It's good design practice to try and capture the thoughts and wishes of your customers, really the best way to develop your design.
However, even though caravan manufacturers like to bring out revised models every year, it seems really difficult to find a channel for expressing customer wishes and suggestions. Obviously there's a huge ongoing issue and views expressed by customers about quality and durability, set against a competing demand for low weight and lowest price. I suspect that any time the manufacturer opens up to some sort of 'voice of the customer' process any of the useful ideas they'd like to hear get drowned out by noisy complaints.
Who do the designers talk to to get their inputs?
I've got a 2024 Swift van, like it a lot. I'd enjoy contributing my design suggestions, but haven't managed to find a channel through which to do that. Some of my thoughts (though brilliant!) are utterly model specific details. But, more generally, why are new caravans in 2026 still being shipped with TV aerials and associated co-ax wiring etc? Surely most people now get their entertainment from their personal devices, by streaming or previous download, whatever. Rather than the annoying radio that comes on every time you switch on the electrics, please just provide a bluetooth speaker set (with effective switching between sources, instead of the easily confused radio BT input). That example is both a cost saving and an improvement. So's my next - please don't bother with the carpets, scatter cushions or curtains. We've put all those in a plastic bag somewhere and prefer to choose and fit our own. The blinds are vastly more practical than the curtains anyway.
However, even though caravan manufacturers like to bring out revised models every year, it seems really difficult to find a channel for expressing customer wishes and suggestions. Obviously there's a huge ongoing issue and views expressed by customers about quality and durability, set against a competing demand for low weight and lowest price. I suspect that any time the manufacturer opens up to some sort of 'voice of the customer' process any of the useful ideas they'd like to hear get drowned out by noisy complaints.
Who do the designers talk to to get their inputs?
I've got a 2024 Swift van, like it a lot. I'd enjoy contributing my design suggestions, but haven't managed to find a channel through which to do that. Some of my thoughts (though brilliant!) are utterly model specific details. But, more generally, why are new caravans in 2026 still being shipped with TV aerials and associated co-ax wiring etc? Surely most people now get their entertainment from their personal devices, by streaming or previous download, whatever. Rather than the annoying radio that comes on every time you switch on the electrics, please just provide a bluetooth speaker set (with effective switching between sources, instead of the easily confused radio BT input). That example is both a cost saving and an improvement. So's my next - please don't bother with the carpets, scatter cushions or curtains. We've put all those in a plastic bag somewhere and prefer to choose and fit our own. The blinds are vastly more practical than the curtains anyway.
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