Redundant or just unknown?
According to J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index Study (link in the comments), a lot of new in-car tech is perceived as “not necessary” by the consumer. The study shows that, for instance, drivers still prefer hands-on tech.
Despite the increasing availability of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), for instance, many owners remain indifferent to their value. Passenger screens are another example. Automakers are expanding their offering of vehicles containing a passenger display screen despite the feature being classified as “not necessary” by vehicle owners. The tech is negatively reviewed by many owners who point to usability issues, for instance because the second screen adds to the complexity of the vehicle delivery process.
According to our CEO Patrick Vanbrabandt, the big question however is this: do people not like these new functionalities and find them redundant. OR do they just not know how to use them? Take the example of the park assist system. Patrick uses this a lot and finds it very useful, especially if there isn’t much room to park, on a busy street, but he also realizes that many people never use it.
The reason is friction. When will you test it for the first time? Surely not on a busy street, where people may honk because you’re taking too much time. So that’s where he sees an important role for car dealers. If they notice that a customer never uses the functionality, they could send them a short, clear and super-easy 3-step video to explain how it works. But in order for that to happen, car dealers would need to be able to access the user data of cars, for instance via our CARYA CRM. So that’s a hurdle that would need to be taken.
Patrick truly believes that rather than many functionalities being useless, car brands and dealers need to communicate more about how they work and what the advantages are. According to him, it’s less about “feature creep” - functionalities that were developed just for the sake of adding new functionalities - than it is about lack of communication.
According to our CEO Patrick Vanbrabandt, the big question however is this: do people not like these new functionalities and find them redundant. OR do they just not know how to use them? Take the example of the park assist system. Patrick uses this a lot and finds it very useful, especially if there isn’t much room to park, on a busy street, but he also realizes that many people never use it.
The reason is friction. When will you test it for the first time? Surely not on a busy street, where people may honk because you’re taking too much time. So that’s where he sees an important role for car dealers. If they notice that a customer never uses the functionality, they could send them a short, clear and super-easy 3-step video to explain how it works. But in order for that to happen, car dealers would need to be able to access the user data of cars, for instance via our CARYA CRM. So that’s a hurdle that would need to be taken.
Patrick truly believes that rather than many functionalities being useless, car brands and dealers need to communicate more about how they work and what the advantages are. According to him, it’s less about “feature creep” - functionalities that were developed just for the sake of adding new functionalities - than it is about lack of communication.
