A Product Manager's Wishlist for ZipCar

As someone without a car who needs to regularly visit my client's office 60 miles from Boston, I'm a pretty frequent user of ZipCar. This means two things: I've seen the ups and downs of the car share service, and I've got a lot of time to ponder whatever pops in my head. If I'm hungry, that usually takes the form of recipes I invent that I never actually cook (probably for the best). But the other day, my mind turned to ZipCar.

It could be just a result of driving ZipCars more often, but I've noticed more issues in the last year than when I first started driving them. This ranges from minor annoyances--like cars that are missing their aux cable--to things that are more serious--like dangerously under-inflated tires and cars out of coolant.

I don't think I'm going to switch to a competitive car service anytime soon, but I did have some ideas on what would move the needle back up on the customer experience front. So ZipCar, here it is...

Automatic Fuel Reporting

Even this picture is enough to make me cringe.
creative commons licensed (BY-NC-ND) flickr photo by dmoola: http://flickr.com/photos/dmoola/730766000

I've never understood why I as a driver have to report a low gas tank. Although I know almost nothing about cars, I don't see why this can't be automatically figured out using the car's OBD port. They already have telemetry that reports mileage, and integration that lets you honk the horn from a mobile app, so it doesn't seem like a big leap for them to do this.

Assuming this is doable, if a member returns a car with under 1/4 tank, they would automatically get fined with part of that fine going to the next customer. This is a change from the current model, where ZipCar fines a customer if the next customer reports a low tank, but keeps the money. Although I assume this is done to prevent people from falsely reporting low gas to score some cash, it does nothing for the customer who could now be late because of the need to get gas.

Since I'm on it...

App-based Fuel Reporting

Let's assume there's a technical reason preventing automatic fuel reporting. In this case, I don't understand why I need to place a call and navigate a call menu to report low gas. If I'm in this situation, I'm already annoyed by low gas, so it should be as easy as possible for me to report it. Why not put a low-fuel reporting feature directly into the app, and have members snap a picture of the gas gauge to reduce false claims? This could be done in three taps in an app instead of time spent on a call.

Speaking of the app...

App-based Damage Reporting

I'll admit that I'm not the best at always doing the walk around to check for damage. But if I do the walk around and see something I need to report, I again need to call in, navigate a call menu, and then leave a voicemail to report the damage. Wouldn't it be easier if there was a Vine-like easy video capability in the app? I could just walk around the car while recording the video, and if I see anything, tap one more time to have the video sent to ZipCar HQ, and be on my way with a minimum of time lost.

App-based Reservation Notifications

This would rock.

Next, I'll suggest they take a play from the Uber playbook... the one that's not getting a ton of misdirected negative attention. Earlier this year, Uber switched from SMS to app notifications to notify passengers of the status of their. I love this change. My driver details are right in my notifications drawer, so it's easy for me to check the model and license plate of the car that's picking me up.

ZipCar is still relying on SMS, which reminds you of the car name, location, and reservation time either 36 hours or one hour ahead of your reservation. The 36 hour notification is fine as is--it has reminded me to cancel cars I didn't need anymore without getting charged--but I think the one hour reminder could use some work. Given that the names of ZipCars aren't always visible, and given also that I have a near complete inability to distinguish between cars using anything other than color, why not pop up a notification with the reservation details PLUS the car color and license plate? This should also reduce the scenarios where people take the wrong car by accident, which I'm sure causes headaches for both members and ZipCar staff.

ZipCar Loyalty Program

I'm using PowerPoint as my image
 editing tool of choice, so be nice.  

Now, for those members who use ZipCar a lot, how about turning the rumored loyalty program into a reality? This would be a good way to reward heavy users and even out all the issues they run into. I'm all about tying it into some type of good karma program to reward drivers who keep the gas tank filled and perhaps even get the car washed every now and then. It wouldn't take much... maybe just a free two-hour rental here and there to make errand running a little sweeter...

Something for the Techs

5.8 pounds of 100 PSI love. Rowr.

Since it's not all about me, here's something for the techs... so they can keep the tires full... so I'm not riding around on dramatically under-inflated tires. Fine, it is all about me.

That sexy beast you see to the left is just $44 for a 4.5 star pump. Add it to the tech kit, and we all win--properly inflated tires, a safer ride, and better gas mileage.

So ZipCar, there is my wishlist. PS. Christmas is coming, and I've been a very good boy.