Carmaker BMW has published a study how customer feel and behave in their cars. It is a fascinating study which is a wonderful example of customer experience management and helps to understand the relationship customers can build with a product.

Among other intersting facetes of car-driver and car-passenger relationship my favourite article is about the cup-holder. It shows that you can make everything right but to really make a difference you need to have an eye for the details. Here are some statements regarding the importance of a cup-holder in the car:

“Outside of the satnav, the cupholder is the most
important thing in the car. That and the iPod holder –
because I spend so much time in the car, I’d go as far as
to say it was one reason for choosing the car. The BMW
cupholder is the best on the market for sturdiness – they
also have one on the passenger side, whereas mine is on
the central console.”
Male driver, 40, York

“I hate my cupholder – it’s not wide enough. It has been
such a disappointment. You buy a coffee, and the cup
will be wider than my cupholder, so the cup perches
on it and spills coffee down the audio console on to the
volume control. Parts of the volume control knob cycles
are very stiff or very loose. It’s probably not the greatest
piece of ergonomic design.”
Male driver, 35, South London (non-BMW driver)

“…what was the key element of safety when you were
a child? It was that your mother fed you, and there was
warm liquid. That’s why cupholders are absolutely crucial
for safety. If there is a car that has no cupholder, it is not
safe. If I can put my coffee there, if I can have my food, if
everything is round, if it’s soft, and if I’m high, then I feel
safe. It’s amazing that intelligent, educated women will
look at a car and the first thing they will look at is how
many cupholders it has.”

“I remember her getting it. It had full-spec top-of-the-range
everything, full leather interior, turbo, telephone all plumbed
in, the lot, but what she was really excited about was the
cupholder, because her old car hadn’t had one, and this
one comes out just right. It makes a lovely noise. We went
out and got a coffee and an almond croissant just to try it.”

The full report can be download from dezeen.

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