EditorOkay, so Google is actually doing it! It has ditched its algorithms and is instead using a van for cruising across the country and collecting feedback from the users. This custom – built white van has the Google logo on it and invites to “shape the future” of the company. The internet giant will be taking a 6 week long road trip.
What made Google take this road? Well, for a long time it has been trying to burst its Silicon Valley bubble. The van will make several stops near colleges, parks, libraries and its own regional offices in seven states in hope of knowing how people are using its services.
The van has been designed to resemble a mini version of the tech giant’s laboratories and will invite around 500 volunteers to look inside the van. Inside, the researchers will see how the apps and services are used by the volunteers for sessions lasting 15 – 90 minutes. For their time Google will gift the Google T-shirts and gift cards.
This idea grew out of Google’s thought that there is a difference between how people living out of San Francisco Bay Area and people of San Francisco think about its services.
A lead Google researcher, Laura Granka says, “We are trying to understand the whole end-to-end experience, which is why we are trying to get out to more locations and see more people so we can gather more context.”
Steven Osinski, marketing professor at San Diego State University said, “I don’t know how much more they are going to learn that they are not aware of right now. With just one van, whatever data they get is likely to be very anecdotal. It will be a good public-relations story, but it doesn’t really strike me as a real game changer in terms of research.”
However, Granka says that the marketing department of the company is not involved with this tour. She said, “It is purely driven by research and our desire to reach and understand more of our users.”
Editorial Staff
