Help the leaves of efficiency grow! ?? #Ford #FusionHybrid #FordByDesignhttps://t.co/ekfAhze6Hl
— Ford Drive Green (@FordDriveGreen) June 8, 2016
You're driving down the streets of Fenton with your new C-Max Hybrid, when a red light sneaks up on you. You slam on the brakes, and in the corner of your vision, you notice a digital leaf shrivel up and fall.
"You're killing the leaves!" a little voice inside your head screams. The rest of the day, you are extra careful to accelerate and brake gently, and keep your speed as even as possible. The leaf grows back, and you feel happy.
When it came time to design the EcoGuide display screen for Ford's hybrid models, researcher Jeff Greenberg says, "We could have put a little efficiency gauge that would've gone up or down, but we thought, 'You know, we could do that differently.'"
The insidiously clever idea is called "Efficiency Leaves." Rather than a simple read-out of what your fuel consumption looks like, EcoGuide presents you with a sort of digital pet -- a vine that grows and flourishes the more efficiently you drive.
Though it's really just a gauge, because it is graphically appealing (and just a bit empathetically engaging), it makes drivers strive harder to change their driving habits. It's almost like playing a video game.
Soon, you'll find efficient practices are ingrained into the way you drive. Just through clever design, Ford is re-wiring people's behavior!
Pretty cool? Kind of spooky? Find Ford hybrids in our new inventory at Lasco Ford, and come take a test drive!
