In the first hour, the participants, seated in a circle were told " I'm from another planet, and I don't even know what to do with this thing". One early prototype, a variant that resembled the Volkswagen Golf, was described by many participants as too toylike.."so we knew that was wrong" recalls Dr. Rapaille.

In the second hour, the participants were asked to sit down on the floor, like children, and use scissors and a pile of magazines to cut out collages of words they thought described the vehicle. At that point their chief concern about the prototype was clearer: It looked insubstantial and unsafe. The discomfort was notable with the US groups, where hatchbacks don't sell as well as they do in Europe. In the conversation that followed the collage making, many participants suggested the rear hatch's large window would let prying outsiders see in and make the car dangerous if hit from behind.

The third hour was the most bizzare but also the most productive. Dr. Rapaille asked the participants to lie down on the floor. Then he dimmed the lights, began playing tapes of soothing music and told the group to relax their bodies. At this stage, the intellectual part of the brain hasn't seized yet the "reptilian", or instinctive part. The goal was to figure out what "reptilian hot button" the PT Cruiser pushed. The general sentiment was that the participants wanted more of a sport-utility vehicle. " It's a jungle out there", says Dr. Rapaille, recalling the message " It's Mad Max. People want to kill me, rape me". The message to the designers was clear: " Give me a big thing like a tank".So the designers went to work to make the PT Cruiser more tough looking.