This spring, the xLab team has been working closely with Penske Transportation Solutions to explore the truck rental experience with an emphasis on pick up and drop off processes.
To accomplish this, the team used a mixed methods approach. They analyzed over 100,000 customer feedback data through sentiment and geospatial analysis, as well as assessed the correlation of survey questions and overall rating. These findings were synthesized alongside the students’ own hands-on participant observation data. Team members went out in pairs to rent a vehicle from Penske and get hands-on insight into the rental process from the consumers’ perspective. To capture the diversity of renter experience, the team rented from all three types of Penske locations. In addition, they shadowed agents at work to better understand the rental process on their end, and what they observe to be challenges for customers.
“The student team at xLab presented their mid semester progress report to us in mid-March. I was impressed by the amount of thoughtfulness and detail that was put into the research and the presentation. It is clear to me that this team of students took all aspects of the project into consideration and exceeded my expectations with their output. I’m beyond excited to see the results of their research at the end of the semester!” Jason Emerich, director of digital solutions & innovation, Penske Transportation Solutions.
The team’s analyses highlighted consumer pain points through user journey maps and offered actionable insights for producing the best-in-class rental experience and informed digital innovation opportunities to enhance this experience.