Uber is bringing in a major redesigning of its App today, but the new design also brings in additional clutter to the application.
Streamlining the App
Uber has attempted to streamline its application today with some major upgrades and redesigning. This is the most important upgrade that it has made to the application since 2012. The changes have been created for users and not for the drivers. The interface is cleaner and the confusion has been reduced regarding the request for different services. The shortcut options for various destinations are also less cluttered now.
Ease of Use
The Verge spotted the new application with the updates during the media briefing and demonstration of the product some time in the beginning of this week. It surely seems to be easier to handle and use now. For example, the map interface now includes a few finer details, like the car color.
Just in Time
In recent times, the app had become a little bloated and the new redesigning has come just in time to remove some of the bloat. The features and the services offered by the company have been on the rise for the past few years, and the company had also grown in size. This resulted in bloating the app over the years.
The Downside
However, the redesigning of the app does not answer safety issues with the service. The company also did not may any comments regarding racial and gender discrimination of the drivers. Some researchers belong to Stanford and MIT and also the Washington University had published findings that were connected with such type of discrimination associated with Uber rides as well as Lyft.
Options Lumped Together
In the earlier application, the user had to select from the menu that had unclear options, which were different for different cities. For instance, you had options like UberX and Uber Black or Uber Select and Uber SUV and so on. Now, the new redesigning brings these options and puts them in just three groups, the Economy, the Premium and More. Economy category includes the Uber X and the UberPool, whereas Premium has Uber Select and the town cars along with SUVs and Extra Seats. More offers options of a child seat, cars that can be accessed with wheel chairs and so on. The present interface nearly always goes to UberPool by default, so this makes a desirable change.
Additional Features
The arrival time is also being added to the options in the new interface. For instance, if you choose Economy and UberPool, it offers the arrival time with a range predicted for the Pool rides and specific times in case of solo trips. Once you input the destination, the app will give you information regarding the trip cost prior to confirming your request. The surge price is, however, invisible for all practical purposes, as it just offers some fine print under the quote.
Pickup Locations and Destination
There are some notable changes made to the Destination field and the Pickup Location ones. When one opens the app, there is just one field greeting asking ‘Where to’. According to YuhkiYamashit, the product manager in charge of redesigning the application, the team has removed each millisecond possible to improve the speed of the app experience.