Dashboard lights, soccer jerseys, and the value of details

Buckle up

By 1974 the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had long known that seat belts were one of the best tools to reduce injuries in automobile accidents, yet many Americans still failed to consistently buckle up when they drove. To nudge these drivers to be more conscientious the agency mandated that all new cars provide both audible and visual warnings to anyone with the temerity to drive off with an unfastened seat belt.1 Automobile manufacturers were given some latitude as to how to implement these alerts, leading to a profusion of buzzers, beeps, and chimes, until most settled on an intermittent tone, accompanied by the now-standard red icon of a belted human blinking on the dashboard.

The majority of companies designed these two indicators to run independently and left it at that, having satisfied the letter of the regulation. But a select few realized that aligning the reminders could help reinforce the message while adding a bit of polish to a prosaic feature. They made the effort to ensure that the warning light flashed in perfect synchronization with the tone. Although seemingly trivial, beneath the surface this signified a great deal. 

Consider for a moment the engineering required to make this coordination happen, in which signals from a belt buckle sensor must be routed to two different systems, in a speaker and in the dashboard. These would have been tuned to ensure their triggers are simultaneous and that the duration of each blink and chime were calibrated to the split second, to avoid diverging as the alert continues. Note also that a modern auto assembly line is an aggregation point for components provided by a wide array of parts suppliers, requiring upstream collaboration across multiple companies. All of this would have to be planned in advance, when the car in question was merely blueprints.

Consider further that the vast majority of drivers will never even notice the effort.2 Now think of the other higher-priority considerations this car company’s designers must have worked through before this little detail made it into production.

Surprise inspiration

In 2010 Nike was tasked with the annual uniform refresh for soccer powerhouse Manchester United, and it came up with a redesign that included a modernization of the jerseys while maintaining continuity with the team’s historic style.3 In keeping with the environmental ethos of the times the fabric was woven entirely from recycled plastic bottles. However the most notable feature remained invisible to anyone watching the matches, or even looking at the uniform up close. On the inside of the shirt, embroidered in all caps behind the crest that sits on the player’s left, above his heart, was one word: BELIEVE.

This exhortation could only be noticed by the wearer, and even then only when donning the jersey while getting dressed for the match. Sewn on the reverse of the storied club’s insignia, the word was chosen for its power to rally players to a team with a long history and reputation for excellence.4 This being the era of highly lucrative sports merchandising, the kit was also sold worldwide so fans could also share in some unexpected inspiration.

Doing what matters

The average driver has little understanding of the complex systems that make up their vehicle’s drivetrain, if the climate control is designed efficiently, or if its safety systems incorporate the latest advances. As computers take over, the workings under the hood are increasingly inaccessible to those without specialized training. Nor is a weekend athlete competent to judge the moisture-wicking properties of a fabric on first glance, or to understand how exactly a uniform is “engineered to the exact specifications of championship athletes”, as Nike is wont to claim on its products. But anyone can recognize the surface features that reflect a deeper quality. In fact, some of these little things can provide the most useful insights on the bigger ones.

There are countless other examples, big and small: a website entry form that automatically converts a user’s numeric inputs into the required date format, no slashes needed; an appliance plug molded at an angle to avoid blocking the adjacent outlet; a customer service department that recognizes you from your phone number and has your information already called up on the representative’s screen.

In a culture where technology firms dominate the zeitgeist the “minimum viable product” can be the default first step, but top organizations know it as the beginning of a very long process. Understanding purpose is a critical first step—knowing what you’re doing, for whom, and why, channels the energies of an organization so that effort equals progress in solving the right problems. But beyond that, constant improvement of the core offering is what allows the significant details to emerge at the top of the pyramid; they don’t arise by accident.

These details send an unmistakable signal to those who are willing to pay attention. As a discerning consumer, look for those marks of deliberation that suggest careful thought.5 And when leading an organization that serves others—whether by selling a product or offering a service, for profit or otherwise—seek to build a culture where quality shows through.6

The areas invisible to an end user often overflow into those areas that are. How does your organization show its quality in the details?

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