Ford Let’s Go! | An autonomous taxi service
Why is it that a cookie company 🍪 is more popular among generation Z than a mobility company like Ford?
Year
2018
According to FastCompany, Oreo was one of the most popular brands among genZ in 2019. Other competitors in the mobility industry such as Uber and Lyft are winning market share among these individuals because of the values and innovative concepts that they offer.
So what exactly are these companies offering GenZ that Ford isn’t? What could make this generation love Ford again?
In this design strategy and future visioning project, we looked at ways in which Ford can become the most beloved brand for one of the upcoming generations.
From our trend research and interviews with the target group, we found out that genZ is a travel generation, seeking for the most authentic and local experiences possible. Companies such as Airbnb are already facilitating these experiences. Ford once owned 60% of all the taxis in New York, so... Why not do so once again with a new digital, autonomous and authentic experience?
The float of autonomous vehicles that lets you have an unique travel experience.
With Ford Let’s Go!, Ford would be offering an autonomous taxi service that curates the experiences of its passengers to build a personality of its own. Experiences with Ford’s autonomous taxis in 2030 will be different and varied: A taxi in Barcelona will transport different guests and explore other places than a taxi traveling around the streets of Tokyo. Hence, the cars will develop their own personalities and recommended routes.
The taxi service that is continuously learning and creating its own personal stories.
These autonomous vehicles start off with a shared common database of knowledge of the city they run in. They build their individual knowledge based on the passengers that set foot in them, allowing them to progressively build their own personalities and recommendations.
Watch the video to see how you would interact with a car!
Book your Ford Let’s Go! car with its app.
With the app, you can view which cars are available in your area, how they are rated and what their fares are.
How we approached this challenge.
We executed ethnographic research, interviewed genZers and did trend research.
We sketched out a tactical roadmap for Ford, to know which steps were needed in order to make this concept a reality.
And we anticipated how Ford could make a viable concept out of Ford Let’s Go!
We did a whole bunch of storytelling, to inspire the Ford team and keep them up to date with our progress.
We presented this concept at our faculty, attracting professors, Ford employees, Master and Bachelor students…
Get out there and test with people!
In this project, we often stayed inside our bubble, when we could have pitched the concept much earlier to others. For this future visioning and design strategy project, I believe the focus on desirability could have had more emphasis, hence testing and validating with genZers eaarlier in the process.
Nonetheless, I believe we did a great job, as our concept was selected by Ford as one of the top ones at the faculty! 🚀