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> Anyone who spends a few minutes in a Tesla gets that it’s different from other cars — more a delightful digital device than a cabin pulled by belching engine

by csours 11y ago

> Anyone who spends a few minutes in a Tesla gets that it’s different from other cars — more a delightful digital device than a cabin pulled by belching engine — and even those who aren’t “car people” experience object-lust. I think this highlights some disconnects between Silicon Valley and Detroit. * Detroit hasn't made "belching" engines since the 1980's. * Average car age is 11.5 years. [1] It's pretty clear that people are OK with the user experience in their vehicles. * "Selling Cars" is not a market prone to disruption. The cost structure is hideous. Enormous capital is required for at least 5 years before you sell anything, and after that your sales trickle in slowly. * "Mobility Services" may be an amazing new market; we'll see. 11.5 years means there are a lot of old cars on the road that people may want to replace, but it also means that people are OK with those cars, and that there are a lot of people who have a minimal amount of money to spend on a new car. * Upmarket vehicles absolutely have to differentiate themselves in a number of areas, and while UX is increasing in importance, it is a middling 5th place after Safety, Quality, Reliability, and Performance. * UX is difficult in automobiles. If you get UX wrong in an app, you can update, or your app can die and people will forget about it. If you get UX wrong in a car, people will hate you for it, but still buy your cars. [2] You can't download buttons and knobs [3] if people can't get used to your touchscreen. [edited] * UX in autos can't be flashy or distracting, should get out of the way, be usable with 5% of the user's attention, but it must provide enough information and feedback to be used reliably and quickly. 1. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/07/29/new-car-sales-soaring-but-cars-getting-older-too/30821191/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/07/29/new-car-sales... 2. https://www.google.com/search?q=cue+sucks https://www.google.com/search?q=cue+sucks 3. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a1531/4213770/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a1531/421... Disclaimer - I work for GM, these opinions are solely my own.

ambicapter 11y ago
> UX is difficult in automobiles. If you get UX wrong in an app, you can update, or your app can die and people will forget about it. If you get UX wrong in a car, people will hate you for it, but still buy your cars. Doesn't Tesla show that updating over-the-air is feasible?
- csours 11y ago
  The UX on the screen can be updated, but you can't download physical buttons if users don't like the screen.
  - vvanders 11y ago
    Nope, but the IxD on those buttons can(and has) been changed as auto-pilot and other features have been rolled out.
vvanders 11y ago
WRT app updates Tesla has an advantage over everyone in that they do App OTAs on a regular cadence(just got 7.1 last night). Fun fallout from dealership agreements is that it looks like GM and others can't legally do OTAs for their vehicles(dealer owns all software updates/upgrades) which gives Tesla a distinct advantage: http://www.streetinsider.com/dr/news.php?id=11202274 http://www.streetinsider.com/dr/news.php?id=11202274
- csours 11y ago
  I did not know that. It is a big challenge to get the best value out of the traditional partners in the automotive space: Labor (UAW), Dealers, and Suppliers. And by challenge, I mean it is a big mess. Also, call me a fuddy duddy, but OTA updates for automobiles SCARE me. They should scare Tesla as well, and I hope they do. They've done well for now; in 5 years will they still have the same discipline? That being said - the OTA mechanism has a HUGE value proposition and they absolutely deserve the kudos they got for it.
  - vvanders 11y ago
    Yeah, if you don't have diligence and discipline you shouldn't be doing OTA updates regardless of what industry you're in. FWIW they've got a pretty awesome bug reporting mechanism via the voice command "report <X>" which sends a snapshot of the car along with the description. They also have the ability to pull more detailed logs remotely(with your permission). Had a few spurious messages come up, called service and they were able to pull logs, verify that it was fixed in an upcoming OTA and not an issue. Much better than having to drive to the dealer(which is ~2 hours roundtrip for me). It's very slick to be able to pull CAN bus + other diags remotely.

by csours 11y ago

ambicapter 11y ago

> UX is difficult in automobiles. If you get UX wrong in an app, you can update, or your app can die and people will forget about it. If you get UX wrong in a car, people will hate you for it, but still buy your cars. Doesn't Tesla show that updating over-the-air is feasible?

csours 11y ago
The UX on the screen can be updated, but you can't download physical buttons if users don't like the screen.
- vvanders 11y ago
  Nope, but the IxD on those buttons can(and has) been changed as auto-pilot and other features have been rolled out.

vvanders 11y ago

WRT app updates Tesla has an advantage over everyone in that they do App OTAs on a regular cadence(just got 7.1 last night). Fun fallout from dealership agreements is that it looks like GM and others can't legally do OTAs for their vehicles(dealer owns all software updates/upgrades) which gives Tesla a distinct advantage: http://www.streetinsider.com/dr/news.php?id=11202274 http://www.streetinsider.com/dr/news.php?id=11202274

csours 11y ago
I did not know that. It is a big challenge to get the best value out of the traditional partners in the automotive space: Labor (UAW), Dealers, and Suppliers. And by challenge, I mean it is a big mess. Also, call me a fuddy duddy, but OTA updates for automobiles SCARE me. They should scare Tesla as well, and I hope they do. They've done well for now; in 5 years will they still have the same discipline? That being said - the OTA mechanism has a HUGE value proposition and they absolutely deserve the kudos they got for it.
- vvanders 11y ago
  Yeah, if you don't have diligence and discipline you shouldn't be doing OTA updates regardless of what industry you're in. FWIW they've got a pretty awesome bug reporting mechanism via the voice command "report <X>" which sends a snapshot of the car along with the description. They also have the ability to pull more detailed logs remotely(with your permission). Had a few spurious messages come up, called service and they were able to pull logs, verify that it was fixed in an upcoming OTA and not an issue. Much better than having to drive to the dealer(which is ~2 hours roundtrip for me). It's very slick to be able to pull CAN bus + other diags remotely.