TOL is a fictional automotive company and its website exists to
demonstrate how advertising could become a part of the configuration
process as well as the car's infotainment system.
Now the secret is out of the way;
This project was inspired by the presence of seldom appearing
advertisements in the Waze navigation. Coincidentally, it was always
trying to lure me into the local Aldi store. A company I have spent
with (so far) over 5 years.
Building on this experience and the fact that modern cars - even the
cheaper ones - are nowadays loaded with smart sensors and have large
screens, the idea of exploring advertising implementation into car
infotainment systems came to existence. Funnily enough, when
starting the research months later, I was surprised to see recently
written articles. I learnt that Ford recently filed for a patent
(in February 2024, published in August 2024) that would utilise their
cars' screens and speakers to play adverts based on their location
and other privacy-defying information sourced from their customers.
The reaction online has been overwhelmingly negative and I can see
why that would be. In this version of the future, only the
advertisers and Ford benefit.
To explore whether the reaction would still be so negative
after giving the consumer more control and incentives, I developed
this experience. Building on Yablonski's ideology of Cognitive Load
and Kara's(2015) research into the accessibility of academic
literature, I find this site as a complementary but vital part of my
work. With Jakob's UX law in mind, I took inspiration from other car
manufacturers' websites and developed an experience of configuring a
new vehicle. Keeping the flow of the process as close to reality as
possible was vital to truly understand the consumers' view on the
matter. In this case it meant that after customizing the car's
powertrain, interior colour etc, the next option before financing is
selection from three different levels of advertising. From no
involvement to the most involved. Depending on the level, the final
price/monthly payment of the car decreases. The initial discount,
however, is not the sole benefit and as you can see after going
through the process other benefits are listed.
Through discussions, secondary research and growing understanding of
the many components involved, I came to a conclusion that there
might be a *correct* way of advertising into cars' systems. If done
correctly and for the benefit of all involved parties, it may prove
to be a viable path forward.
