DC156 Critique: 2016 Scion FR-S

Design Critique: Products for People

Five years and 50,000 miles in the making, this critique of the 2016 Scion FR-S (aka Subaru BRZ or Toyota 86) puts the long in longitudinal review! Cohosts Eric and Ryan return to help Tim discuss the complete customer experience with the car from encounter, to decision, to purchase, to initial use, to longitudinal reflection. The "Toyobaru" is in our opinions one of the most successful user-centered car designs we've ever experienced. Toyota and Subaru aimed this car at a narrow customer segment and created something with an enthusiastic following and enough sales to continue the model into a second generation. It never tries to be all things to all people, but rather succeeds in creating passion and loyalty in its customers' hearts. This episode is way longer than usual at 100 minutes so here are the segment timings: 00:00-51:00 Encounter, Decision, Purchase, Initial Use 51:00-1:07:34 Longitudinal Use and Final Year 1:07:35-1:21:19 Second Generation Improvements 1:21:20-1:40:33 Special Guest and Conclusion A design this pure, with a customer base so well defined, is proof that large corporations can delight customers if an executive champion and a dedicated team work in concert to achieve their customer-centric goal.