The automotive industry is experiencing significant disruption. A move to electric cars over the next 20 years is changing the manufacturing process, and the ways and reasons people need to use cars are also changing, with driverless cars and short-term car hire models becoming more widely available.
And if you consider that on average, a car is only moving for 4% of its life (the rest of the time it’s parked at home, work or wherever we visit) – car manufacturers need to make car ownership more flexible, based on the terms of the driver and ready for a greener future.
Audi was keen to explore this problem and approached EM Code to look for inspiration to develop new ways to create flexible customer buying experiences
We use design sprints to tackle ‘foggy’ business problems like these, meaning we can create user-tested solutions and prototypes within a two-week period. Working in partnership with Salmon we launched a five-day collaborative sprint to design, prototype and test a new digital experience.
Day 1 - Understand
We started by pulling together insights and clarifying the brief to set up opportunities for new thinking.
Day 2 - Diverge
Next, we created as many possible solutions to the initial challenge and fleshed out the best options.
Day 3 - Converge
Following feedback, we began to work out more detail about how to take the concepts forward.
Day 4 - Prototype
With a good understanding of the end-to-end journey, we created a prototype of each concept.
Day 5 - Test
We tested each concept for insights and feedback and carried out mobile user testing in our on-site usability lab with full eye-tracking software.
After creating three ideas, we took one through to testing which was a ‘Swap my Audi’ proposition – letting owners drive different cars based on their needs. For car lovers, the desire to experience new cars never goes away, so a subscription model that enables flexibility and affordability will help more people to drive their dream Audi.
Unlike other shared mobility models, a ‘Premium Pass’ offers rolling access to a pool of Audi vehicles, with rewarded access to higher-end cars and other offers.