The Brief
SCAD collaborated with BMW Group Research to develop concepts that leverage individual vehicle usage data to create new educational experiences.
Why?
BMW drivers were not taking full advantage of all the features their cars had to offer.
Who is this For?
BMW drivers of all expertise levels.
10 weeks. 14 designers. 1 team.
The Team
For ten weeks, a multidisciplinary team of 14 designers was given the task of developing ways to educate drivers on features of their vehicles. Throughout this given time, our team explored and conceptualized different ideas on how we could reach BMW drivers in fun, non-disrupting ways.
Being a multifaceted project, my role constantly changed and my skillset was adapted as the project evolved. I was a key asset in the development of the process book and presentations, performed daily duties such as the documentation of each day’s discussions, and helped develop project ideas alongside my teammates.
Our solution
“Edutaining”
(educating + entertaining)
Media in the learning context needs to be both pleasurable and persuasive. Pleasure draws us into the work, and persuasion (education) highlights specific features that we want to provide information about.
Making each work entertaining - from a video to a single still image makes the message accessible and relatable to the audience. By entertaining, we make the work about the story and the drivers - and not about the learner’s deficit in knowledge. In this way, the user is involved and not estranged.
Our Concepts
Don’t be that Guy
Feature: Mirror Switch
Concept: A driver is faced with the task of parallel parking in a tight spot – his worst nightmare. A disastrous scenario where he can't figure out how to do it plays in his mind. He then remembers his car has the handy Mirror Switch feature. Parallel parking doesn't have to be a nightmare. Learn how Mirror Switch can help you avoid that dreaded situation drivers have to face more often than they would like.
Wife Hacks
Feature: Functional Bookmarks
Concepts: A couple is talking on the phone. The driver forgets the restaurant where she is meeting her wife for date night. Luckily, the driver remembers she saved the address in her bookmarks! Her wife will never know she forgot the location of her favorite restaurant. Minimize what you need to memorize with the bookmark function. Save locations, phone numbers, and other iDrive Functions with the touch of a button.
Father & Daughter / The Milky Way
Feature: ConnectedDrive
Concept: A daughter who just received her driver’s license offers to run errands for her father as an excuse to drive. When the daughter gets into the car she realizes that she forgot the location of the grocery store. Her father sends the store location to the BMW through the ConnectedDrive app. In this scenario we present a narrative including the novice and the expert to “edutain” the customer using a non-offensive and all-inclusive approach.
Road Adventures
Feature: Cruise Control
Concept: Friends throw backpacks into the car and set out onto the open road. One friend reminds the group of their speeding tickets on the last road trip. The driver informs his friends that with adaptive cruise control they have nothing to worry about.
Flower Bed / Save Your Darlings
Feature: Mirror Switch
Concept: Reverse into the driveway with the assistance of the mirror switch to avoid running over the newly planted flower beds!
Gluten is the New Black
Feature: Functional Bookmarks
Concept: A husband forgets the specific gluten grocery store that his wife shops at. On the phone she tells him it is Lucky’s Market on Abercorn. He looks it up on the iDrive navigation and realizes he should save this address for next time.
The Journey
How do we Learn?
Throughout all the stages of research, brainstorming, ideation, and implementation, one question was always present in our minds: How do people learn, and how can we personalize our ideas to each individual driver? It was important to both our client and us that our concepts could become part of each BMW's individual experience.
Phases
Media Platforms → Learning Styles → VITA → Final Concepts
1 Media Platforms
Objective: Understand what platforms are best suited to communicate information to our target audience.
How did we do it?: Through secondary and primary research, we collected data that enhanced our understanding of network communication. We analyzed both social media networks and emerging technologies along with each of their affordances. We identified the different types of learning styles and determined which communication platforms best fit a particular individual. Through processing, analyzing, and data synthesizing we gained the information necessary to begin ideating and concepting.
2 Learning styles
Objective: Discover what different learning styles there are and determine how each group best receives information.
How did we do it?: Based on the notion that people learn in different ways (Sarasin, 1999), we conducted primary and secondary research to understand how this impacted our objective to educate BMW customers. We learned that when information is transferred through a method that resonates most with a customer’s key learning style the educational curve is also most successful. The following table summarizes our secondary research.
3 VITA
Objective: Create concepts that can be adapted to multiple types of platforms.
How did we do it?: We realized we could use different methods/formats to frame our concepts to push them through the different platforms. These would touch on the different learning styles and could be sent to specific customers. What channel is most appropriate to teach certain tasks, knowing that people respond to different learning styles? How can we build something that is easy to digest? Through what channels should people access this information? We used the rapid sketching tool to come up with different ideas on how to represent the information.
Reflection
Being part of this amazing experience taught me so many things about both other people and myself. It gave me an introspective look into what kind of person I am and the role I can take in a team. Working under conditions that were new to me and with designers that held skill sets so different from my own pulled me out of my comfort zone, and for that I am forever grateful. It was nerve-racking in the most wonderful way possible, and the memories and lessons this amazing group of people gave me will stay with me in the years to come.