Example of a Capabilities Descriptions

User Class 1: Significant New Capabilities for Honda Owners

Suppose that Joe Owner types "my.honda.com" into a Web browser on his home computer. His authentication information is already stored in a persistent cookie and the system welcomes him with a screen asking "Did you get the oil changed on your Odyssey? Remember the email reminder you got a month ago? We can't find anything in our records to show that you had this work done at a Honda dealer."

If Joe clicks on "considering a trade-in", our system will use data from Honda's mainframe to find out how much Joe still owes on his American Honda Finance loan and whether his Odyssey is still under warranty. Combining data from the Kelly Blue Book, current new Honda pricing, and current American Honda Finance interest rates, my.honda.com will show Joe a page with a thumbnail photo of every Honda model. Beside each model will be the change in Joe's monthly payment if he traded in his Odyssey on that model and took out a four-year American Honda Finance loan. At the bottom right of the page, Joe could click "show me the payment changes if I wanted a three-year loan." The server would then produce an updated page with monthly payment changes reflecting a three-year loan on the new vehicle.

If Joe clicks on "I think something is wrong with my Odyssey", he'd be offered a choice of

• view complete service history, summarized in plain English (pulled from the Honda mainframe)
• talk to my local dealer about this (phone number supplied, also private email messages can be sent and received via the Web site (piped through the Web site so that we always have a record of this communication in the Oracle database))
• talk to other Honda owners about this (public bboards and chat rooms)
• talk to Honda about this (phone numbers and Web-based support options; Web-based support allows Joe to upload digital photos he might have taken of damaged parts)
• schedule a service appointment with a dealer (linked directly to dealers' computer systems)
• view service manuals on-line, with part numbers hyperlinked to a parts ordering service (parts fulfilled either from local dealer or via FEDEX from a Honda warehouse (with Honda at its option giving a commission to local dealers to avoid channel conflict))
• view a current listing of average costs for various kinds of repairs to his Odyssey (parts prices and labor hours taken from Honda mainframe; Honda must have these data in electronic form since it needs it for warranty reimbursement of dealers)

If Joe clicks on "I want to customize/accessorize my Odyssey", he enters what looks like a fairly standard 1994-style Internet catalog shopping system. The differences? my.honda.com remembers (1) that Joe has a particular model of Odyssey and only shows the accessories that fit, and (2) that Joe has already purchased a certain number of accessories. So this shopping system can not only show a shopping basket but also "Joe's Garage" where the previously purchased accessories are. Joe can initiate a reorder or return from the garage. If my.honda.com shows an accessory in the garage and Joe can't find it, Joe can request to track this package. my.honda.com will visit the www.fedex.com Web site and grab the latest tracking info, then display it on the page [Note: this is a standard feature of the ArsDigita toolkit.]

Starting three months before Joe's warranty expires, my.honda.com starts sending email offers for an extended warranty. These offers are also available on the Web site and, indeed, the warranty may be purchased on the Web.

When Joe decides to organize a Odyssey owners' family picnic, he can use my.honda.com to schedule the event. Joe gives my.honda.com the street address and five-digit zip code of the picnic so that owners within 45 miles of the picnic who visit my.honda.com will be offered a chance to attend. Our server can be used to manage RSVPs for the event as well.

... and a whole bunch more stuff. This list will grow as the project progresses through the years.

User Class 2: Significant New Capabilities for Honda dealers

A dealer logs in and immediately sees

• which owners have booked appointments for service
• which owners have booked appointments to trade in their cars
• news from American Honda

The dealer can choose to participate in discussions with other Honda dealers, use a structured car/parts finder system to locate items in inventory at other dealers, and look up service histories for particular cars.

User Class 3: Significant New Capabilities for American Honda employees

Suppose that Joe Owner calls Jane Manager at Honda's office in Massachusetts. He is complaining that the air conditioning system broke two months out of warranty. Jane can visit her workspace at my.honda.com. The server recognizes that she is a Honda employee and is authorized to see customer service data for customers in New England. She finds Joe Owner's records, presented initially as single screen with an integrated view of Joe's Odyssey's service history and a summary of all interactions between Honda and Joe in the past. The customer service or interaction history is presented at the top level as issues, e.g., Joe asks when his warranty will run out, and actions tied to each issue. For example, the actions for Joe's warranty query might be

1. Joe submits a Web question about his warranty expiration date; the date calculated by the server seems wrong to him
2. Honda's email response
3. notes by a Honda telephone support staffer on Joe's followup call
4. Honda's automated email two weeks later thanking Joe for using the service and telling him that if he has more questions to simply respond to the email message or come to my.honda.com

Based on interactions like this, Jane Manager can see how things have gone for Joe in the past and whether Honda and its dealers have supported him to the desired standard.

After looking carefully at the my.honda.com record, Jane decides that Joe hasn't gotten such great service from Boston Honda. Moreover, she notes that Joe has owned two Hondas in the past and has referred six friends from my.honda.com, one of whom subsequently purchased a car. While still on the phone with Joe, Jane schedules a service appointment for his car at his closest dealer, the A/C to be fixed at Honda's expense.

Looking at Joe's refer-a-friend record reminds Jane to check other New England customers. She asks the server to show her a report of referrals and conversions. There are 12 customers who've referred at least 20 friends, at least 4 of whom eventually bought vehicles and registered at my.honda.com. Jane asks the server to send them all email thanking them for their loyalty and offering a free Honda baseball jacket.

In summary, my.honda.com should help Honda identify and reward its most loyal and profitable customers. It should help Honda deliver better, more consistent, and cheaper customer service.

[Notes: the issue/action customer support system integrating Web, email, and phone interactions was developed by ArsDigita in 1998 and has been rolled into our standard toolkit. We built a "find me the customers who referred lots of other customers" system for Levi Strauss in 1998.]