come to a conclusion. I will see, listen, and walk with my point of view, constantly polishing and upgrading the paradigm of observation.