uberPOOL+ Product Cycle

by Brian Ha
October 19, 2015

Agenda

Selecting a Product
Brainstorming
Opportunity Assessments
Top Feature Description and Wireframes
Launch Plans/Analysis

Selecting a Product
What Uber feature/product has been brought to market that you
think has a lot of potential but has not achieved it yet?
uberX and uberBlack have already proved to be successful
and scalable.
Lets consider uberPOOL, UberEATS, UberRUSH, and Uber for
Business.
How do we decide the top product that has the most
unachieved potential?

Why uberPOOL?
Company mission: Transportation as reliable as running water
everywhere and for everyone.
TKs vision: Making car ownership a thing of the past.

Which product has the best potential to provide transportation

for everyone and do away with car ownership?
A: uberPOOL!

Why not other products?

UberEATS:
Currently limited to small areas of certain cities
Currently only available for lunch in the majority of cities
Faces broad competition from many food delivery services and startups
UberRUSH:
Newly launched in San Francisco and Chicago, so not enough data to
make an informed decision
Uber for Business:
The target market is restricted to businesses versus everyone
Uber for Business can be combined with uberPOOL (this will be explored
later)
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Why uberPOOL? - part 2

How has uberPOOL not achieved its potential?
uberPOOL is not as profitable as the rest of company
offerings, according to TK1
From my research: one of uberPOOLs biggest problems is not
having enough users
This is an issue especially with uberPOOLs guaranteed
reduced fare. Uber is making a bet and losing!

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt8L8WSSr1g

Brainstorming
From the previous slide, weve established revenue and the
number of riders as two metrics we want to increase for
uberPOOL.
These will inherently improve if we introduce a feature that helps
uberPOOL cater better to user groups needs.
There are 2 main user groups right now: riders and drivers (I will
further break down the riders group in my final proposed
feature, uberPOOL+).

Overall User Goals

Lets now think of overall user goals for uberPOOL and the overall Uber
product for these 2 audience groups.
Riders:
1. Improve experience (can be measured qualitatively and quantitatively)
Primarily includes safety and comfort
2. Decrease cost per ride
3. Increase efficiency in getting from point A to point B
Drivers:
1. Increase earnings
2. Increase amount of riders
3. Decrease amount of time between rides
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Does uberPOOL meet these user goals?

In short, uberPOOL aims to improve cost for riders.
But I argue that it does so at the expense of
1. Rider experience
2. Efficiency
3. Ubers earnings1
To sum it up, here is an interview with a frequent rider: I dont like
uberPOOL very much, because of waiting more time. And its kinda
awkward getting picked up with another random in the car. And you
dont save that much.
So what potential features are there for uberPOOL?
[1] Note: We will address this point and other company/product goals more in the Opportunity
Assessments and Launch Plans/Analysis sections.

1) UberSwipe
After riding in an uberPOOL, the riders have the option to swipe
left or right on other riders profiles. If they both swipe right, they
match and receive each others emails. This encourages Uber as a
social platform.
Precedents:
Manual service: http://www.doyouwanttogetdrinks.com/
Dating happens already without a service: http://recode.
net/2015/09/03/cruising-the-carpool-are-lyft-line-anduberpool-the-new-tinder/
Goals met: improve rider experience; maybe increase Ubers
earnings via premium feature
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2) Enhanced Rider Ratings

Consists of 2 subfeatures:
Co-riders in uberPOOLs can rate each other
Both drivers and co-riders in uberPOOLs can pick from a list of
keywords when rating riders - examples are: polite,
punctual, late, drunk, strange, offensive, rude,
etc.
These both allow for better filtering of riders.
Goals met: increase overall rider experience

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3) uberPOOL+
Riders create profiles similar to Coffee Meets Bagel1 and Weave2 with their
personal and professional traits, and can select general preferences for coriders on uberPOOL.
For a price between uberPOOL and uberXs, Uber matches the rider with coriders according to his/her preferences for a rider-defined uberPOOL
experience. The true value of this option lies in potential business networking,
dating, and general ride comfort/safety.
Precedent:
Riding with VCs: https://newsroom.uber.com/india/2015/08/gear-up-touberpitch-your-ideas/
Goals met: increase rider experience, increase driver earnings, increase
amount of riders
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4) uberPOOL for Business

This feature applies when several coworkers live along a path
from one coworkers residence to the company. The coworkers
can join a group and have a saved uberPOOL route for a driver to
follow every day. There should be an option for riders to opt out
on any given ride (ex. Joe is sick so well opt out of his stop
today).
Inspiration: UberCommute, Ola Share1
Goals met: increase rider experience, increase driver earnings,
increase amount of riders
[1] http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/ola-launches-social-ride-sharing-feature-in-bengaluru-751778

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5) uberPhotobooth
Take a picture of the riders and driver like so: http://cdn.
playbuzz.com/cdn/6a3d8cab-3381-4cd6-905fadfbb7098dac/9d8886a4-74d7-49d0-a509-285e122907a2.gif and
send a copy to everyone involved! There could be an integration
with Instagram that allows riders to easily post the picture there.
Goals met: increase rider experience for certain rider audiences

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6) uberGames
The riders have the option to play sponsored mobile games (from
EA for example) together in the Uber app, that has subtly placed
advertisements to increase Ubers profits.
Ideally the game would be fun enough to increase happiness
levels and encourage social activity between riders.
Goals met: increase rider experience, increase Ubers earnings via
ad commission

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Opportunity Assessments
Judging by the amount of goals met, the top 2 brainstorm ideas
are uberPOOL+ and uberPOOL for Business.
Lets complete an opportunity assessment for each proposed
feature.

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uberPOOL+ Opportunity Assessment

Value Proposition: uberPOOL+ riders can take an Uber with co-riders
according to their own preferences. Some may take advantage of the
opportunity to socialize with riders from a specific background, perhaps for
business networking or for dating. Others may seek a sense of safety and
familiarity. Rider experience will be maximized while still cheaper than uberX.
Target Market:
Riders, which can be split into several distinct subgroups:
Women: may want to ride with other women to avoid creepy or
dangerous men
Professionals: can choose co-riders from similar professions to
network and form valuable connections
Singles: can choose to meet other singles according to personality
traits
Drivers, who will earn slightly more because of the premium charge (the
rest goes to Uber).
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uberPOOL+ Opportunity Assessment

Market Size: According to http://www.forbes.
com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/08/18/inside-lyfts-and-uberscarpooling-quest-uberpool-lyft-line/ - in August 2015, 50 percent
of Uber SF rides were still not on uberPOOL.
uberPOOL+ will capture some of that market share as well as
uberPOOLs.
Marketing of uberPOOL+ as a social interaction platform will also
interest non-regular Uber users.

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uberPOOL+ Opportunity Assessment

Competitive Landscape/Risk Assessment: OlaCabs in India has Ola Share1,
which matches riders with other riders within their social groups. No other
competitor currently has a similar feature, which means Uber can be first to
most markets with uberPOOL+. This could become a differentiator from Lyft
Line.
One risk is that riders will not choose this feature often, but certain precedents
indicate uberPOOL+ would be picked (people using uberPOOL and Lyft Line as
a substitute for Tinder2, Kristen Bells uncomfortable uberPOOL experience3,
and rides with VCs in India4).
Another risk is that the preferences will increase wait time for rides
significantly, due to a small userbase (this risk is addressed in the Launch
Plans/Analysis section due to partnerships).
[1] http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/ola-launches-social-ride-sharing-feature-in-bengaluru-751778
[2] http://recode.net/2015/09/03/cruising-the-carpool-are-lyft-line-and-uberpool-the-new-tinder/
[3] http://www.eonline.com/news/661399/kristen-bell-had-a-traumatic-uber-pool-experience-but-she-s-not-the...
[4] https://newsroom.uber.com/india/2015/08/gear-up-to-uberpitch-your-ideas/

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uberPOOL for Business Opportunity Assessment

Value Proposition: uberPOOL for Business riders can feel more
comfortable riding to and from work with their coworkers. Each
driver earns more money by charging more passengers. The
businesses save money by paying less per employee transported.
Target Market:
riders: may want to sit among coworkers to feel comfortable,
discuss work, or talk among friends
drivers: want more customers (and thus profits) for nearly the
same amount of time/effort
businesses: want their employees to arrive to work on time
and produce excellent work

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uberPOOL for Business Opportunity Assessment

Market Size: In September 2015, Uber said that over 50,000 companies
are enrolled in the Uber for Business program, with 100,000 expected in
2016.1 The same article says that mid and large sized companies are
using Uber for Business, meaning that the amount of riders affected by
this feature could eventually be in the millions.
Competitive Landscape/Risk Assessment:
Coworkers may not want to ride together, or may even dislike each
other
Uber for Business may stall in growth due to existing alternatives,
such as: public transit (improving in certain areas), biking, walking,
company shuttles. These would subsequently lower the appeal of
uberPOOL for Business.
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Top Feature
The opportunity assessments measure up very closely, but I will
move ahead with uberPOOL+ because of its potential to reach
everyone, instead of just the business target market.

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Registration and Login

Through collaboration with Weave and Coffee Meets Bagel (please see Launch Plans/Analysis slides to learn
about partnerships), we should give them the same visibility as Facebook by allowing users to register and login
through their Weave or CMB profiles.

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More Weave and Coffee Meets Bagel

We should also allow users the ability to

link/unlink their Weave and Coffee Meets
Bagel accounts at any time.

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Ordering an uberPOOL+

This is a modified version of

the uberPOOL confirmation
screen for uberPOOL+. The
screen should prompt the
rider to select either the
General, Networking, or
Dating option.

This mitigates the risk of

mixing riders who intend to
network with those who
intend to meet a significant
other and those who want
neither.

uberPOOL+ is added as an option to the

slider at the bottom of the Uber app.

Preferences for General and

selection criteria for
Networking options can be
found in the subsequent
Account Settings mockups.
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History Options

The Match History menu will show a panel for every match the
rider had via the Dating and Networking uberPOOL+ options.
Each match will have his/her picture (represented by the black
icons below), first name, match date, match time, and match
type appear in the panel.
Additionally, each panel is a hyperlink to that matchs read-only
Dating or Networking profile, as detailed in the subsequent
wireframes.

We separate the History menu option into 1) Trip History which contains the menu that currently appears and 2)
Match History - which contains the menu to the right.

If the user has filled out his/her Contact Info field under
the Networking account settings, you can find that by
pressing on the panel.
However, it is encouraged for riders to swap contact
information during or at the end of rides, in person.

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Edit Account
The Gender, Age, and
Ethnicity dropdown menus
are added to the original Edit
Account menu. These are
blank by default and are
optional. However, if the rider
attempts to use uberPOOL+
without filling them out, a
dialog appears prompting the
user to fill them out. (These
dropdown menus are auto
populated if the user has
linked a Coffee Meets Bagel
account with the appropriate
data).
There is also a General section
added, with Preferred Gender
and Preferred Age dropdown
menus. These must be filled
out before using uberPOOL+'s
General option, otherwise a
dialog appears (similar to
above).
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Edit Account
This wireframe and subsequent
wireframes represent the
options that are appended to
the original Uber account
settings.
The Networking fields auto
populate if the user has linked a
Weave account. The Add
Experience button allows the
user to add more job positions
to the profile.
The Networking fields must be
filled out before using the
uberPOOL+ Networking option.
Otherwise a dialog prevents the
action and prompts the user to
fill these out.
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Edit Account
Contact Info is optional, but coriders may find it useful for
staying in touch when looking at
the rider's profile.
The Selection Criteria allow the
rider to designate his/her
preference for degree type,
position type, and years of
experience. These allow matches
to be made via an algorithm
similar to Weave Concierge, which
is an existing special Weave
service that matches pairs of
Weave users on a weekly basis.

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Edit Account
If the user has linked a Coffee
Meets Bagel account, these fields
are auto populated.
If the user attempts to initiate an
uberPOOL+ ride with the Dating
option and these fields are not
completed, a dialog will prompt
the user to fill these out before
allowing the user to proceed.

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Launch Plans/Analysis
The initial target market should be San Francisco because of the
prevalence of coffee chats, general networking, and online
dating. If uberPOOL+ takes off in SF, then New York City and
Boston are two other good cities (the former because of Wall
Street and the latter because of the large amount of college
students).
uberPOOL+ can be marketed as an innovative combination of
social interaction and transportation.
In addition, Uber should consider partnering with Weave and
Coffee Meets Bagel to prevent risk of increasing rider wait times
due to lack of established userbase.
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Partnership with Weave

Tinder-esque professional networking mobile application
Weave uses Uber API so that when two Weave users match for
networking, they can order Ubers within the app to meet up
Thus, Weaves userbase is already keen on using Uber
By integrating Weave profiles with Uber profiles, number of
potential uberPOOL+ riders will increase significantly
(targeting relevant audience)
Both Weave and Ubers userbases will increase
Integration would auto populate the Networking profile fields
from existing Weave profiles
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Partnership with Coffee Meets Bagel

Fellow SF-based company that previously partnered with
Uber for their launch campaign (#CoffeeMeetsUber)
2nd partnership would benefit both parties
Uber would benefit by integrating CMB profiles with Uber
profiles, increasing the number of potential uberPOOL+
riders (targeting relevant audience) while also auto
populating the Dating profile fields from existing CMB
profiles
CMB benefits by drawing from Ubers substantially larger
userbase
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Validation - Defining Success

Key performance indicators (from most to least important):
1. Increase in number of Uber riders
2. Increase in number of Uber trips over X period of time
3. Increase proportion of uberPOOL(+) rides versus nonuberPOOL rides
4. Increase in driver earnings
5. Decrease in support tickets
6. Increase in number of Uber drivers

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Thank You

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