Tag Archives: Waymo

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Waymo vs. Tesla: Designing for the Passenger, Not the Driver

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Which one is better between Waymo and Tesla?

Engineers often compare their technical dimensions such as sensor count or LiDAR. Business people look at cost, focusing on the price of each sensor and the vehicle. Policy makers emphasize safety, asking whether more sensors truly lead to safety than fewer ones.

But they are not what users expect about the experience. What do people actually want from a self-driving car?

I rode a Waymo in San Francisco. My experience made me think the answer depends on whether I focus on the driver or the passenger.

When Tesla owners talk about FSD (Full Self-Driving), the word that comes up most is productivity as a driver. “I can take a Zoom call.” “I can answer emails.”

In contrast, Waymo passengers talk about something different. “I can speak freely.” “There is no stranger listening.” Sitting in the back seat of the Waymo, I felt it too. The absence of a driver changed the feeling of the ride. The space felt more like my own.

The Waymo has far more sensors than a Tesla, but it does not matter to passengers. What they notice is that there is no one in the front seat.

Engineers, business people, and policy makers tend to optimize for the person operating the system. In autonomous vehicles, that instinct points them toward the driver. But when the car drives itself, the most important person in the vehicle is no longer the driver. It is the passenger. And passengers want something different. Women in particular appreciate riding without a stranger at the wheel.

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Reference

Oh, D., & Joo, J. (2015). Effect of mechanical perspective-taking method on evaluating user experience. Archives of Design Research, 28(1), 219-231.

Background: Designers often evaluate user experience incorrectly because they take into account less diagnostic information. We propose the mechanical perspective-taking method to control less diagnostic information and improve the evaluation accuracy of user experience.

Methods: We conducted an experiment. We manipulated mechanical perspective-taking by changing the point of view without changing the content of the video game; half of the participants watched a video game from the first person point of view and the other half watched it from the third person point of view. Then, all of the participants evaluated one of the two types of airport use experience; one with positive, less diagnostic information and the other with negative, less diagnostic information.

Result: For the airport use experience with positive, less diagnostic information, the participants watching it from the first person point of view evaluated it less positively than the participants watching a video game from the third person point of view. However, the opposite pattern was obtained for the airport use experience with negative, less diagnostic information; the former group evaluated it less negatively than the latter group.

Conclusion: We demonstrated that the mechanical perspective-taking method controls less diagnostic information effectively, which can help people focus on the target experience.

Cases

Why Americans stick to Keurig while the world prefers Nespresso

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After arriving in California, I was struck by a coffee pod brand completely unfamiliar to me: Keurig. Despite owning a Nespresso coffee machine at the office and a De Longhi espresso machine at home, I was surprised that I had never seen or heard about Keurig before.

In California, Keurig machines are everywhere. The brand holds 41% of the single-serve coffee machine market in the United States and is estimated to have three times the sales of Nespresso nationwide.

However, Nespresso is the leading coffee capsule brand in most other markets. In Korea, it dominates the coffee machine market with a 52% share.

The biggest advantage of Keurig is that many coffee companies produce pods or capsules compatible with its machines. Brands like Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee, and Dunkin offer options for Keurig users. Additionally, Keurig machines and K-Cups are generally more affordable than Nespresso machines and capsules.

However, Nespresso has gaining market share in the United States. Since introducing the VertuoLine system, which brews full-size coffees in addition to espresso, Nespresso increased its US market share to 14.4% in 2023 up from 11% in 2022. During the same period, Keurig’s share declined from 56.2% to 53.1%. The competition between the two brands is intense and dynamic.

Does this mean cultural differences explain their dominance in different markets? Do Californians value variety and quantity, while Koreans appreciate premium experiences?

Cultural differences are unlikely to be reasons. The real explanation is much simpler: people rarely switch from the brand they first encounter. Californians often start with Keurig because it is the most accessible option, while Koreans are introduced to Nespresso through advertising. Once preferences are formed, they tend to stick.

Each brand’s popularity may not be driven by taste or luxury but by who enters the market first. This is why Uber holds an advantage over Lyft in ride-hailing services and why Waymo continues to thrive while Cruise failed in the self-driving car industry.

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Reference

Carpenter, G. S., & Nakamoto, K. (1989). Consumer Preference Formation and Pioneering Advantage. Journal of Marketing Research, 26(3), 285-298.

Examined whether pioneering advantage could arise from the process by which consumers learn about brands and form their preferences (PFs). In 2 experiments with 103 MBA students, hypothetical emerging markets were constructed, varying the order of brand (computer software packages or down quilts) entry across Ss and the types of competitors that subsequently entered the market. Analysis showed that PFs were influenced by the order of brand entry. Moreover, the PF formation process produced a PF structure that made a pioneer’s market share largely invulnerable to competitors, even if switching costs were minimal and brands could reposition.