life: my first new car buying experience
My husband and I are getting a new vehicle!! After many months of very casual discussion, a broken air conditioner and a particularly steamy month of May propelled us into a serious vehicle hunt. And as quickly as that hunt seemed to begin, we ended up choosing and ordering an… All-New 2009 Dodge Journey… feature packed, value added, technology driven!!! Woohoo, right?
You’ll have to excuse me, but this has been a very strange process for me that has not come without a fair amount of bias, both positive and negative. There is hefty pride and hefty skepticism, which was very difficult for me to overcome in an effort to make this decision as objective as possible.
The Journey began with consumer empathy…
You see, the Journey (which it wasn’t titled originally) was the first vehicle that I was dedicated to working on for my job. I participated in focus groups and did my first one-on-one ethnographic interviews with couples in their homes. While I did not know this before starting my job at Organic, I love doing empathetic, conversational consumer research. And the fact that I was doing it with young couples, recently married, recent first time home owners, pre-children, busy lives… well, I can’t say that it didn’t set my brain on a pathway to start thinking about how a crossover vehicle could really help out my lifestyle.
My husband was set on replacing his car with another car. But, as soon as I dropped this idea of possibilities, space, flexibility, and you know they aren’t as bad with fuel economy as they used to be, he was hooked as well. He started having dreams of the GMC Acadia and SUVs with built in DVD players. After all, this will be our first family vehicle.
Next was a lesson in engineering
Next, I spent some time interviewing the engineers who actually worked on the Journey vehicle. If you spend a great amount of time, like I do, stuck in never ending meetings about positioning lines and banner ads and marketing budgets, it can start to make you a cynic to the entire automotive process. The flashy enthusiasm of marketing speak becomes numbing and bland. But, when you sit down and interview the people who are actually excited because they created something with their own brains and with their own hands, you can’t help but get excited too. These are smart people, and they are really trying to make good decisions that actually relate to making better product and making products based on what people need. I am sure it is like this inside every automaker’s walls, inside every product manufacturer’s walls really. And sometimes that is easy to forget, unless you are talking to these people directly, which is why we do it.
So when my husband and I decided on a whim to stop by a Dodge dealer on the way home to check out the Journey, I knew far more that the car salesmen about the features and the reasons behind them. Actually, so did my husband, since he has been working on the Journey car commercials lately. Really, the dealer didn’t know much about anything and told us he’d get the keys for a test drive and then never returned. Hmmm… you’d think a car salesmen would be interested in making such a seemingly easy sale, even though we weren’t really ready to buy. While I had preconceived positive notions about Journey, I also had preconceived negative notions about dealers.
Overcoming preconceived notions
There comes in the trouble… preconceived ideas, biases. I felt a pit in my stomach that I was succumbing to enthusiasm based on the professional kool-aid that I have been drinking. And that only lead me to unearth a bunch of negative biases I also had built up in my system. Once the seed of doubt was planted that “this is too good to be true”, I began to feed the doubt with all the other not so positive information I am exposed to on a daily basis.
A big part of my job is also keeping tabs on the “voice of the consumer”. Whether it is through social networks, blogs, surveys, articles, etc., I often monitor the consumer perceptions that Chrysler needs to overcome in order to inform the work I do for Organic. After you hear the mantra of “poor interior quality” over and over again, it’s not only hard to disagree with it, but it is hard not to dwell on it. So I knew that to make a rationale and informed decision, we were going to need to keep our options open, start from the drawing board of true possibilities, and choose our favorites based on a multitude of factors.
Nissan Rogue
This was by far our most horrible dealership experience. We got a nice enough older Korean man, who wasn’t pushy per-say, but he also did not know ANYTHING about the vehicle. In fact, he proceeded to tell us misinformation, like that the Rogue had a DVD player option. We somehow got roped into sitting down for half an hour as he bounced back and forth between his boss and us, before telling us he couldn’t give us a quote, we would need to bring him a quote and he would match it. What??
But let’s get to the car. I’m not going to go into much detail, only gut reactions. We were not too happy about the exterior of the Rogue. It looks like a bug, the front end just sits too high and it feels a little cartoon-y. We honestly don’t care enough about cars to ever make that a deciding factor, although there are many who would. The interior, however, WOWed us. This was quality. The armrests were soft, the dash was stitched. Things felt nice, comfy, and substantial. American interior quality in the same price range is just not the same, and I was finally being given a good benchmark to base that assessment on.
Pontiac Torrent / Chevy Equinox (Saturn Vue)
We were hoping to compare more cars against the Rogue and the Journey, but the Torrent and Equinox were essentially the SAME exact car and thus we truly only looked at three models. In that mix as well is the Saturn Vue, which is slightly different than the Torrent and Equinox, but suffered many of the same drawbacks in our eyes. The dealership experience was at least quite pleasant, and we never got that ever feared pushy salesman.
The cars, however, were nothing terribly inspiring. They look quite good from the outside. We liked the look of the Equinox and certainly the Vue. But, cheap interior design was not a unique Chrysler problem, something that many forums and blogs I have read would have me believe. Maybe it was just the price point of these vehicles, but the interiors were of poor quality. I actually broke a piece of the seat handle in the Torrent in our test drive by just merely trying to tilt my seat back.
Back to the Dodge Journey
Our first real dealership experience, getting a test drive and a price quote, was far more enjoyable that our absent-minded salesmen at the previous dealership. We visited the Journey again to put everything back in perspective. It had magically made it on the list of cross-overs of a reasonable size in a reasonable price range, and the more we learned about the Journey the more that its value became a convincing factor. I was coming to expect things in other vehicles that seemed logical, they made sense, but they just weren’t there: fold flat seats, in floor storage, dvd system option. They were in the Journey, but not its competitors
The finishing line
And then it happened. Tom was ready to buy, just like that. He had done enough research. Because honestly, this was his new car we were buying. And so he was the master of the spreadsheet and the dealer relationship, and he was convinced. But my brain had a freak out… I tried to think of every reason why buying a Journey might be a bad idea. And ultimately, it came back to a gut reaction. Tom liked the Journey. I liked the Journey. What else matters?
All of my doubting and all of my playing devil’s advocate came back to why other people would not buy the Journey, not why we wouldn’t. That is the way my brain has been trained to think. I have been trained to think for the consumer to the point where sometimes I have a hard time thinking as myself in a consumer situation. So I said… fuck it, buy it. And we did.
It will arrive in 4 weeks, packed full of great features, ordered just the way we wanted it. And when it does, I’m sure I will have a whole other fun blog to write. Phew!!
website: France & Italy - Tom & Marta’s European Vacation 2007
You might remember, before I left for my trip to Europe, I decided that “it was about time to push my scrapbooking pursuits into the 21st century”. So, in order to do that, I began collecting digital artifacts of my journey. Those artifacts included twitter feeds, Flickr images, YouTube videos, blog journal entries, Google maps, GPX data, mp3 jukeboxes, and an RSS feed of useful links.
I assembled all those artifacts into a website, where users can take a tour through the daily experiences of our trip. Beyond that, I used a very amazing new tool called Sprout to create a “widget” that included the essence of some of this content… a slide show, a video, a jukebox, etc. By taking this content into the world of widgets, I was able to extend the experience beyond the special site and into things like my MySpace page, my Facebook page, NetVibes, and the various blogs I contribute to.
So, in order to avoid over explaining something that is supposed to be experiential, I will stop here. Please enjoy our digital scrapbook!!
cell phones: Blackberry, Verizon Smartphones, Android, iPhone
So now that I have decided that I am truly in the market for a new phone, there are several big questions I need to answer. For one, what type of phones are available to me as a Verizon customer? While there is always the option of finding an “unlocked” version of a phone (if the perfect phone isn’t offered by Verizon), there is always an associated cost with that. Another question, would it benefit me more to shop for a phone now or wait until the summer when some of the newest phones are going to hit the market?
So, let’s start by having a look at what I could use on my network:
1. Blackberry Phones
Blackberry is one of the leading smartphone engineers for a reason. People seem to love the interface and the usability of the phone, and the types of advancements the newer editions of the Blackberries have made are impressive. With the Curve there is now a decent quality digital camera, GPS support, and on some editions Wi-Fi support. The 8830 is compatible with 3G networks, can be used globally, and has a built-in media player that supports a wide variety of audio and video formats. Both phones are also very capable when it comes to opening documents, such as Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations (no editing capability however).
The problem with the avaiable Blackberry phones is that what one can do, the other can’t. The 8830 has no camera or wi-fi, while the Curve is not capable of connective to Verizon’s 3G network. And, in the end, the Blackberry phones do not offer anything revolutionary when it comes to the operating system. In fact, I would see moving from a Windows Mobile OS to a proprietary Blackberry OS as a step in the wrong direction when it comes to potential future integration. Although, buying the most popular phone in the country would mean entering into a great community that offers support, hacks, applications, etc.
2. Verizon Compatible Smartphones
The Verizon smartphones actually get me a little more excited, especially the XV6800 and the SCH-i760. The XV6800 is compatible with both wi-fi and Verizon’s 3G network. It runs on the Windows Mobile 6 platform, and while that is not terribly exciting, it is at least familiar. It also has a decent quality camera phone with video support. All in all, some great features.
What is ultimately the really fun thing about these phones is that they offer both the touch-screen interface and full QWERTY keyboard. I have become incredibly fast at typing on my Q and cannot imagine degrading to a standard number pad, but at the same time am a little weary about going to full touchscreen. There is still something about feeling keys underneath my fingers that makes me a little more confident and speedy when I am typing. However, there is no denying that touch-screen offers way more in the realm of user interface flexibility. And, so long as it is a little more accurate than say the Garmin is at sensing finger presses, I am willing to try it out and these phones offer me the best of both worlds.
Every phone has its cons. These are substantial in size, not nice and slim, as well as cost. There are sensitivity issues with the touch screen, and one is reported to have less than perfect call quality. However, I expect there is always going to be a give in take, and if I was to go out and buy a cell phone right this second… it would probably be one of these two. They don’t have the type of OS updatability or integration I have dreamed of, but they are worlds better than what I have now.
So, back to the second question at hand… should I settle now, or should I see what the future has to offer?
3. Android Phones
There are a lot of rumors of what the new Android phone will do, and I am sure that the first generation phones will not be without their quirks. However, there is always something a little revolutionary behind what Google does and I would be excited to be part of it. The idea of services like YouTube, Google Maps, Google Docs, search, widgets, and many more being integrated from day one into a cell phone operating system is an attractive prospect. Not only that though, it represents a new momentum towards blurring the lines between what is web service and what is software. Other recent news promises things like better software integration and multi-player gaming. While not all of the dreamed about details could come to fruition, there is a level of excitement about this phone that is getting software developers and phone manufacturers behind it with determination, and that can only be a good thing.
4. iPhone (2nd Generation)
Another revolutionary phone is the iPhone. I’ve never been a Mac fangirl, but the attractiveness of this phone cannot be denied. I like the idea of a multi-touchscreen interface that supports gestures as a way to navigate photos and websites. It seems to make navigating your phone more natural and organic. While the phone is beautiful and sleek, as most Apple products, there are MANY features of the first generation phone that are lacking, including support for enterprise level e-mail (beyond necessity), 3G, a camera that takes video, Flash video, GPS, and much more. There have been rumors of at least some of these things being supported in the new phone. But ultimately, even if the phone improves, it seems to me like it benefits those who love Apple most… those who use iTunes and AppleTV, those who are the fanboys and girls. Apple integrates best with its own fans and own products, and for me and the products I use daily, I’d benefit far more with a system built by Google or Microsoft.
So, I think my best option is to wait it out just a while longer to see what Google has up their sleeve. The Verizon options are certainly great as a fall back, but I’m still not ready to give up on Google as the catalyst to another phone revolution.
cell phone: Motorola Q
When I first received my Q, to be honest, I was a little intimidated. It was a birthday present and it was exciting, but as my husband explained to me all of the features, I just kept thinking… I’m never going to be doing all that with my phone, this is too much for my needs. And, in reality, I didn’t really get the full use out of it for those first six months. Sure, I would pull up a few e-mails now and then and check my calendar, but it was not an integrated part of my life.
All that changed the minute I got my new job. Suddenly having constant access to my e-mail and calendar became a necessity of the position. I was using Google Maps on the road to get me to where I needed to go, and was sending photo messages back to my husband to keep us connected while away. Before I knew it I was IMing, Twittering, catching up on my industry blogs on NetVibes Mobile… maybe even sneaking some time on LostPedia during a really dull meeting. I ordered my husbands Christmas present using my phone while waiting in line at Sam’s Club. That’s about as integrated into daily life as you can get.
To my surprise, the time has come. I’ve hit the point where my faithful Q, well, no longer cuts it. It doesn’t support Flash video. The operating system, not to mention the web, run excrutiatingly slow. Some web pages are not even navigable. The battery life is pathetic even with the big pack. And almost daily, I have to reboot the phone due to a system freeze, sometimes it even requires me removing the battery pack.
My Dream Phone
On long drives home, I fantasize about what my perfect phone would be:
1. Flash Video
An absolute must, big enough to have its own category. How entertaining it would be to pull up that funny YouTube video for the friends in your bar? That’s a perk, but for me I could see an almost daily use. I would love to follow Gary Vaynerchuck’s almost daily wine video blog. It’s an intimidating time commitment to become a true Vayniac, but something in me wants to be one, merely because I have so much respect for what Gary is doing for the industry. It’s fresh, it’s interactive, it’s the blend of my two big loves in life. Give me a Flash-enabled phone and a headphone jack and I’d gladly give up 10 minutes of my 45 minute commute to listen to the show.
2. True Internet
While it is a part of it, I’m not limiting this idea to the iPhone “true internet”. There are actually times I find a targeted mobile version of a website very helpful. But then there are others where I just want to have the web work like it does on a computer… AJAX, Google Maps with all the features, no crashes, faster speeds, delete my temporary internet files easily, save my passwords, cookies. I want to easily subscribe to RSS feeds and bookmark on del.icio.us. I want to find words, cut and paste, save images to my background. Oh, and… I really want to be able connect to WiFi when its available for even faster surfing!!
3. Location-Based Services
Ultimately, it is a mobile phone, the keyword being “mobile”. Tools should be tailored for that purpose. Google My Maps is a great way to build a travel guide before you go somewhere. A phone with a GPS feature could add an extra layer of functionality, layering your custom map travel guide onto your physical environment. What is the closest wine bar I researched? Any good sushi nearby? Based on where I am, what is the best way to get there and avoid traffic?
4. Flexibility and Extendibility
Just like my Q proved, the right phone now could be the wrong phone tomorrow. The Wii can add new channels, the PS3 can launch the Home network, and every OS comes with their service packs and upgrades. Why then is cell phone technology so inflexible, such a black box? There should be a built in feedback mechanism and frequent updates. I want Windows and Verizon to know just how much my cell phone crashes. And I want widgets, a custom desktop showing weather… I want an iconic alert the minute I look at my phone telling me if there is traffic in my future or if my favorite blog just updated.
Bottomline, I want a phone that makes my life easier and better.
So… what is THAT phone?
In a follow-up article, I will analyze the cutting-edge phones that are on the market and the technologies on the horizon that might make my dreams come true (or not).
We will now resume our regularly scheduled program…
Lately my life has been on a major pause. As soon as I returned from Europe, it was a mad rush for the holidays, followed by New Years, followed by a week long trip for work that had me bouncing around North America… which all resulted in me getting some form of the flu. The problem with all this is that I had built up a sort of forward momentum. The Europe excursion and then my week with some of the most interesting minds in my company, it had all been very inspiring. But there is nothing as momentum killing as the flu to knock the wind of inspiration out of you.
In an effort to regain enthusiasm, I decided to build my very own “Eight Imperatives for Greatness in 2008″, inspired by Organic’s 8 for ‘08. So when I’m feeling down, uninspired, or directionless, I can look at this list of resolutions and find my way again:
USE IT OR LOSE IT
I resolve to make the most of my surroundings.
Let’s face it with Michigan’s economy the way it is, I’m not going to be moving anytime soon. It’s time to stop dreaming of a bigger and better kitchen with an island and walk-in pantry, and start making it a reality in whatever little ways I can. Build shelves, repaint, out with the old and in with the new.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
I resolve to jump at the chance without thinking too hard about where I’m going to land.
In a few years, kids will enter the picture and change everything. I may never have the chance to be the “career woman” again, and I might like it that way. So now is the time for me to see how far I can get and how quickly. It’s time to open my arms to opportunity, even if it involves a little pain, a little elbow grease, and a little travel. And why not build a long weekend with Lon & Roxy off of a focus group trip? We aren’t accumulating those airline miles for nothing. Let’s throw a little more caution to the wind while we still have the chance.
INVENT PRIORITIES
I resolve to have a more active role in molding my career.
I’m always asking for tasks in my downtime. If I am going to prove that I am a big thinker, I should take a more active role. Sure, there is plenty of stuff that has to get done, but there is also plenty of space in between to lead my own initiatives. Nobody is going to remember whether or not I did a good job writing that 20th interactive brief, but they are going to remember if I did something new or innovative. Inspiration shouldn’t always be on the back-burner.
FEED PASSION
I resolve to go further with the things I love to do.
I am not going to be content to stagnate this year. If it is something I love to do, there is no reason it shouldn’t be treated like any other ambition. I’m probably not going to open a restaurant or a wine store, at least not in the next twenty years. But if I don’t push the bounds of my hobbies and passions, I’m going to forget why I liked doing them so much in the first place. Whether its trying a new spice or working on my presentation skills, I need to find ways to challenge myself and stay excited.
SPICE UP THE ROUTINE
I resolve to integrate new things into my life routine.
I’m always struggling to find things to blog about. Why does it have to be such a task? It should be fun. The problem is that a lot of my life is routine and it takes effort to break from that. I want to build in little challenges… one new restaurant a month or find five new technologies I can’t live without by the end of the year. By making adventure part of the routine, it should make life a little more interesting and thus bloggable.
BUILD A ROAD MAP
I resolve to lay down a feasible plan for my big personal projects for the year.
Often I get overwhelmed by all the stuff I want to do. It seems as though its never going to get done: the kitchen, the Star Performers DVD, the Eurotrip website. Each project requires its own dedication, and without a clear order of priority, I find myself struggling to make steps forward. I need to lay down a roadmap. What could and what should I work on in the next week, next month, next year? Make it more attainable.
TRAIN YOUR BRAIN
I resolve to stay on top of my own intelligence and creativity.
Its easy to have your brain get bogged down with the challenges at work. Often the easiest way to soothe yourself is to come home and numb that big gray mass with entertainment, wine, and sleep. But the brain needs a good work out just like any other part of the body, and I find that I start to feel more alive and more excited the more I learn… the more I realize that my brain has room to hold a lot more than the latest web trends. Time to give some exercise to my full brain, left and right.
MAKE ME FEEL GOOD
I resolve to not feel guilty or obligated.
Ultimately, making myself feel at peace is what all these resolutions are about. I get in the habit of feeling guilty or feeling behind, that I have somehow not done all that I wanted. But, in the end, if it is all about making myself happy then there should be no qualifications around it. Part of making me happy is making other people happy. Part of it is learning how to relax and do nothing. These incentives should be about giving myself direction and goals, not tasks and obligations.
RECENT WINES