As we walked through the data, we saw a consistent underlying theme that people viewed the car as a utility. It could be more, but it’s primary goal and purpose was to help people get to their end destination. This focus on the functional element of the car reduced the perceived value of the time spent in transit. In other words, because people primarily viewed the car as a tool to get from Point A to Point B, it was difficult for them to see the car – and the time spent within it – holding any other additional value beyond its utility. The time spent commuting was just something you had to do to get to where you want to go.

We saw this in our speed dating study where we invited participants to imagine with us a world where the car could facilitate new ways to connect with each other. We introduced some neat socially supporting technologies like shape shifting seats and fully immersive visual experiences, expecting participants to be excited to explore these new potentially meaningful moments in the car.

However, we were met with uncertainty and hesitation. Participants faced difficulty imagining the car as this type of space. For them, the car’s role was not to be the destination of social interaction. Instead, they told us that the car was just a transportation tool to allow for that social context to happen elsewhere.

Compounding the undervaluation of this time in transit is the simultaneous focus on the destination. Although kids may be most explicit in this focus, with their repeated 'are we there yet?'s, this sentiment was shared universally. People want to get to their destination as fast as possible; never mind the possibilities in the time spent to get there. But this focus on the destination isn’t all bad. Oftentimes it’s driven by positive emotions, such as happiness or excitement. For example, Alicia spoke about her kids and their excitement to be where they’re headed.

The commute is viewed as an inhibitor, something that needs to be gotten through and over with for the fun to begin. This perspective overlooks the time spent in this process and its potential for connection, play, and presence. We heard from our research this dominant view of the cars of today as primarily a functional utility, with the time spent commuting a necessary component of the process with little inherent value.  In fact, we even heard from some participants, like Alex who feels less guilty taking time to eat in the car. This time is valued so little that it’s like the time doesn't exist.

We heard over and over that time in the car was boring. But why? Why can’t you allievate boredom inside the car in the same way you alleviate it outside of the car? When we dug deeper into this we realized that the constraints of the car force people into a state between productivity and leisure making the time feel lost. Imagine you’re sitting in your living room, and you can’t do the things you know you need to get done, yet you can't sit back and relax. This is what participants told us being in the car felt like.

We heard similar sentiments across our research as we heard participants focusing on the constraints and what they weren’t able to do. Ross had a great way of describing it.

Ross cares more about what he isn’t able to do in the car than what’s possible with the time. In other words, the constraints of the car impede Ross from focusing on what is possible with his time in it.

All of this culminates in the idea that the time in the car feels like unintentional, “lost” time, caught between leisure and productivity. Participants felt bored because they can neither relax nor be productive, and the feeling of being physically stuck compounds this to the point that the time feels as though it has slipped away. Remembering how the automobile is becoming increasingly connected and autonomous, the less people are required to pay attention to the road, the more the time in the car will open up. But knowing that people are likely to spend that time glued to a screen at the expense of meaningful social interaction, is that a world we want to live in? There’s an opportunity here to reframe the car to a space for time well spent.

While participants felt like time spent in the car was lost time, the reality is that the time exists. There has to be something happening in this time. So what do people do in this “lost” time? We found that this perception of the car as a utility and the same constraints that make people feel like time is lost can also contribute to some pretty beautiful moments of relaxed attention, imagination, and reflection.

As we heard in our domain research, attention is a limited resource, one that is increasingly demanded and commoditized in today’s attention economy. The pressures of modern life demand constant consumption, communication, and productivity. However, the unique constraints of the car demand a level of disconnection from the outside world. The act of driving limits the ability to multitask, and it encourages respite from the world around you, making the world inside the car uniquely designed to facilitate mindful moments. Because the car isn’t fully conducive to either productivity or relaxation, it creates an unintentional third space by eliminating the possibility of doing too many things at once as Laura described.

We also saw the car used as a portable private space where people are able to be their true selves. For example, Nora told us how she escapes to her car during her workday to take a social and mental break from work, and Rebecca told us in the car scavenger hunt that her car is one of the only places she can scream and let it out, especially during COVID. It’s a space to be the “unfiltered you”. We also heard a consistent common thread of stories about moments where being in the car encouraged mindful reflection.

Hannah told us how the calm stimulation of the car allows her son to chill out and look out the window like she did as a kid rather than occupied by a screen. Thus, the constraints of the car lead to a beautiful moment of relaxed attention where drivers and passengers can simply let their minds wander.

As much as people say the car limits their freedom, they also use the car as an escape pod where they can be calm but attentive, reflective, and authentically themselves, whether that’s staring out the window or simply focusing on driving. People get to escape from the demands of modern life in a car. The constraints of the car allow freedom from the demands on their attention, leaving an open opportunity to just be themselves. This “escape pod” is a unique and rare space in life. Moments of presence and reflection are becoming increasingly rare in our modern world and the car’s constraints can be used to foster digital “disconnection” in our hyperconnected world.

Recalling our domain research, we found “death of conversation” as one major social trends brought on by social media and the attention economy. Yet when we dug deeper into primary research, we found that, in fact, the car is a place where meaningful conversations happen often. We heard stories about people’s admissions of love, breakups, future plans, coming out, retirement, deaths in the family, exciting life announcements and other intimate stories. You name it, it’s happened in the car. What makes the car ideal for these conversations?

Early in our project, as we heard more and more about important conversations happening in cars, we started calling the car The Kitchen Table on Wheels based on the assumption that it seemed to play the same role as the kitchen table in the home; a central place where people could unpack their day and relax.

Through our domain research, we learned there are evidence-based psychological reasons that make the car a great place for conversations. The physical constraints of the car limit distraction by not allowing people to do many other activities. It also removes a level of direct eye contact which creates a relaxed informality. Finally, being out and moving in the world while at the same being separate from it brings a level of comfort for people which promotes relaxed attention. So the unique combination of physical and mental constraints imposed by the car help foster an environment of comfort and shared purpose that allow for vulnerable conversations to happen.

Yet, as our project unfolded, we discovered that The Kitchen Table on Wheels wasn’t the full story. With further exploration in primary research, we discovered that meaningful moments involved not just deep conversations but other activities like playing games or sharing music. During our storyboarding activity, when Sid saw a story about engaging kids in creative play in the back seat, he told us about  moments in the car when the whole family would make riddles together. He also spoke about the games he would play on longer rides like finding out-of-state license plates and counting cars of a certain color.

Another participant, Bill lit up when he saw the storyboard about the car encouraging a spontaneous picnic. Although the scenario we illustrated was originally for romantic couples, Bill said he would love to use this feature with his grandkids. He spoke about the joy using it to surprise them would bring. He mentioned that being spontaneous and humorous in the car is a great way for him to relate with his grandkids who were ”always on their phones.”

So the car really isn't just the ‘kitchen table on wheels’. It is also a place for play and spontaneous moments of connection. The last of our 4 insights highlights the car as a unique space to foster meaningful connections and conversations. We plan to put this unique space to work to foster moments of connection between people.