Comments on: Ford Turns to Design and Data Visualization to Boost Sales

By: Ford’s New Prototype Dashboard Concept | Padub

Ford’s New Prototype Dashboard Concept | Padub — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:04:14 +0000

[...] For an opposite approach, also see the post about the Lamborghini ReventÃƒÂ³n dashboard. Same topic also on The Wall Street Online, Take Apart, The Motor Report, and a lot of other car blogs. Via Flowing Data. [...]

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:07:10 +0000

Speed is a safety and legal issue, so I’m fine with that being front and center. But, I’d like to see a secondary gauge that is as prominent, but configurable to the driver’s metric of interest. The display would be similar to those in many cars that have equal size speed and RPM gauges. With the digital display, however, the units of the second gauge could be changed from RPM to MPG, or even better, fuel cost per mile. For the later, the driver could enter the price paid per gallon at each fill-up, and then see how fast they are burning through their money, literally. Cost per mile (or other reasonable distance) would be less-than-instantaneous, but still put some sport in playing the green-game.

By: Jay Peffer

Jay Peffer — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:05:00 +0000

There is an interesting unintended effect that occurs given the set of “side” gauges (all other than the tac in the center) in their current form. The layout for the gauges all have a similar structure – a bar chart where there is one value on the X Axis (Fuel quantity, battery charge level, mpg, etc) and as you move up the Y Axis, it illustrates an increase for the X Axis value.

When you (roughly) anchor several representations at the same spot, in close spatial proximity – all having that similar layout, your pre-cognitive (perceptual) processing actually tries to compare the values across the gauges. Even though the Y-Axis values aren’t related.

And I’m willing to bet that the driver isn’t “comparing my quantity of fuel to my battery’s charge level” or “compare my mpg to my remaining amount of fuel.”

The design is a little more emotional design than representational design for decision support, as you can tell by the overall layout. But there are unintended consequences of the representations that the designers choose, with respect to how your perceptual and cognitive processes interpret that information.

This is something that folks designing decision support systems in the Cognitive Systems Engineering field refer to as the “parameter X, parameter Y problem.” The representational design elements that you choose should be dependent on the decisions that they are supporting – not merely based on aesthetic layout.

By: Robin Capper

Robin Capper — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:20:11 +0000

Like Zach I’d rather drivers looked where they were going than the economy gauge…

By: Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:24:54 +0000

Speed is a quantity which is important to know on an instantaneous basis. This is the only reason to allow a dial gauge for data display.

Isn’t efficiency an ongoing measure? It makes no sense to display the instantaneous measure of efficiency. It matters less what my efficiency is right this moment, while I’m driving up a steep hill or backing into a parking spot. It’s more useful and more important to see how efficiently the car has been operating over the past (insert a length of time). Check your efficiency daily to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the gas you’re buying. Check over the past month to look for engine problems.

This is the problem with so many business dashboards. Fancy dial gauges that show right now what’s happening, when a line chart showing trends over the past month, quarter, or year would be much more informative and much better to base a business decision upon. Maybe that’s one reason why Ford and the other automakers are on the skids: imporper measurement and reporting of their business performance.

By: Zach Leatherman

Zach Leatherman — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:24:22 +0000

Those are very good ideas Eddie!

From my perspective, this would be more useful as a social application presented to you on and interfaced with your phone, similar to what MyMileMarker has done, but more of a competitive angle. See the top MPG drivers among my friends, for example. These people spent the least amount on gas this week. The meter doesn’t need to be embedded into the dashboard.

A little positive social pressure.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:19:05 +0000

Regrettably, many drivers care more about the price of gas than about the environmental and social impacts of driving. Dashboard meters that displayed $/mile or $/hour might be more effective at changing driving habits. We need gas pumps that feed the price to the car when we fill our tanks. Then the dash can hit us where it hurts.

regarding safety first… Since these extra meters are virtual, maybe they should hide themselves when the car is in motion.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:58:19 +0000

Safety is one thing. Sales are another :)

By: Ben Warsop

Ben Warsop — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:42:27 +0000

But just how wise is it to make driving a car feel like a game Nathan? I’ve been in a car when someone was driving like they were playing Grand Theft Auto (in a busy road in west London) and it was … not good. Whoever is driving the car may well be ok if they suffer from a ’sense of reality failure’ but pedestrians don’t have airbags.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:30:43 +0000

I think it’s worth mentioning again that the goal behind the design was to make energy conservation more like a game. If there were more data or if it were more “serious”… well, it would just be another dashboard.