Responsible for new product initiatives to expand the Uber Eats courier network internationally during early hyper growth

Key challenges

Scale a business by helping Uber Eats grow as a relatively new startup within Uber, then in only 22 cities (now in hundreds).

Understand the unique needs of Uber Eats delivery partners in markets from Mexico to Japan and translate them into actionable product / UX insights.

Meet the demands of a delicate marketplace by working with restaurants and couriers to refine how we serve them through our various digital products, such as expanding the ease in which couriers onboard, the flexibility of how people work on the Uber platform, and improving touchpoint between restaurants, couriers, and diners.

Uber Eats: a 3 sided marketplace

The team I supported was responsible for creating the first Uber partner app that unified driving people and delivering Uber Eats meals into a single experience. This meant helping couriers who are at times language and tech illiterate to understand the value proposition of working with Uber, understanding how and where to onboard and get their delivery gear, and taking the leap into doing their first delivery. We aimed to make it as enjoyable as possible while offering a path to grow, earn more, and doing different types of work for greater flexibility. Shown here are Uber Eats as experienced by Diners, Restaurants, and Couriers — the Courier example shows a new feature to help people know where to park and pick up food such that they’re always on time and least disruptive to the restaurant experience.

One app for all Uber partners

As Uber Eats picked up steam in my time there, the larger company started to take our business as a serious potential to impact the bottom line of the business. Couriers were no longer a second-class citizen, and my team was a key part of a major redesign of the Drive experienced used by millions of Drivers. I pitched a vision that ultimately helped the company see the potential of a single app where people could switch between different types of work to maximize earnings and maximize flexibility for different lifestyles.

The service design of on-demand

My time at Uber was research-intensive. I set out to learn what drives people to deliver and drive with Uber in different countries. I used 360 degree video cameras to build empathy with the team around the kinds of pinpoints couriers experience as they learn the ropes of doing deliveries (by doing actually deliveries ourselves in places like Tokyo and Mexico City). The outcome were a clearer sense of where bottlenecks were onboarding, growth and retention, and a path to smoothing out the kinks both in software and in the “Greenlight Canters”, which are like DMVs for Uber partners to get started and problem solve their situations.

Results

The results of these efforts were part of Uber’s “Drive Forward” initiative to demonstrate our CEO’s vision for answering Uber partner needs for a better way to earn through Uber. The app was launched with positive reviews from the media, particularly for its transparency around identifying the best opportunities to earn — whether driving people during busy airport times, or delivering food during the lunch hour.