Moving Out Of Silicon Valley: How Autonomy And Design Got Me Thinking

When planning to leave Silicon Valley, never once did it cross my mind that the ride to SFO would be on an autonomously enabled car, driven by first-generation business owner. Never did a new approach to human factors, a disruption in tech based business, or the future of work seem to be the topics that would be on my mind. Little did I know that Silicon Valley would have one final futuristic ride ready to blow my mind.

Look, not everyone can afford a Tesla – for what it is worth I certainly don’t have one. Not everyone can afford to take an Uber. Transportation in California in particular, and across the United States is facing a strain on infrastructure that is unparalleled in other advanced economies where rail (light, heavy, and high speed) are a focus not an afterthought. Transportation everywhere faces the immense challenge of being a significant contributor to carbon in the air. Sustainability matters, so when a Tesla 3 shows up as you order a ride on your go-to app, you feel a bit better about your decision to call a car rather than take a train to the airport, and while this series isn’t just about the author, I did want to share one experience that transformed my understanding of the status quo in ride-share and truly made me, and hopefully you in some small way, reflect upon the nature of the rapidly evolving technologies across transportation modalities.

Let’s set the stage. On a beautiful Mountain View morning I awoke to an April blue sky and 80 degrees heading to the airport for my new home on the East Coast. Waking up on my last day in California followed a weeklong blitz to pack up an entire rental house, pack a pod to move across country, realize the pod wouldn’t be big enough forcing me to get a second pod for the next day, pack it, attempt to sell my car, realize the title had been packed in the first pod now departed for the East Coast, clear out all the trash, and make it to the airport with 4 bags packed to the brim. So, I was pleasantly surprised when accepting my ride to the airport was a Tesla 3, driven by (name to be changed out of respect for the driver) Sandeep.

Some people hate striking up conversations with drivers and other’s love it – heck I’m sure some drivers hate it to. I, to those who know me well this will come as no surprise, love it. How often do you get to hear someone’s experience and get a better insight outside of your self-selected echo-chamber? This conversation, with this Uber driver on the way to SFO Terminal 3 – I see you United – was one of the more interesting ones of late. Silicon Valley, as if to say, “Thanks for your time, energy, passion, and tax dollars,” gave me one last techno-adventure.

The Future of Work – Now, Sandeep, owner of this Tesla 3, drives Uber to pay for it. Sandeep, you see, also owns a shipping company with 3 trucks in Santa Clara and has his needs taken care of by that. He’s young – something like late early 30s – and a first-generation American. He bought a tesla to drive Uber in his downtime, since he’s not really needed simply to own a truck company – as he said, the company basically runs itself. He makes enough on Uber to pay for the Tesla and takes up his time that he otherwise would use relaxing. He works 4 hours a day driving.

But why are we talking about this? On the one hand, this reflects just another person’s experience in another part of the economy. In the past, perhaps an owner of a company would not see working as a driver as an option to pay for the car he was driving. I couldn’t see it as anything less than an evolution of the nature of work – the gig economy, allowing this upper middle-class person to fill his time – instead of relaxation by a pool, or playing tennis, or painting he’d rather drive his preferred piece of technology which also happens to be his reward. Does it symbolize a different approach or attitude to work? Is it in some small way a way to connect with new people he otherwise wouldn’t be able to? It certainly felt so on both accounts. Though, of course, it is one data point among many.

Technology: From a technology perspective, the experience felt less like a meandering drive through traffic and more like a well-designed, futuristic ride. The interface, which represented an integration between Tesla and Uber, included elements that both the passenger and driver needed to enjoy the trip. But the UI really is why we’re talking about this here. From a safety and human factors design perspective I have never seen a better screen. Each piece of information was in its place for a reason and so rich with accessible information that it made the experience easier, more comfortable, more comforting. Everyone talks about the autonomous driving option of the Tesla – but much overlooked and neglected is a laudation of the screen depicting cars all around leveraging the same core technologies necessary for the autonomous driving is what Sandeep uses “95 % of the time” as it is even easier than normal driving.

I could not help but compare this to what I have seen in the evolution of drones and other autonomous vehicles. As the systems mature it becomes clearer that the less direct flight a human must do, the better. We work better through computational interpretations that filter our distractions (unneeded color, distracting lights, opposing traffic across a cement wall) and focus our attention on only the most pertinent information. In drones we see the same evolution, the less direct input and the more goal based input we are responsible for, the better.

Partnerships: Getting in this car was unlike any riding experience I have had with Uber or other rider-sharing platforms. Nothing compared to this in terms of futuristic experiences. To say I came away with a much better understanding of why the Tesla is so successful would be an understatement; and there lies the third wave of disruption I see coming. Tesla and Uber are already partnered from a software perspective, but I could immediately feel the need for Tesla and Uber to team up on sales themselves. I felt as though the ride, was a test drive itself. Maybe next time, Tesla could give incentives to Sandeep to let me drive the car if it would lead to more sales. The integration is phenomenal – it allows Uber riders to respond to the coming climate disasters with a $7 fill-up and a factor less carbon emissions. It felt like a much safer, much more luxurious ride than even the Uber black options and the interface was sleek and responsive with all the most relevant information right where a both passenger and driver want to access it.

Now look, this may seem like a love fest for Tesla and Uber, but the point is that the innovation in on-demand transportation services has gone from the yesteryear of the taxi to the next-gen experience of high-luxury. It has created an experience centered on safety, on user interaction, on answering the question of how long until we’re there before it is asked, and one which feels more akin to a flying car than yellow-cab. The next step is clearly redefining what it means to ride, to choose, perhaps to be a passive participant or someone who experiences autonomy on the ground first hand. Just like with drones, once you experience virtual flight, or autonomous handling, you want to do it again, and again…

One final thought is that the future of work may very well be an unhealthy one – where affording the latest status symbol car for just 4 hours of your life each day seems like a reasonable trade-off and one could see that becoming a rather unhealthy paradigm – but at least that option exists and with technology integrations that make it easy, less stressful, and more affordable, we may all find a more joyous experience in the everyday “commutes” of life.