5.6. Uber

Uber transformed the transportation industry by applying design thinking principles to their ride-hailing app. By focusing on user needs, such as convenience, safety, and transparency, Uber has created a seamless experience for both riders and drivers. Their user-centric design approach, also known as the Double Diamond UX model, where UX means user experience, is central to their design process. In 2017, to start from zero, without the impediment of the existing codebase or the intervening design choices, the company returned to where it had started in 2009.

Empathizing: The first phase of the Double Diamond model is about discovering the problem and understanding user needs by identifying patterns and trends regarding the ride-hailing app. In this phase, Uber’s designers conduct extensive research, collect data, and map user journeys to gain a deep understanding of their needs and pain points. By observing and interviewing both riders and drivers, Uber’s designers identify their behaviors, attitudes, preferences, frustrations, and motivation, which help them to create more effective solutions. To counter the user frustrations, for both riders and drivers, the designers aimed for 99.99% availability, which translates to just one failure per 10,000 runs, one minute of downtime a week, or one cumulative hour of downtime a year for the entire company.

Re-defining to understand: Once user needs are identified, the second phase in the problem space of the double diamond model involves defining the problem. This can involve creating a clear and concise design brief, outlining the user problem and the goals of the product. Uber designers aim to ensure that the problem they are solving is in fact the right problem, which in turn will help the company to create the right solution. The main objective for Uber’s design process thus became how to make it easy for riders to simply push a button and get a ride from Uber drivers to get where they need to go. Specifically, Uber wanted to increase the availability of their core rider experience and allow for radical experimentation within a set of product rails.

Ideating and Prototyping: A broad variety of ideas are generated through creative brainstorming sessions and sketching exercises. Creating multiple design iterations and prototypes, and testing them with users to gather feedback, Uber’s designers use various tools and techniques, such as wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes, to refine and improve their solutions. Uber's designers iterate on these prototypes based on feedback from internal stakeholders and user testing sessions. Through rapid prototyping and iteration, they refine and improve their solutions, exploring different concepts and approaches to find the most effective solution. They aimed for ways to build quality features quickly and innovate on top of the rider app without compromising the core experience. To satisfy both needs, Uber designers looked for ways to give the new mobile architecture cross-platform compatibility, where they met the challenges of the divergent approaches to architecture, library design, and analytics for both iOS and Android engineers to work on a unified ground. The prototyping involved practicing a clear organization and separation of business logic, view logic, data flow, and routing.

Evaluating: In this phase, Uber’s designers implement the selected design solution and launch it to the public. They also continue to monitor user responses with A/B testing and analyze user feedback to further refine the product and enhance the user experience. The designers came up with the concept of code isolation, which separates optional code from core code. While core code, which is subject to a stringent review process, must always run for signing up and taking/completing/canceling a trip; in contrast, the optional code can be turned off and reviewed. This makes it possible for Uber engineers to try out new features and automatically turn them off in case they do not work correctly, without interfering with the ride experience.

Implementing: After evaluating the prototypes and selecting the most promising design solutions, Uber's designers move into the implementation phase. To translate the refined prototypes into actual features and functionalities within the ride-hailing app, collaboration with developers, engineers, and other stakeholders ensures that the designs are translated accurately and effectively into the final product. Uber's designers work closely with the development team to address any technical challenges and ensure seamless integration of the new features into the app's existing infrastructure. Additionally, rigorous testing is conducted to identify and resolve any bugs or usability issues before the new features are rolled out to users. Once implemented, continuous monitoring and iteration are essential to gather real-world feedback and make further improvements to the app, ensuring that it continues to meet the evolving needs and expectations of both riders and drivers.

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Discussion questions related to Uber

  1. How did Uber use design thinking to make their ride-hailing app better for both riders and drivers?
  2. What cool ideas did Uber come up with to improve their app? Do any of these features also impact the environment, considering the triple bottom line − people-planet-profit?
  3. Explain the user-centric design approach implicit in the Double Diamond UX model.
  4. In the re-defining phase, how does Uber ensure that the problem being addressed is the right problem, and what specific goals do they aim to achieve with their product?
  5. How does Uber collaborate with developers, engineers, and other stakeholders during the implementation phase to create design solutions into actual features in the app?
  6. Can you explain how Uber implements the concept of code isolation to evaluate and refine new features within their ride-hailing app without disrupting the user experience?
  7. What strategies does Uber employ during the implementation phase to ensure effective collaboration between designers, developers, engineers, and other stakeholders in translating design solutions into actual features within the app?
  8. Discover Uber’s Global Headquarters in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. Can you identify the sustainable aspects of this architecture and community planning?
  9. What can you discover about Uber’s competition on the market? How are their user designs similar/different?
  10. What other collaborations can you imagine for a nuclear physicist, a computational neuroscientist, and a machinery expert? Hint: Experts from these three areas originally worked together to predict arrival times for Uber.