Overview

Driven by research from their customer insights team calling to improve their product accessibility and inclusivity, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has embarked on an ambitious initiative to reimagine the development process of their vehicles to better meet the access needs of disabled consumers.

JLR partnered with the London-based Studio Exception Consultancy to gather insights from consumers across a wide spectrum of disabilities to make their vehicles more inclusive and accessible to all.

Problem definition

JLR’s accessible product development journey began in 2015 in their Customer Insights Team, who flagged the company’s need to address certain market segments, including the disability community. The company subsequently led an internal discovery process through which it the discovered that product features, retail experiences, and advertising were all areas in which disability inclusion and accessibility could be better integrated as core strategic elements.

Without a systematic and streamlined approach to inclusion and accessibility, the company risked leaving out a massive and untapped market.

Approach

One of JLR’s keys to success started with their partnership with the Invictus Games, with whom they worked closely to gain valuable and diverse consumer insights from injured veterans. The JLR Customer Insights and Product Development teams invited disabled athletes from the Invictus games to provide accessibility feedback by interacting with their fleet of current and future vehicles. More recently the JLR Defender brand has worked with trailblazers including disabled athletes as part of its Rugby World Cup partnership.

Recognising the diversity in experience and access needs in the disability community, JLR worked closely with Studio Exception to identify individuals with multiple diverse medical and accessibility considerations who could provide additional feedback. JLR worked with a 9-year-old boy with complex medical needs and his family to test drive their vehicles and offer insights into what considerations would be needed to make providing consistent care to a loved one in transit more seamless and comfortable. They also worked with a wheelchair user to prototype ways to control their vehicles using different types of input devices and controls and ensuring that the individual’s end-to-end product experience was inclusive and accessible.

The result of these consultations was the ideation of multiple, potentially ground-breaking features within JLR’s fleet of vehicles, including features to assist drivers in medical distress, car interiors that can detect and adapt to passengers’ stress levels, in-vehicle communication systems, and features for on-board storage for medications. Features account for both visible and hidden disabilities, with the goal of applying key learnings across models and categories.

Impact

The foresight of involving the disability community in informing the development of its new vehicles is a game-changer for JLR. Not only has this feedback process generated several features that can make JLR’s vehicles more comfortable and accessible to all, but this process also supports the JLR brand’s inclusion objectives while pioneering an underexplored market.

The team also recognised the need to holistically build accessibility across retail, advertising, and community engagement. Weaving the Exception Method into JLR’s product development process has also guaranteed the long-term sustainability of this practice.

Looking ahead

Leveraging platforms like the Rugby World Cup Trailblazers and disability organisations for continued co-creation is critical, as groups’ needs evolve across geographies and demographics.

JLR is well-positioned to lead the charge on inclusive mobility given current momentum and executive alignment.