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Guys,
Now that we’re off and running, I’m starting to think about the data we’re collecting on cars in the Registry. Right now we’re collecting (if available):
VIN
Year
Model
Body style
Paint color
Interior color
Engine number
Transmission number
Build date
We’re getting a lot of data. Nearly 100% of owners know and submit their original paint and interior colors. Maybe 50% know and submit their engine/transmission numbers. Maybe a third know their build date. It’s better than I anticipated. Of course, some of us want even more.
I’ve had roughly 9,206 calls and emails about the data we collect and there are a lot of people who would like to submit more information about their cars. Specifically, popular options. And sometime less popular options. I’m certainly part of this group.
But it’s complicated and I need your help.
We need to make a decision about how deep we’re gonna dive. And it’s not as simple as “let’s ask for everything!”. A rule of data collection is that the more information you require, the less people are going to participate. In my Internet world, we call this our conversion rate. If we ask for too much data, less people will complete the registration process and we’ll convert less members to registered-car-members. We need to keep this simple or we’ll be shooting ourselves in the foot.
Bottom line, we need to decide. What are the options that we REALLY want to track so that we can use the data in the future. Ideally, the magic number is 5 (unless you guys can convince me otherwise). That is, I’d like to limit the options we track to 5 per car (in addition to what we already collect). We can (probably) do this by year. In other words, the 5 options we choose for 1965 cars can (probably) be different than the 5 options we choose for 1973 cars.
Some are obvious. Like sports seats for 1967-73 cars. Some are less so. Is anyone really going to search Sportomatics in the future? I honestly don’t know.
I’m really hoping a lot of you jump in on this thread as so many of you are more knowledgeable (though less handsome) than I am. We only get to do this one time and the decisions we make today will affect this new Registry for years to come.
So then, please share, what options do YOU want us to collect?
Now that we’re off and running, I’m starting to think about the data we’re collecting on cars in the Registry. Right now we’re collecting (if available):
VIN
Year
Model
Body style
Paint color
Interior color
Engine number
Transmission number
Build date
We’re getting a lot of data. Nearly 100% of owners know and submit their original paint and interior colors. Maybe 50% know and submit their engine/transmission numbers. Maybe a third know their build date. It’s better than I anticipated. Of course, some of us want even more.
I’ve had roughly 9,206 calls and emails about the data we collect and there are a lot of people who would like to submit more information about their cars. Specifically, popular options. And sometime less popular options. I’m certainly part of this group.
But it’s complicated and I need your help.
We need to make a decision about how deep we’re gonna dive. And it’s not as simple as “let’s ask for everything!”. A rule of data collection is that the more information you require, the less people are going to participate. In my Internet world, we call this our conversion rate. If we ask for too much data, less people will complete the registration process and we’ll convert less members to registered-car-members. We need to keep this simple or we’ll be shooting ourselves in the foot.
Bottom line, we need to decide. What are the options that we REALLY want to track so that we can use the data in the future. Ideally, the magic number is 5 (unless you guys can convince me otherwise). That is, I’d like to limit the options we track to 5 per car (in addition to what we already collect). We can (probably) do this by year. In other words, the 5 options we choose for 1965 cars can (probably) be different than the 5 options we choose for 1973 cars.
Some are obvious. Like sports seats for 1967-73 cars. Some are less so. Is anyone really going to search Sportomatics in the future? I honestly don’t know.
I’m really hoping a lot of you jump in on this thread as so many of you are more knowledgeable (though less handsome) than I am. We only get to do this one time and the decisions we make today will affect this new Registry for years to come.
So then, please share, what options do YOU want us to collect?
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