The Content Gap
When customers don’t understand your terminology or topics, they can’t appreciate your product.
By Wendy Eichenbaum
I was listening to the podcast Code Switch, which examines race and culture in America. During the episode, the panel pondered how much context to provide when exploring topics. The speakers discussed the dilemma of including this context: adding explanations might water down the experience, but refraining from explanations could confuse listeners who did not have the background.
I realized that they were debating the very same issue that I discussed in my article on the knowledge gap. The sum of a user’s knowledge is the current knowledge point. The amount of knowledge a user needs to complete a task is the target knowledge point. When there is a gap between the two points, an interface does not feel intuitive to a user.
Outgoing NHTSA Exec Fears Auto Safety Slide
The outgoing head of the government agency charged with keeping highways safe is worried that auto safety won’t be a priority for the incoming Trump administration.
Mark Rosekind, a Ph.D. sleep expert drafted from investigating airplane crashes and other mishaps, said the agency has come a long way from the days when it failed to connect clues about faulty General Motors ignition switches, and was too accepting of Takata’s explanations for lethal exploding air bags.
A Math Lesson in Service
By Laura Jozwiak, Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Relations, Wheels, Inc.
Ready for some math? You may not think math has anything to do with customer service and continuous improvement, but it certainly does!
Before you groan over a math lesson, give me a chance to explain. It starts with my dog, Fred. Fred is a Shepherd / Labrador mix that loves to go on walks with me. It was during one of these walks that I discovered a podcast from Tom Ziglar (son of Zig). During one of his episodes, he shared a simple formula that resonated with me and that I continue to apply:
- Attitude x Effort x Skill = Results
- Each attribute is given a rating from 0 to 3
- The optimal result would be a great Attitude (3) x unwavering Effort (3) x expertise in your Skill (3) would give you a Result of a 27
- Anything less, is well, less.
When It Comes to Safety, Autonomous Cars Are Still ‘Teen Drivers’
Automakers ask drivers to trust and share the nation’s roadways with autonomous vehicles, but there is no easy answer as to when they will be considered ”safe”
Tech giants and carmakers have poured massive amounts of money and effort into developing cars that can drive themselves.
“Sometimes I hear [the] industry talk about autonomous vehicles as though they’re about to put the safest driver on the road,” says Nidhi Kalra, senior information scientist at the nonprofit RAND Corp.
“The reality is it’s more like putting a teenage driver on the road.” But she still thinks artificially intelligent autos should be able to improve their driving and decision-making skills very quickly—without having to be grounded.
But before Google, Tesla, Uber and others can persuade humans to share their streets with bots, they have to prove this technology—although definitely still learning and maturing—doesn’t amount to flooding the nation’s roadways with dangerously adolescent robot drivers.
Make Drivers Great — Again and Again
By Art Liggio, President, Driving Dynamics
While vehicle types, traffic conditions and behavioral issues have greatly changed since the first driver education course in 1934, just how well have we kept up with preparing people to drive safely—especially those who spend hours each week behind-the-wheel for work?
As a fleet operator (non-CDL), do you think, based on an average of only six hours of formal behind-the-wheel training, the drivers in your fleet have come to you with an optimum level skill to operate a vehicle safely? Are these great drivers?
