Comments on: Should GM Let Consumers Participate in an Early Volt Fleet? http://gm-volt.com/2010/03/05/should-gm-let-consumers-participate-in-an-early-volt-fleet/ Real-time news, information, and discussion about the Chevrolet Volt. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:11:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: JH http://gm-volt.com/2010/03/05/should-gm-let-consumers-participate-in-an-early-volt-fleet/#comment-182195 JH Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:16:20 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=3171#comment-182195 YUSH YUSH

]]> By: Kubel http://gm-volt.com/2010/03/05/should-gm-let-consumers-participate-in-an-early-volt-fleet/#comment-182127 Kubel Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:41:44 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=3171#comment-182127 GM should look into what Ford did with the Fiesta Movement. They put the cars on the streets ahead of schedule driven by normal people who were very active in blogging / youtube. Drivers were required to do 'missions' with their Fiesta, and in doing so, they showed the car off. The purpose was, essentially, free advertising and free feedback by actual potential customers, not just employees who have to drive the car because it's their job. GM should look into what Ford did with the Fiesta Movement. They put the cars on the streets ahead of schedule driven by normal people who were very active in blogging / youtube. Drivers were required to do ‘missions’ with their Fiesta, and in doing so, they showed the car off. The purpose was, essentially, free advertising and free feedback by actual potential customers, not just employees who have to drive the car because it’s their job.

]]> By: KirkN http://gm-volt.com/2010/03/05/should-gm-let-consumers-participate-in-an-early-volt-fleet/#comment-181922 KirkN Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:48:44 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=3171#comment-181922 I participated in Project Driveway and it was a amazing experience. What was interesting was commonality of many comments, suggestions, concerns and then those that were unique. I am sure the info gathered by GM from this program has been ground breaking. But due to the schedule for the Volt, a "project driveway" experience would have to be short, ie drive the car for a couple of weeks vs. 3 months. Project Driveway members would make a great target as they are up to speed on the reporting requirements <blockquote cite="comment-180864"> <strong><a href="#comment-180864" rel="nofollow">omnimoeish</a></strong>: Project Driveway </blockquote> I participated in Project Driveway and it was a amazing experience. What was interesting was commonality of many comments, suggestions, concerns and then those that were unique. I am sure the info gathered by GM from this program has been ground breaking. But due to the schedule for the Volt, a “project driveway” experience would have to be short, ie drive the car for a couple of weeks vs. 3 months. Project Driveway members would make a great target as they are up to speed on the reporting requirements

omnimoeish: Project Driveway

]]> By: RogerE333 http://gm-volt.com/2010/03/05/should-gm-let-consumers-participate-in-an-early-volt-fleet/#comment-181389 RogerE333 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:36:10 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=3171#comment-181389 <blockquote cite="comment-180955"> <strong><a href="#comment-180955" rel="nofollow">JEC</a></strong>: I 100% agree to that point. I develop GUI applications for automated test equipment, deployed around the world. I use to think I knew what and how the operators would use the interface, and would stubbornly “do it my way”.I have come to realize the value of VOC (voice of the customer), and now I always ask the users how THEY want the interface to function. Amazing how, small changes in the operation can make or break the acceptance of my applicatins. These are usually things I consider irrelevant, such as text fonts, background colors, and aesthetic issues.  <a title="Click here or select text to quote comment" href="void(null)" rel="nofollow">(Quote)</A> </blockquote> Agreed, and now that this thread is pretty much dead, here is another dumb example -- As mentioned in other posts, I do electric r/c aircraft as a hobby/addiction. The best-known radio manufacturer, Futaba recently came out with a new generation of 2.4 GHz radios. After enough of them got into the public's hands, a weird problem occurred where the radio would lose (sorry folks, not "loose") its unique ID code and go back to an ID of 0. If two people with 0 IDs tried to fly at the same time bad things could happen (crashes). What it turned out to be was if the radio was turned on and then quickly turned off without completing its boot-up process, the unique ID code stored in the radio might be lost. Apparently this had made it through all of the testing performed by this experienced, reputable company. So there were multiple bugs, really -- - the power switch should perhaps have been more like a shutdown request and not a simple power disconnect (hardware issue) - the GUID code should have been in non-volatile, or at least less-volatile memory (hardware) - a GUID code of 0 should have been ignored as an illegal value by their receivers, a dead radio is better than crashing (software) Hopefully nobody got hurt as a result of this bug. Their initial "fix" was simply a sticker to put on the radio saying, "Don't turn on then off right away", but hopefully it has been truly fixed in the firmware since then. So again, the point is that dumb, untrained users will use/abuse your software in ways never expected. So, GM, when can I pick up my Volt? Do we get a choice of color? ;-)

JEC: I 100% agree to that point. I develop GUI applications for automated test equipment, deployed around the world. I use to think I knew what and how the operators would use the interface, and would stubbornly “do it my way”.I have come to realize the value of VOC (voice of the customer), and now I always ask the users how THEY want the interface to function. Amazing how, small changes in the operation can make or break the acceptance of my applicatins. These are usually things I consider irrelevant, such as text fonts, background colors, and aesthetic issues.  (Quote)

Agreed, and now that this thread is pretty much dead, here is another dumb example –

As mentioned in other posts, I do electric r/c aircraft as a hobby/addiction. The best-known radio manufacturer, Futaba recently came out with a new generation of 2.4 GHz radios. After enough of them got into the public’s hands, a weird problem occurred where the radio would lose (sorry folks, not “loose”) its unique ID code and go back to an ID of 0. If two people with 0 IDs tried to fly at the same time bad things could happen (crashes).

What it turned out to be was if the radio was turned on and then quickly turned off without completing its boot-up process, the unique ID code stored in the radio might be lost. Apparently this had made it through all of the testing performed by this experienced, reputable company. So there were multiple bugs, really –

- the power switch should perhaps have been more like a shutdown request and not a simple power disconnect (hardware issue)
- the GUID code should have been in non-volatile, or at least less-volatile memory (hardware)
- a GUID code of 0 should have been ignored as an illegal value by their receivers, a dead radio is better than crashing (software)

Hopefully nobody got hurt as a result of this bug. Their initial “fix” was simply a sticker to put on the radio saying, “Don’t turn on then off right away”, but hopefully it has been truly fixed in the firmware since then.

So again, the point is that dumb, untrained users will use/abuse your software in ways never expected.

So, GM, when can I pick up my Volt? Do we get a choice of color? ;-)

]]> By: Kevin R http://gm-volt.com/2010/03/05/should-gm-let-consumers-participate-in-an-early-volt-fleet/#comment-181310 Kevin R Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:56:12 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=3171#comment-181310 I'll volunteer to be a 'regular' driver and test out the Chevy Volt before launch. Then when it launches, I'll buy it, preferably in black. I’ll volunteer to be a ‘regular’ driver and test out the Chevy Volt before launch. Then when it launches, I’ll buy it, preferably in black.

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