Archive for April, 2010

Earlier this afternoon, Nissan began taking reservations for the upcoming 2011 Nissan Leaf, due in showrooms in December of this year.  Nissan hopes to fill 25,000 “pre-orders” in the next few months, practically assuring itself a successful launch.  As of this week, they had 115,000 people signed up to receive exclusive information about the car, including special invitations to order the vehicle prior to public launch.  And while Nissan is somewhat hush-hush today about the general responses they’ve received today, it seems that Twitter is showcasing that excitement with dozens of people tweeting their reservations. View the latest Nissan Leaf tweets here

Not wanting to be left out, I decided to reserve my very own 2011 Nissan Leaf.  And while I’m not totally sure it’s a car I want to buy in December, I wanted to “feel” what it would be like to *maybe* get one.  I was a little (very little) excited to get the email inviting me to drop $99 and my name for a place in line to buy one.   The invite was was supposed to arrive between 1pm-6pm eastern.  My email didn’t arrive until 5:30pm est, so I must have been on the bottom of the barrel, dirt bag list. Maybe they do a lottery again for who gets to buy and when.  Good old back of the line.  The email looked like this…  oooooh, I have a place in history.

I clicked on “Reserve Now” to see what was on the next page.  Nissan asked me a bunch of irrelevant survey questions, then presented me with a form to fill out.  I entered my name, ID, password, address, etc.  Next came the the “qualifying questions” :

Pick a Color – Ummmm, silver.

How Far Do I Drive? Well we know this is a qualifier.   Better say it’s 50 or less or I won’t make the cut.  I drive 20 miles so it’s the truth

What Type of Driving? Okay, keep it mild or they won’t let me go nuts on the car.   I’m a short commuter.

Where will the car be parked? This is a big qualifier.  I better say my own garage (which is true) so I can get my own charging station.  I bet this one places where on the order list you go.  Shouldn’t they ask “what type of set up will you have in December 2010?”  The car delivery is a ways off, so why not ask what people will have.

Qualified   We’re a good fit. While the questions were pretty intuitive, it’s good that they made sure their early adopters had the right set up and expectations going in.  Okay, now I have to fork over $99.  I can get my cash back any time.

Ahhh…. my official confirmation number (I changed it in photoshop) .  We are now standing in line for our Leaf….  Now, I don’t get the vehicle for 7 months+.  I’m not even sure I really want it by then.  Seems to me the Chevy Volt is much more up my alley.  Frankly, it’s far better looking and I have comfort in knowing that GM has a longer standing history in electric vehicle (EV) technology.  To me, the Leaf is homely and not very cool.  After a few years, I may just be the fool who’s driving around in a tin electric tin can with junk range, while all my friends are whizzing by in Teslas and Fiskers.  Hmmm….  My wife and I will decide what to do as launch gets closer, but for now, I’m happy to be in line.  I need to go to Chevroletvoltage.com and see if I can reserve one those bad boys.

As the butt of many jokes (“No Va” = it doesn’t go), the Chevy Nova is famous for the urban myth, not the car it was.  The reality is that the Nova sold fairly well in Spanish-speaking countries.  I can’t believe I bought that urban myth as a kid (as did Ivy League marketing professors across the country. ha!). The car was pretty cool in its first generations (we’re talking the 60s and early 70s).  My grandma had a Nova from the early 70s and I loved it. But like many American cars, the gas crisis forced Chevrolet to change the car into a funky, ill-proportioned, and downright boring hatchback.  The product folks certainly didn’t get a lot of help from the marketing folks either.  Check out the ad below.

Did you know the Nova was a go anywhere, do anything car?  I didn’t!  The creative minds at Chevy’s ad agency had a vision to position Nova as a car that can be a moving van, family hauler, camper, and even a luxurious party date.  The camper image with the bear “presenting” the car has got to be my favorite!  Ta-da! And the moving van image? “Hey, let’s call up Chuck to help us move this piano. He’s got that Nova”  Brilliantly silly and ridiculous.

The camper image reminds me of another do-it-all car brought to us by GM – The Pontiac Aztek.  Not sure why they couldn’t bring the cuddly black bear back for another appearance.

Luckily, GM is starting to get its products right again.  The new Chevrolet models are some of the best we’ve seen in ages,.  Let’s just hope none of them don’t aspire to be anything they’re not.

We are in the middle of another round of usability testing and after having many conversations about it this week, I wanted to share some of our learnings and ideas:

Ideas for Recruiting Usability Testers:

1) Look Around: We’ve had a lot of luck getting some amazing feedback from people we work near everyday. It’s a great way to introduce other people in your office building to your website and at the same time get some valuable feedback.

2) Ask the Pros: We’ve met many rock-star product and UI people at partner companies, customer companies, or even competitors. Surprisingly, many have responded when we humbly asked for their professional opinion of our site or a new design concept.

3) Be mobile: Sometimes, it is a pain for people to come into the office, so when we are flexible and offer to meet them at a coffee shop, restaurant, office, or class room….we have good luck and sometimes they will do it for free.

4) Be heard: Don’t be afraid to post on both physical (Panera Bread, Retirement facilities, Borders, etc,) and online bulletin boards. We’ve had the most success posting to Craigslist and offering a gift card to a fun store.

5) Be smart about your rewards: If you spend a little extra planning time, you can buy discounted gift cards or gift certificates in bulk.

6) Screening: If you are looking for a certain type of user, try using Survey Monkey or Zoomerang to get more information about potential testers before you invite them in.

Usability Testing Environment

1) Location: It’s best to be somewhere that the usability tester will not get distracted, but also helps if you are not in a completely quiet or lab-like environment, where the person feels uncomfortable or under a micoscope.

2) Give up all control: Let the user type URLs in and search on their own. You learn a lot about how people will actually enter your site, misspell words, use the mouse vs. shortcut buttons, etc.

3) Photographic Memory: If the user agrees, I would recommend using a screen and audio recorder…after sitting with about 5 users, things will start to blend together for you and your test session notes can be difficult to decipher, because the user is often moving faster than you can type or write (and you always want to be watching them).

4) Be clear about the time line: If a user thinks that the faster they blow through tasks, the earlier they get their reward, your results will not be as authentic. Tell them they have 5 minutes to complete a form, or that for the next 10 minutes you will be getting feedback about feature X, etc. It is also important to let them know they will be finished at a certain time, so they do not get impatient or wonder when the session will end. In my experience, 45 minutes is a great time frame for the testing and I usually plan for 5 minute prep and info gathering with a 5 minute end of test survey and a de-brief. Total time: 55-60 minutes.

Conducting the Usability Test

1) Scenarios: Develop about 10 fairly broad scenarios (ex. “You then search for a car based on your hobbies and important vehicle features.”) and a list of follow-up questions for each scenario after you have observed the user (ex. “What did you think about he list of hobbies?”, “Were the suggested vehicles reflective of what you searched for?”, etc.). This way, you can get good feedback even for people who are not very vocal. Not every person will need the follow-up questions, but they help when you are facilitating the usability test.

2) Set them at ease: Make sure the testers know that there is no wrong answer. “This is not a test. The only thing we ask is that you would use the site just as you would normally use any other site. Be honest about what you like and don’t like. You will not hurt our feelings. Learning from you is helpful and will only make our site better and our company more successful.”

3) Starting off: Resist the temptation to talk about the purpose of your company or website. You don’t want to guide the tester in any way. If you need to talk, just ask questions or talk about the process/time line.

4) Don’t help unless you have to: Sometimes it is hard to see somebody looking right at the big red button in the middle of the screen and then click on the small blue link on the top right of the page. You want to point to the screen and scream “it’s RIGHT THERE”. Don’t. Let them struggle, let them click on the wrong things and try to find their way back. When they are done, revisit and ask them why they looked at the link instead of the button. You will learn the most from these “alternate paths”.

5) Keep focus: If a tester gets distracted by something on your website or wants to talk about their new puppy, take note and gently guide them back to the task at hand.

6) Don’t be emotional: At a start-up, often times the people who work on the product are the same people hearing about what people hate. Remember that you are building the product for the user and not your personal taste. Be thankful for their honesty.

7) Don’t lead: Be careful when introducing concepts or designs to the user. For example, instead of asking “Do you like this design or the new design better?”, stay neutral and don’t talk about which is newer: “Tell me what you like and don’t like about each design. Which do you prefer and why?”

Take good notes: The data you gather during usability testing is valuable and you may need to refer back to it at times. Keep good records.

Toyota announced today that it will voluntarily recall 600,000 Sienna minivans to address potential corrosion of the spare tire carrier cable.  The recall affects two-wheel drive versions of the first- and second-generation Sienna minivan, sold from model years 1998-2010.

Toyota explains that long-term exposure to road salts commonly used in cold-weather states may cause corrosion to the carrier cable.  In the corrosion is severe, the carrier cable may break and the spare tire could become separated from the vehicle, creating a debris hazard for other vehicles.

For the time being, only vehicles based in cold-weather states are affected by the recall.  Owners who live in warm-weather states are eligible to have the same repair performed but it will be classified under a separate Special Service Campaign.

Sienna owners will be asked to first bring their vehicles in for a preliminary 30-minute inspection while the automaker develops a final repair procedure.  Steve St. Angelo, Chief Quality Officer for Toyota’s North American operations, notes that the company is, “working diligently to develop a remedy as soon as possible.”

For beleaguered Toyota, this recall falls after months of controversy over unintended acceleration claims and less than a week after Consumer Reports unearthed a potential problem with the electronic stability control system in the Lexus GX460 sport utility vehicle.  Engineers at the automaker’s luxury division have been able to duplicate the handling condition that Consumer Reports dubbed a “safety risk,” though Toyota has not yet decided whether or not to recall the vehicle.

Some good news from across the pond: the Detroit Free Press reports that Ford sales in March were up 16.1 percent, making the Blue Oval brand number one across nineteen major European nations.

Ford credits strong sales of its Fiesta subcompact car for its success, noting that the recently redesigned car accounted for a full 35 percent of the brand’s sales volume.  The Fiesta fell just behind the Volkswagen Golf to become the second-best selling car in Europe for 2009.

Though the blockbuster car has been on sale overseas since late 2008, American buyers will have to wait another few weeks for their chance behind the wheel.  The Fiesta goes on sale stateside in May with every indication that it will continue to be a strong-seller.

The US version will be offered in both sedan and hatchback versions and Ford boasts that the fuel-sipping engine will get up to 40 miles per gallon.  In Europe, the Fiesta has become known for energetic design and spirited handling, a combination the company expects will attract young American buyers.

Despite the excellent performance in March, Ford notes that the rest of the year may prove challenging for its European operations.  The company predicts that without additional government incentives, automobile sales will drop from 15.8 million vehicles in 2009 to 14.5 million vehicles this year.