Process
To envision a future context that does not exist, thorough research of factors was conducted - by observing trends, developments, states and principles.
Clustering them further, over 100 collected factors were placed on two axes based on Schwartz human values.
Each quadrant indicated a persona of the future - the 4 characters were named by their personality to understand the essence of that quadrant - the caretaker, the pragmatist, the activist and the hedonist.
The activist personality was chosen for this project and became the basis for further research.
The Activist
Fearless towards transformation but pragmatic and realistic consumers. Although their views on politics are bipartisan, they feel and take up social responsibility. They are born this way! Not defined by labels or gender. They are non-conforming.
“You’ve found a way of looking at the problems of Ford and at Gen Z that is subtle: what if gender fluidity is more of a common place in the future? What if Ford takes up a more activist role? The work you share breathes a whole, a spirit. The presentation was great. The first step you presented in the form of a ‘DIY proposal’ to start at home with gender fluidity was an interesting move in the presentation and has a convincing level of detail!”
strategy
Timeline: 8 weeks
Team: Floor Burgers, Marie-Theres Specht, Bas Leferink, Poornashri Kandade
Key Activities
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Research
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Pattern finding
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Strategic roadmapping
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NADI Model
Ford approached us to improve their competitiveness in order to ready them for Generation Z, the customers of 2030. Using a deconstructed Vision in Product Design (ViP) method, a future context was built to identify behaviour patterns through research of over 100 factors. The insights pointed toward a gender non-conforming future.
How can Ford be a catalyst in sensitizing the mobility ecosystem to become truly gender-inclusive?
Ford's Gender Inclusive 2030
Insights
Observing Shifts
A rather new way of life seems to have emerged with this generation and we are noticing major shifts. The world moving in a new direction.
Companies around the globe are preparing for this shift and implementing the necessary changes. For example, NS changed their announcements from “Ladies and Gentlemen…” to “Dear Travellers…”
What does this mean in the mobility scenarios? Motor companies are dominated by a masculine presence.
A hard look at Ford
Ford’s presence is masculine! That means Gen Zers do not resonate with Ford.
On a deeper understanding, we observed some cues that indicated that motor companies, not just Ford, fail to recognise these conscious and unconscious gender biases creeping into all areas of the company.
Clearly, this needs to change. It means it’s time for ‘renovation’.
Journeys of the future
To understand the full impact of the lack of diversity it is essential to look into sources of bias. For years, journeys have been gender-based. Patterns are seen in male and female journeys.
The numbers are changing quickly and today we see no particular gender-specific journey pattern. Another cue is that the commute of today is equal and the commuters are diverse.
They prefer non-gendered commodities.
Ford is driven by the urge to create a positive societal impact while allowing people the freedom of movement. A company that believes in building lasting relationships, they engage frequently with their community and loyal customers. They strongly build on their heritage, stability and trust, claiming to be built for everyone. But are they really?
Strategic Proposal
This project considered diversity and inclusion as a strategy for Ford. There is not one singular mind-blowing solution to get this right, it is about a broad variety of smaller adjustments, but it is easy to get those wrong. We aimed to bring Ford's attention to DEIB inside-out with our proposal.
We proposed a smooth transition across 3 horizons.
Horizon 1: Organization level
Themed ‘Change starts at home’, where we look at how gender inclusive is Ford as a company. How sensitive are the currently employees towards gender inclusivity? Do the current employees know how to conduct themselves around customers and other employees who have other genders or are fluid? Is Ford recruiting people across the spectrum?
Horizon 2: Product and Service level
Once the company has started imbibing an inclusive culture and environment, its changed perceptions will start reflecting in the company's offerings to its customers. Where research, development and design prioritizes inclusion of different genders by involving a diverse team in the pre-design, design and post design stages. This must be mandated all the way to the sales levels. Where the salesperson could be fluid or non-conforming as well.
Horizon 3: Community level
Here Ford takes social responsibility to help spread awareness about gender inclusion their inside, and later outside, circles of influence.
Ford is driven by the urge to create a positive societal impact while allowing people the freedom of movement. A company that believes in building lasting relationships, they engage frequently with their community and loyal customers. They strongly build on their heritage, stability and trust, claiming to be built for everyone. But are they really?
The essence of offering a gender inclusive product or service is making it possible to add nuances to anyone’s experience.
Hailing a ride
Alongside Ford's ambition to built a fleet of autonomous vehicles, we notice that ride-sharing services are on the rise. We recommend Ford to specifically develop built-in adaptable features.
With these features, based on the passengers shared data, Ford's vehicles facilitate need-based journey experiences.
A user experience scenario
How does Ford implement this vision in the mobility sector of the future?
What does offering inclusive products and services to a gender non-conforming market look like?