Team-BHP - Attention to detail - Are we getting carried away?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Most of us have been following this forum since years, some to look for unbiased, interesting and well-compiled reviews of the vehicles they are looking to buy and some to just while away the time reading what they are interested in, latter holding true for most office going guys. :D

The way to deliver this content has been consistent through these years (written) and this forum still hasn't adopted the ever popular video-based delivery. With our market digitally exploding with review videos, that shouldn't make sense, should it?

Well, it does, but it also doesn't. What I mean here is that a written review is easier to moderate, easier to make, easier to reference and exciting to old school guys like me. This coupled with good content is what guys like me yearn for. Well, at least we did. Not anymore? Let me elucidate my thought process.

A good review, in my mind, is one, which links objectivity with brevity and connects with the user in such a way that they don't feel like they are basically, getting bored. This coupled with the way we digitally consume data, a good user experience is also a need of the hour.

As with the "older" reviews on this forum when "everyone is a photographer" culture hadn't spread like wildfire, the photographs within the reviews supported content. They would just highlight extremely important bits like vehicle stance, ergonomic blunders etc. and not take over the whole review. Nowadays, I see the trend of supporting the whole review with a plethora of photographs (often needless multiple pics of the same vehicle part from different angles) and one-liners written above that to just explain the picture, often overshadowing the good content embedded within it. It mostly makes the information redundant as most of us can understand what we see and don't need multiple textual aids.

This experience runs on infinitely across the review and at the end of it, a reader is left disconnected with the actual assessment of the reviewer (it takes a good half an hour to an hour to read a review including seeing the multitude of pics). If I had to clearly compile and state out the pain points, they would be

1. Too less emphasis on actual writeups
2. Critical thoughts skimmed over with photographs
3. Too much to scroll to access too little detail - a usability blunder
4. Supporting text hidden in between the sea of photographs

I would like to assume that I am not the only one facing these issues and some of the older members would agree with me here.

These are just my personal observations and as a member of this forum, I still want to see this as the holy grail of reviews and hence, still care about these things.

"You've got to see it to believe it" - that's what comes to mind when I go through this thread. :)

I think pictures do a tremendous job in conveying a point; it provides context. Might be just me, but I can understand a point better when I can visualize it. And that's where the plethora of images help. Especially, the index post that they insert to you can navigate to exactly what it is that you want.

You've got to appreciate the time these guys take to bring that comprehensive a review - I'm sure they take thousands of pictures and probably put up less than a hundred here.

I'm all for more pictures and less text.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ911 (Post 4508573)

3. Too much to scroll

This, I agree with. Often, given the amount of pictures in a post/page and the size/resolution of each pictures, it can get chaotic finding exactly what it is that you want.

My job (and coincidentally my virtue) is all about detail, I understand the tremendous difference that attention to detail brings to the table.. be it in a flow-chart, a ledger statement, a product design, or in mere explanation of the product.

It is true that as a kid, I probably never knew how good or bad the Maruti 800 we owned was.. I simply sat in it and enjoyed the journey. I probably also didn't understand how good or bad a computer was.. I just used what I had, same goes for cellphones (I got my first one at 22 years of age). In that way I understand where you're coming from.. there was a certain bliss in not knowing just how good or bad a product or service is simply because you won't crave for better neither be upset over them being inferior. That is good old fashioned life as we used to know it.

Today though, the market is FLOODED with products, Sony is no longer the only "great" television maker in India, Maruti is no longer the de-facto car manufacturer in India and Nokia (which was annihilated no less) is not the only phone maker in India. What happens when there are too many brands across FMCGs, consumer durables, automobiles, and apparel? Problem of choice.. pay more and get X brand or pay less and buy Y brand, or in certain cases, even middle of the road Z brand? How do we arrive at such conclusions? Detail.

I know for a fact that Marks & Spencer make quality, durable and non-fading clothes at perhaps 2-3 times the price of those grey market clothes but well worth the price. To me what isn't worth it is a brand like Burberry which charges more than 10 times what M&S does at a highly debatable quality increase. I say this because its a mix of what I'd heard others say & also of personal opinion. However a rock hard Bata shoe at Rs.1999/- to me is definitely not worth it compared to say a handmade Italian pennyloafer at about 6-7 times the cost, again personal opinion.

Likewise in cars where the minimum size is about 5x12, where there are so many parts, moving and non moving, where it is impossible to completely experience the auditory senses, tactile senses and emotional senses in one test-drive, Team-BHP definitely delivers on that front. You no longer have to smack yourself in the forehead for missing the part where an Elite i20 has fixed roof-handles in what is otherwise a luxury hatch, or the fact that Tata advertised a steel wheel cover as DurAlloy, or even a massive blunder like VW Polo downsizing manual petrol engines.. you'd be surprised just how many buyers can miss such things until after purchase.

Yes, we are getting carried away, but it's not the websites fault.. it is our fault for not using that information properly. As long as we keep our reading to vehicles that pertain to our interests/future-buys, and as long as we keep such information to ourselves rather than excessively pontificate about how better or worse a competing vehicle is.. not only are we assured of great peace of mind, but also of the product that suits us best at the end of the day. It needn't be said that a test-drive is still a must, irrespective of your knowledge or others opinion because each individual's experience/ need/ benchmark is different. Sharing individual experiences here is a must because that is what completes an official review.. but as the title says it aptly > let's not get carried away. in the end food, clothing and shelter = happiness.

Attention to detail is exactly what keeps me glued to the forum. While some points can be put across very well in words, some others do need visual representation. In fact, I get irritated when some pictures are only pointed at through links, specially in Official Reviews.

What differentiates the reports, logs and scoops on team-bhp is the absence of monotony - in matter and manner. I was a fan of The Readers Digest for a long time. While I enjoyed going through its pages, the uniform writing style appeared schoolishly disciplined to me. Here, on the other hand, we have hundred thousand people writing in equally varied styles, expressing vastly different and very often divergent views - while adhering to good old rules.

We have the best Holmes, the finest Watsons, Byomkesh Bakshis and 007s of the automotive fraternity; not to speak of the innumerable Rajamoulis who can spin a car yarn better than the bards of the yore. If in the process, someone does end up spinning some wheels instead, I can take it in my stride :).

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 4508605)

For a casual reader, the number of photographs might seem excessive. But for somebody who is actually looking to buy the model being reviewed, all those pics and observations are Gold!

Not strongly, but VERY strongly agreed. Would say a serious potential buyer will entrust TBhp more than the quick or first to come video reviews.

Although my interest drifted away from Versys 650 to SCross, I had gone through Crazy Driver's & mobike's threads several times, ofcourse page 1 only. Later when we switched our decision to SCross, Naren's SCross & needless to say, the official SCross thread said "If it is SCross, then it has to be 1.6" & I was sold on that one sentence

Those close up pictures in official review helped me to understand what to expect & Naren's posts helped me to set those expectations right.

Thank you for bringing up the topic and putting it up for debate. This kind of constructive introspection I believe is needed to keep our standards up and contemporary. I would not reduce the content in quality (of course not) or quantity. Because if it is a car I am seriously evaluating then each word is worth reading and each close up picture worth examining. The depth of detail, I can understand, might seem a drag to some but that is one of the core USPs of Team BHP.

Coming to the very pertinent point of videos. My personal view is we should use videos to demonstrate light & sound aspects - the sound of the engine, the illumination of the lights etc. I wouldn't use the video to replace the writing just because some readers have nurtured an attention span limitation.

A video as a core tool replacing the detailed written content would be a slide down the path of the Republic of WhatsApp. But a video as an add-on to the text for those who can't or won't read or are only seeking a quick dekho may be considered. But it will mean more work for the over worked mods.

Voah voah . Hold on.

Had the same feeling when I read the 'useless features in cars' thread. Horrified, that people wanted to remove things.

The attention to detail and observations are the things that make TeamBHP official reviews endearing to me. I for one, could never do the same in a showroom visit. Only if I have a car in my custody at home do I find the small things and really fine comb the car. And that's rare.

Agree to disagree, cause I can very well understand the feeling that reviews are getting too detailed.

My best buddy HATES reading. Even small paragraphs. When I am excited that an official review is out, he would be like, 'dude, the videos are out on YouTube a month ago'.
Even if it's an Autocar review, he would wait for the video review to be out.

Am saying that, people who already had a dislike for reading books may not understand the pleasure of the detailed reviews. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but there is a good section (including me) who enjoy the detailed 'exhaustive' reviews. Let them be.

Others could just simply skip the 'needless' and get to what they want, especially since now the reviews have Content page like links where you can access the section needed quickly.

Even I am guilty of skipping the ICE section. Never cared for it, but there are guys who swear by it. Doesn't mean I would say remove the ICE section cause I don't read it

But would like to have some additions.

1. NVH videos - Last time I saw one was in the Etios diesel review back in 2011. Maybe TeamBHP may not want a third party media in official threads. Still could try.

2. Fuel economy - Know this is one for ownership threads and can be a slippery slope towards instrumented testing (leads to commercialisation) . But would be nice to have. Earlier reviews used to have City/Highway ones, while new ones just say the ARAI figure and mentions the car's characteristics and engine nature, going like "what do you think?'

3. Pet peeve of mine. - TeamBHP is guilty of teaching me it, but somehow if a review misses out on the engine rpm speed at 100km/h (rarely) , I kinda lose it. It is a must have for me, otherwise feel the review is incomplete.

But I guess, most of these can be seen in amateur YouTube videos. Saabkyle type videos, pure POVs with real sound, acceleration videos et al.

May not be a good one, but bear the metaphor.

See the TeamBHP review like you would a good buffet or multi course meal.

Others like a single dish meal or fast food or grab n go places.stupid:

I agree partially
The large amount of photographs definitely helps - team bhp reviews cover the little things that most mainstream media reviews miss - eg, how are the RVMs - are they plane or convex? what do the different MID displays look like etc, but at the same time, everyone is not interested in everything, and the meat of the review - driving impressions, differences between variants, engine options and feel, comparisons with peers, and a verdict - seems a bit lost when it is scattered across a few hundred photographs.

Perhaps we can have a TL;DR summary with links as the first post, with the links to the detailed sections ? saves me from having to do a CTRL+F to jump to the parts i am interested in

I feel it depends on what the user is looking for:
1. Prospective car buyer: There is no end to the number of pictures or text that the user would want. More the better. Infact I would read the same detailed review multiple times and it is a blessing since the review has covered each and every aspect of the car, however small or irrelevant it might be.

2. Causal reader: This is what the OP is referring to and I agree that for a just a casual read, the recent reviews on the forum might feel a bit too long. But then a review should first and foremost cater to the needs of a prospective buyer.

Also another important thing to keep in mind while comparing recent reviews with older ones is that the number of things to be covered has also drastically increased over the years. For instance ICE and MID used to be hardly a paragraph with a few pictures. Now a days every car supports a much more detailed ICE and just this section takes up multiple pages and photos describing each in detail. All this significantly contributed to the overall length of the review.