OUGD504 - Study Task - Analysing UX Interfaces

UBER APP:

Uber Technologies Inc. is a global transportation technology company. The company supports a mobile app whereby users can book taxis and journeys on their mobile devices and pay instantly using their card which is registered alongside the app.

 Once the interface has loaded, the first screen which appears is a map of the area in which you are presently situated. The map shows almost a 'live feed' of uber drivers near you, giving users an estimate as to waiting time (based on distance from their location) and how many taxis are in service nearby.

Alongside this map, the interface is also made personal to the user by showing the two most frequent or recent destinations, a feature which makes it easier for users to book a journey to such destination in only a couple of clicks rather than having to input their destination each time the user logs on to the app.

If travelling to a new destination, this initial page also supports a search bar whereby the user can then input their destination which brings up a new screen. This screen shows a current map of your location with a plotted route of the journey, meaning users know exactly the route they would be taking before deciding whether or not to confirm the taxi. This also means that if there is a specific route or via point users wish to take, this can be specified to the taxi driver or inputted into the app before the journey.

Alongside this map, the interface gives three options for taxi size depending on how many you're travelling with and a rough price estimate so users know roughly how much the journey is going to cost them as to not cause any shocks at the end of the journey when money is instantly taken out of their card accounts.

In addition to these features, the app also supports features which allows users to edit payment information, such as splitting costs between different party members, and view their last made trips alongside how much they paid for the journey. If public transport, specifically taxi services, is something the user frequently uses to get around then this allows the user to keep a track on how much they have spent on various journeys, for example when budgeting to save aside a suitable amount of money for travelling based on how much they have previously spent on specific or similar length trips.

ANALYSIS:

For users the app is fairly easy to navigate around. In certain aspects of the interface, it does not require many steps in the process of booking a taxi, specifically when travelling to a destination already visited since the two most frequent or recent destinations appear on the first screen when the app is opened to allow for quick and easy booking. The idea that you do not have to pay cash upfront to the taxi driver at the end of the journey not only means users can get to their destination quicker without the hassle of waiting for the driver to count change, but users also do not have to worry about having the correct amount of cash to hand since journeys may be more expensive than initially anticipated.

Ideas from this app can be transferred into my own design ideas for a transport interface which allows customers to instantly book and pay for services using their card. Although this interface would be out in public areas and therefore cannot be made personal to individual users, the interface could support a feature whereby it suggests the most popular destinations to users in order to potentially help with ease of booking their journey.

Similarly to the uber app, one of my initial ideas was to feature a map of the users current location showing them the closest bus stops, train stations, as well as taxi ranks or services. This would help users to gain a better sense of location and navigation of the area, particularly if they are new to the area. The design of the overall uber app interface is fairly neutral and minimalistic, which can be seen to help users take in the information better since the design isn't distracting to the eye and maps are sometimes hard enough to understand as they are without extra information affecting this. These ideas will be considered in my own screen interface design.