An article by Daily Mail details the latest innovation by truck company Ford; a robotic arm that will charge electric vehicles for elderly users. The charging station can be in a car park or a roadside and has a sliding door that releases a robotic arm. When the driver parks next to the station, they can use an accompanying app, called FordPass, to activate the sliding door to open and release the arm. Once activated, the charging arm using a tiny camera to find the charging port on the Ford vehicle. In the testing trial of the charging station, drivers could monitor the charge status through the FordPass app. Drivers can also unlock their cars and start the engine with the app as well.

A innovation of this magnitude, with no real competitors, has to be released in it’s best shape. There is no room for error or adjustments once the charging station launches, because of the target demographic being elderly individuals. The charging process has to be seamless. Ford would do best to apply a dual track agile framework to this initiative. The discovery track is already present with their trial testing of the charging station, but it should go deeper and really make sure all the kinks are worked out. The target demographic may not be able to work out any kinks if they arise during use of the product, so its Fords’ job to foresee and prevent as many issues as possible. The delivery track of course produces the final product, but it needs to be preceded by a thorough discovery track.