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Automotive
The automotive owner experience now extends far beyond the showroom, into apps, connected services, contact centers and the dealer service lane. We help automakers read the behavioral signals across that journey and design for adoption, loyalty and trust.
The people side of automotive.
Buying a vehicle used to be the defining moment of the relationship between a brand and its customer. Today, the automotive owner experience continues for years through connected-car apps, over-the-air updates, subscription features, customer experience centers and dealer service visits. Each touchpoint generates data, and each one can either strengthen or weaken the owner's sense that the brand understands them. Most automakers hold that data in separate systems owned by separate teams, which makes the full owner journey difficult to see.
Technology feature adoption is a particular challenge. Vehicles ship with driver assistance, connected navigation, remote start, charging management and safety features that many owners never activate or fully understand. The reasons are behavioral: features are introduced at delivery when the owner is overwhelmed, menus are complex and the value is not obvious until a relevant moment arrives. Inside the organization, product, digital, customer experience and dealer network teams each hold part of the problem and are measured on different outcomes.
Handoffs are where experience most often breaks. The dealer sells the vehicle, the brand owns the app, the contact center answers questions and the service lane handles maintenance. Owners do not see those boundaries and expect continuity. Electrification adds new questions about charging, range and ownership costs, while connected services shift revenue toward ongoing relationships. Automakers that treat the owner experience as a designed, measured behavioral journey are better positioned to earn loyalty at the next purchase.
What leaders are up against.
Connected features that owners never activate
Many owners leave the dealership without pairing the app, enabling connected services or learning the driver assistance features they paid for. Delivery is crowded with paperwork and emotion, which is a poor moment for learning. Low activation reduces perceived value, limits data and weakens the case for subscription services and future connected offerings.
Dealer handoffs that break continuity
Owners experience the brand and the dealer as one relationship, but data, incentives and accountability are split between them. Information captured at sale may not reach the app or contact center, and service visits may ignore digital history. These gaps create repeated questions, inconsistent answers and frustration that owners attribute to the brand.
Customer experience centers measured on speed
Contact and customer experience centers are often managed to handle time and satisfaction scores. Those measures say little about whether an owner's problem was actually resolved or whether the conversation increased loyalty and feature use. Agents lack the behavioral insight and authority to turn a support call into a better ownership experience.
Owner data spread across many systems
Telematics, app events, dealer management systems, warranty records, contact center logs and surveys each describe part of the owner journey. Integrating them is technically and organizationally hard, so decisions rely on assumptions about what owners value. The behavioral moments that predict repurchase and advocacy remain hidden in the noise.
Electrification and new ownership questions
Electric vehicle owners face unfamiliar decisions about home charging, public networks, range planning and battery care. Early experiences shape confidence and word of mouth. When guidance is generic or arrives too late, owners fill gaps with anxiety and anecdote, and the brand misses a chance to build trust during a pivotal transition.
Where we focus.
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Owner journey mapping across touchpoints
We map the full automotive owner experience from purchase through delivery, early ownership, service and repurchase, including the handoffs between brand, dealer, app and contact center. Interviews and contextual research with owners and frontline staff reveal where continuity breaks, and data analysis shows which moments carry the most weight for loyalty.
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Technology feature adoption strategy
We identify which connected and in-vehicle features matter most to owners and why adoption stalls. Interventions are designed around timing and ability: introducing features at relevant moments, simplifying first use and prompting through the app or vehicle when value is clear. Each approach is tested with owner cohorts before scaling across models or markets.
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Experience center performance and coaching
For an automaker's owner-experience or customer experience center, we define behavior-based KPIs that capture resolution, feature adoption and loyalty signals rather than speed alone. We then design conversation guides and coach supervisors and teams so agents can turn routine contacts into moments that strengthen the ownership relationship.
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Dealer handoff service design
We design the handoff points between dealer and brand, such as delivery, first service and app onboarding, so information and responsibility move with the owner. Service blueprints clarify roles, data flows and the specific behaviors expected from each party, and pilots with participating dealers test whether the redesigned handoffs improve owner outcomes.
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In-vehicle and app usability research
Drawing on human-computer interaction principles, we test in-vehicle interfaces, companion apps and onboarding flows with representative owners. Research surfaces the confusion that suppresses feature use and the design changes most likely to improve it. Findings are prioritized by their likely effect on adoption, safety and satisfaction.
The social good at stake.
Vehicles are woven into how people reach work, care for family and stay connected to community, and many of the most important safety and efficiency gains now depend on whether owners understand and use available technology. Behavioral science advances the public good in automotive by helping owners adopt safety features with confidence, navigate the transition to electrified vehicles and receive consistent, respectful support. Designing technology around real human attention and ability reduces frustration and risk, and it builds trust that owners carry into every interaction with the brand and its dealers.
Frequently asked questions.
Why do owners not use connected-car features they paid for?
Usually because the features were introduced at the wrong moment or demand more effort than owners expect. Delivery is busy and emotional, menus can be complex and the value of many features becomes clear only in a specific situation. We study where adoption stalls and design prompts, simplified first use and timely education that help owners discover features when they are most relevant.
Can you work across both the brand and the dealer network?
Yes. Much of the automotive owner experience depends on handoffs between the brand, dealers, contact centers and digital channels. We map those relationships, involve dealer staff in research and design, and pilot changes with participating dealers. The goal is a consistent experience that respects each party's role while making accountability for the owner clear.
What does a customer experience center engagement involve?
We observe interactions, analyze contact and owner data, and identify which conversation behaviors predict resolution, feature adoption and loyalty. We then define predictive KPIs, design guides and coaching for supervisors and agents, and test changes with selected teams. The work aims to make the center a source of insight about owners, not only a place where issues are closed.
Relevant services.
Customer Journey Mapping
Map the real journey your customers, members or patients take, combining research with behavioral data to find the moments that decide outcomes.
ExploreTechnology Adoption Strategy
Help customers, clinicians and employees actually use the tools you invest in, using behavioral science, adoption signals and targeted change design.
ExploreService Design
Align people, processes, policies and technology behind the experience you promise, using service blueprints, behavioral research and tested pilots.
ExploreHuman-Computer Interaction Consulting
Apply cognitive science and interaction design to software, AI tools and complex systems so people can use them accurately, efficiently and with confidence.
ExploreCustomer Experience Research
Understand why customers act, stay or leave through rigorous interviews, contextual inquiry, diary studies and validated surveys tied to real behavior.
ExplorePredictive KPI Design
Replace lagging and vanity metrics with behavior-based leading indicators that forecast results and give teams something they can actually influence.
ExploreFurther reading.
The Psychology of Technology Adoption
The psychological forces that determine whether people adopt or resist new technology, and how leaders can design rollouts that turn installation into lasting, meaningful use.
Read
Finding the Conversion Points in a Customer Journey
How to identify the few behavioral moments in a customer journey where outcomes are actually decided, and how to measure and improve them with evidence.
ReadLet’s talk about the people problem in front of you.
Every engagement begins with a conversation. Tell us what you are facing and we will tell you, candidly, how we would approach it.
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