CASE STUDY:
Performance Support for Product Configuration

Stanley E. Malcolm, Ph.D.

Business Objective: To help sales people determine the most appropriate product for a customer's need based on consideration of a complex, interrelated set of variables - diminishing the tendency to sell only those products that they "know."

Significance: Howell Copiers does not exist. This prototype was designed for Ricoh to demonstrate how EPSS could address "configuration problems" which are common to all companies that sell multiple products or services. The software simplifies comparisons and allows "what-if" analysis of various choices. Although intended for the sales force, the simplicity of the design makes it feasible to allow customers to make their own informed decisions, e.g., via a web-based implementation of such an interface.

Figure 1. Authorware EPSS Demonstration for "Howell Copiers" (62k) - An example of EPSS applied to a configuration problem where many variables must be weighed in order to reach a decision. Providing such functionality to customers allows them to take an active role in the purchasing workflow.

Copyright Macromedia, Inc. 1989. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

About the Author: Stan Malcolm serves as a coach to companies wishing to develop or review their strategies for performance support, learning technologies, and/or corporate learning issues generally. Formerly, he headed learning technologies and performance support initiatives at Aetna, Inc. He can be reached at Stan@Performance-Vision.com or 860-295-9711.