Progress on Mission Suitability Profile: Highlights from the Paris Workshop
On 16th October, GIANTS project partners gathered for a face-to-face workshop at Mobilize (a subsidiary of the Renault Group) in Paris. Team members from the Renault Group, Toyota Europe, Squad, Clean Motion, and I2M met to further develop the Mission Suitability Profile (MSP). Through open discussion and focused working sessions, the group made significant progress in refining the MSP, laying a strong foundation for the next phases of the project.
WHAT IS THE MISSION SUITABILITY PROFILE?
With the MSP, we are trying to understand what level of performance is needed/expected by users for urban mobility trips. The ultimate goal is to right-size the vehicle, avoiding over-engineering. It will be completed with the Social Index to integrate also social expectations, for users and non-users, in relation to the whole mobility system.
KEY LEARNINGS
The workshop allowed the team to focus on the key evaluation criteria for mission suitability:
- Eight core criteria emerged, four of which are “mission driven” and vary depending on the mission in question: number of occupants, cargo volume, speed, and range.
- Three additional criteria are “persona driven”, adapting according to the persona being considered, covering monthly budget, perceived comfort and perceived safety.
- The 8th criterion, “parking area”, now appears to be more “city policy driven” and should therefore be included in the Social Index.
Building on these insights, the team established a step-by-step methodology for assessing the MSP:
- Select the target persona.
- Evaluate at least three missions, possibly more, aiming to cover at least 80% of the vehicle’s expected uses.
- Retain a single value for each criterion, applying the “envelope value” approach for the “mission driven” criteria.
In the workshop, the team processed a first persona of the Private User type in Advanced Market, using this methodology: The retired person living in an urban area.
NEXT STEPS
Looking ahead, the project team has identified clear next steps:
- Clarify (and standardise) missions for each persona type, using data from the Study on new mobility patterns in European cities, supplemented by findings from the GIANTS survey where needed.
- Refine methods for assessing perceived comfort and safety to improve consistency.
- Expand the methodology across additional “Private User in Advanced Market” personas, with five personas currently under consideration.
- Begin adapting criteria for fleet operators, acknowledging that shared vehicle use often entails distinct requirements.
LIMITATIONS
- Emerging markets present an additional challenge due to potential gaps in knowledge about existing studies describing relevant missions, language barriers (accessibility), and are also dependent upon professional connections and active collaboration within those networks.
- The concept of a Social Index is not yet clearly defined and POLIS will play a vital role in helping to advance this area.
STAY TUNED
This workshop marked an important step forward, strengthening our shared framework and preparing us to meet the dynamic needs of the mobility landscape. Stay tuned for further updates as we continue our work to refine and implement the Mission Suitability Profile across diverse user types.