Product and Brand Management

Term V

Innovation at

t h e l a u n c h of E x p re s s Po o l

Group 12
 Why does Uber have so many
different ways to run
experiments? What are the pros
and cons of each type?

USER LEVEL A/B TESTING:

Pros – Identify clearly what works, Step-wise
optimization, New ideas are easy to test.
Cons – Takes up a lot of time and resources,
Existing flaws are overlooked, never-ending
testing

SWITCHBACKS:
Pros – Simple to explain, Proactive, and
Accurate due to randomization.
Cons – Choice of time interval can be subjective,
may overlap groups

2
 Why does Uber have so many
different ways to run
experiments? What are the pros
and cons of each type?

SYNTHETIC CONTROL EXPERIMENTS

Pros – Can be used for small sample sizes,
Accounts for unobserved variables
Cons – Sensitive to choice of control group
which needs to be bias-free, complex to
implement

Uber runs several experiments simultaneously

and various experiments were done free from
supervision and final presentation to allow
employees to keep experimenting for a potential
major experiment to go forward with, decided by
Head of Product and Head of Engineering.

3
 Evaluate the Express development project. What did Uber do well on this project? What could have
been improved?

Uber did a good job of

Uber also did a good job of
identifying a need in the Uber also did a good job of
marketing the service. The
market. Riders are looking executing the project. The
company ran a number of
What Uber did well for affordable and company was able to
advertising campaigns and
convenient transportation launch the service on time
promotions to introduce
options, and Uber Express and within budget.
Uber Express to riders.
provides that.

One area where Uber could have improved is in
terms of communication with riders. Some riders
What could have have complained that they did not understand
been improved how Uber Express worked, or that they were not
informed about the potential for delays.
Uber could also have improved the matching
algorithm for Uber Express rides. Some riders
have complained that they were matched with
other riders who were traveling in a different
direction, or that they had to wait a long time
for a ride.

4
 2 Mins Wait Ride and Cancellations Driver Payout Trips POOL Trips Express
Considering the supplementary dataset,
3245 256 0.0789 34458 1415 3245 what is the effect of extending wait times
2184 118 0.0540 27437 1362 2184
2580 181 0.0702 27583 1371 2580 from two to five minutes on the total
2543 103 0.0405 29642 1216 2543
2481 131 0.0528 23238 1248 2481
number of shared rides completed (that
2773 166 0.0599 28053 1594 2773 is rides taken via both the existing shared
3290 236 0.0717 39912 1640 3290
2305 159 0.0690 33299 1853 2305 rides product-Uber POOL-and the new
1949 125 0.0641 25419 1490 1949
3469 245 0.0706 44871 1916 3469
shared rides product, Express), the
3188 168 0.0527 29259 1039 3188 proportion of shared rides that were
Average 6.222% 31197.4 1467.6 2727.9 matched, and driver payout per trip?
5 Mins Wait Ride and Cancellations Driver Payout Trips POOL Trips Express
2363 203 0.0859 29764 1461 2363
3584 355 0.0991 44995 1984 3584
2022 135 0.0668 23888 1401 2022
2018 150 0.0743 25794 1691 2018
2539 284 0.1119 34047 1815 2539 As per Exhibit 11, a 2-minute wait time resulted in 6.22% cancellation
2380 185 0.0777 25964 1629 2380 of rides on an average compared to 8.24% cancellations of rides on
1891 144 0.0762 22029 1173 1891 average for a 5-minute wait time, while drivers warned an additional
2419 182 0.0752 25062 1145 2419 0.5 to 1 USD for every additional rider. Assuming on average 2 riders
2309 180 0.0780 25104 1560 2309 are there, the driver earns 0.75 USD extra for the same route.
2320 183 0.0789 27626 1664 2320
As per the experiment, almost half of all POOL trips were left
unmatched.
Average 8.239% 28427.3 1552.3 2384.5

5
Based on the data available to you, other insights from the dataset
and additional qualitative considerations, what would you
recommend that Stock do? Should he increase wait times from two
to five minutes in the six treatment cities of the experimental
launch? If so, when should he do so?

Based on the information available, we would recommend Uber to hold on

increasing wait times to five minutes. There are several potential drawbacks to
increasing wait times, such as the impact on riders who are not willing to share
a ride, or who are unable to share a ride due to factors such as their destination
or the size of their group. Uber should continue to collect data and monitor the
performance of the Uber Express service before making any changes to wait
times.

If Uber does decide to increase wait times in the future, we recommend that it
do so in a gradual manner. Uber could start by increasing wait times to three
minutes, and then evaluate the impact on riders, drivers, and the overall
profitability of the service before making any further changes.

6
 Product and Brand Management
Term V

THANK YOU
Group 2
MBA22260 Arnav Mehta

MBA22237 Rohith Sajeev

MBA22229 R. Lalrinsanga

MBA22261 Ishaan Rawal

MBA22235 Rishabh Maurya

MBA22263 Kush Khorana

MBA22249 Tejwani Preetkumar Amrutlal 7