I recently came across this while booking a ride with Uber — A UX Designer perspective.

11 min readMar 14, 2023

Uber introduced this feature which shows up in your notification as soon as you book a ride. But why?

Dear Uber,

I’m writing this article today as a dedicated user of your ride-hailing service. I have to say, over the years, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the way you have improved and refined your platform. Your focus on usability and minimalism is evident in every aspect of the app, and it’s what keeps me coming back time and time again.

I am sure most of you reading this have booked, are still booking and will continue booking rides with Uber in the future. One of the things that really stands out is the way Uber provide just the right amount of information needed for us to book a ride with ease. Whether in a rush or taking time, You and I will always feel like we have all the information we need at our fingertips.

I book rides with Uber all the time and as a Product Designer I tried to observed the app from a designer perspective and realised, every single element which they place has its purpose and most importantly they don’t overdo it. So recently I booked a ride with Uber (Uber Design) as usual and something popped up on my notification that I never noticed before:

Screenshot of the feature after booking a ride

(Note: The Car number has been erased for drivers' safety and privacy.)

Which functions something like this —

This is what you get in your notification as soon as you book an app with Uber. And as a UX Designer, what is the first question that will come to your mind when you see this?

WHY❓❓

So I asked these questions to myself:
Why did Uber do this?
What is the purpose of providing this in my notification?
How is it impacting User Experience?
What business metric are they targeting and how is it impacting their business?

So with these questions in my mind, I screenshotted it immediately and began to research it and tried to understand it from a designer's perspective.

🔎 Observation:

To have a better understanding of why Uber did this in the first place let’s do a quick Heuristic evaluation of this feature. Therefore, I used Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Heuristic principles which are:

So what are the informations which they are providing to the users through this feature?

A small animation of a moving car approaching toward’s the destination.
The estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the booked ride to the user.
The photo of the driver.
The car details that is Car number and Car Model.

Since the information provided is clear which Heuristics are applicable in each case?

📍A small animation of a moving car approaching toward’s the destination. — Visibility of System Status

📍The estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the booked ride to the user. — Visibility of System Status.

📍The photo of the driver. — Match between the system and the real world.

📍The car details that is Car number and Car Model. — Recognition rather than recall and Match between the system and the real world.

🤔 So why did Uber do this?

Now that I observed what are the principles which are applicable in the following it is clear that they are targeting to make the usability of the system more seamless and effortless for the users.

Primarily to improve and enhance the experience of the users and improve their customer satisfaction. Uber is able to create a more transparent and reliable approach to the users. This not only helps in improving customer satisfaction but also helps in promoting loyalty to the platform.

Trust is one of the key elements which Uber tries to build with their customers and with the following feature they are able to build that trust and confidence with their user base which is crucial within the highly competitive ride-hailing industry.

Other than that, using the Heuristics we will be able to understand what is the purpose of each piece of information which Uber provided.

🤔 Why did they provide this in the notification?

Now that is clear why Uber introduced this feature, the next question which remains is “WHY IN THE FORM OF NOTIFICATION?”

Taking the heuristics and observing the information and relating it to my past experiences of using an Uber app as a user (Note: I am not a user as a designer, this is just for observation purposes, in other words, self-critique) I realised few things.

Providing this in a notification makes it easier and more convenient to access the information and the user does not have to open the app. Relating it to my past experiences I opened the app again and again just to check how far my car is and how much time will it take and also kept checking the car number.
Having this in the notification the user can quickly have a glance at their phone’s lock screen and get an update about the ride status. This is mostly applicable when the users are on a call or have both their hands full with other tasks.
Moreover, users tend to check their notifications again and again which can reduce the likelihood of missing notifications about their rides. Recent research in 2022 suggested that on average people check their phone 85 times a day which is a significant increase from 47 times a day in 2016.

Therefore, based on these researches it is evident that having the following feature in notification can significantly improve user experience.

🙋‍♂️ How does it impact the users?

The evaluation of the Heuristic principles which are applicable to this feature introduced by Uber helps in understanding how this feature is benefiting the user and user experience. Hence, making the entire process more seamless and effortless for the user. This is how they are impacting user experience.

A small animation of a moving car approaching its destination. — It helps users to visualize the ride in real-time, giving users a sense of control and reducing uncertainty. This feature aligns with the real-world experience of waiting for transportation and the expectation of being able to track its progress.
The estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the booked ride to the user. — Showing the ETA provides users with a clear indication of when they can expect their ride to arrive and allows them to plan their time accordingly. By making this information visible and easily accessible, the app enhances the user’s sense of control and reduces uncertainty.
The photo of the driver. — Showing a photo of the driver helps to create a sense of familiarity and trust, by making the driver appear more like a real-world acquaintance than an anonymous stranger. This design feature enhances the user’s sense of security and personalizes the experience, aligning with real-world social norms and expectations.
The car number and car model. — In the case of Uber, showing the car number and car model helps users to quickly recognise and identify their ride among other vehicles, and aligns with the real-world experience of being able to recognize a car by its unique features.

📊 What business metric does Uber target with each feature?

After the evaluation of the feature using the heuristic evaluation, we are able to understand how Uber is making the process of booking a cab more seamless and efficient. However, to make the process more seamless and efficient Uber is also targeting certain business metrics and they are as follows.

A small animation of a moving car approaching its destination:

Customer satisfaction — This feature can improve the user experience by providing users with a visual representation of their ride’s progress, which can help them understand how long they have to wait and when they can expect to arrive at their destination. By improving the user experience, Uber can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to increased revenue and growth for the company.
Trust and safety — It provides users with a sense of transparency and visibility into their ride. This can lead to increased user trust and safety, resulting in more users feeling comfortable using the service, which can contribute to increased revenue and growth for the company.
User engagement — The feature can help in increasing user engagement with the Uber app, as users can watch the progress of their ride and feel a sense of anticipation as they get closer to their destination. By increasing user engagement, Uber can increase the likelihood that users will use the service again in the future, which can contribute to increased revenue and growth for the company.

2. The estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the booked ride to the user.

Customer satisfaction — By providing users with accurate and real-time information about their ride’s ETA, Uber can improve the user experience, leading to increased customer satisfaction. This can result in more users returning to use the service in the future and recommending it to others, which can contribute to increased revenue and growth for the company.
Trust and safety — The ETA feature can help to improve user trust and safety, as users can plan their day around the ETA. This can lead to increased user trust and safety, resulting in more users feeling comfortable using the service, which can contribute to increased revenue and growth for the company.
User engagement — The ETA feature can increase user engagement with the Uber app, as users can track the progress of their rides and plan their day around the ETA. Which can contribute to increased revenue and growth for the company.
Efficiency — By providing users with accurate and real-time information about their ride’s ETA, Uber can improve the efficiency of the service, leading to faster pickups and more efficient use of the company’s resources. This can result in reduced costs for the company and increased revenue and growth.

3. The photo of the driver.

Customer satisfaction — By providing users with driver’s photos, Uber is able to create a more personalized and engaging user experience. This can help to improve customer satisfaction and promote loyalty to the platform.
Trust and safety — By providing users with a photo of their driver, Uber is able to improve safety and security by allowing users to confirm that they are getting into the correct car and can help to prevent incidents of mistaken identity. This results in increased trust and returning customers in the long run.
User Engagement — Showing the photo of the driver helps to create a more human connection between the user and the driver, which can make the user feel more comfortable and engaged with the platform. This can lead to increased usage and engagement with the app, as well as higher customer satisfaction and loyalty over time.

4. The car number and car model.

Customer satisfaction — The car number and car model information can also improve the user experience by providing users with a sense of clarity and certainty. By knowing the car number and car model, users can feel more confident that they are getting into a reliable and safe vehicle, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Trust and safety — By providing users with the car number and car model information, Uber can improve user trust and safety, as users can verify that they are getting into the correct car and driver. This can lead to increased user trust and safety, resulting in more users feeling comfortable using the service, which can contribute to increased revenue and growth for the company.
Brand Reputation — By providing users with this information, Uber can differentiate itself from competitors and build a positive brand image, leading to increased user acquisition and revenue growth.
Efficiency — By providing users with the car number and car model information, Uber can improve the efficiency of the service by reducing the time it takes for users to locate their ride. This can result in faster pickups and more efficient use of the company’s resources, leading to reduced costs and increased revenue and growth.

🧑🏻‍💻Is there any scope for improvement in the future?

Even though Uber is an app which is focused on minimalism, user friendliness and providing amazing user experience. Still is room for improvements which could be introduced in the future to make it even more engaging to the users.

I would keep this for the future when I can do extensive research on how I can make it even more engaging. Therefore, these are a few assumptions I would like to consider based on which my future research and its validation would be carried out.

Providing the name of the driver could make it easy for the users as they will not have to remember their names.
OTP needed for the ride could be shown in the notification so that users do not have to open the app again and again.
Providing a calling option so that users can call the driver directly from the notification rather than opening the app and then placing the call.

✍🏼Key Learnings:

Observe, observe, observe — Keep observing things around yourself and it helps in improving the learning process.
Asking the question “WHY” — Stay curious all the time and ask why?? It creates opportunities not just for learning but also for improvement.

🍀Thank you for reading this short article. Feel free to drop your comments and feedback 🍀

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