Your Concept Car
An Interview with the All-Women Volvo Design
Team
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Tatiana Butovitsch Temm |
Elna Holmberg |
DMI recently had the opportunity to discuss Volvo’s much-discussed
all-women-designed Your Concept Car (YCC) with team members Dr.
Elna Holmberg, and Tatiana Butovitsch Temm.
Your Concept Car has garnered a great deal of attention.
What is it about the car that has made it so appealing?
I believe it is a combination of the car itself—a really good-looking
sports coupe with gull-wing doors that is full of innovative solutions—and
the fact that it has been made by a group of women, which contradicts
the stereotype about women and cars.
How is this car different from other previously designed
cars?
We were very focused on who our target customer was and used that
profile as a filter for all ideas. Only solutions that fitted our
target customer’s needs went into the car.
How did the all-women design team at Volvo come together?
How was the decision made to go ahead with the team and YCC?
The idea to make the YCC was born in 2001 in a doorway at Volvo
after a one-day seminar about how to cater better to women customers.
At the end of the day, the question arose: If only women designed
a car, what would it look like? From that point on the idea grew
to encompass more and more women, each of whom contributed their
knowledge and thoughts.
In 2002, we had the chance to present the idea to Hans-Olov Olsson,
President and CEO of Volvo Cars, and he gave us the go-ahead. That’s
when we started to form the team, and found each other. All of us
worked at Volvo, but we did not know each other previously.
What were the major design issues that the team faced?
How did you overcome these obstacles?
One of the main issues for exterior designer Anna Rosen was visibility—even
a shorter driver should see where the car ends. With the YCC, you
do. The raised fenders make it easy to see the front corners. At
the back, the car ends where the window ends. Moreover, the large
door opening gives us a B-pillar that is moved backwards, which
gives an excellent over-the-shoulder view.
Color and trim designer Maria Uggla spent a lot of time thinking
about how you could personalize the car interior in a smart way.
Her solution was to make exchangeable seat-pads and carpets, which
gives you the ability to alter the interior to suit your taste—just
as with cell phones.
How much independence did the team have during this project?
We had a lot of independence. We were given a budget and a time
frame, and then were more or less left alone to do the job. The
very first decision was that all decisions should be made by women,
so that automatically excluded 90 per cent of the management team.
Of course, we were making a Volvo, not just any car, so we followed
the clear Volvo design guidelines. Within those parameters, however,
we were totally independent. Volvo has such a strong brand identity
that regardless of who in the company designs the car, it will still
be a Volvo.
Will the team continue to work together on future projects?
No, we are already split up and working on new projects. The next
concept car will have a new group made up of people that suit the
purpose of that project.
Don’t miss Dr. Elna Holmberg’s
presentation about the YCC from Volvo at the 9th European Conference
on March 9-11, 2005.
|
