How Uber makes airport pickups easier
I fly in from New Orleans to New York. The airport taxi line is long and unyielding so I decide to order an Uber ride home. I gingerly open up the Uber app.
With ride-sharing, there are few situations as disorienting as airport pickup. A lot can go wrong for both driver and rider. The rider is probably tired and unfamiliar with the city and airport layout. The rider can easily misplace the location pin. The driver is equally frazzled. There are many people in airports matching your passenger’s description: “Someone with bags looking lost.” There are lots of taxis and black cars matching your own car’s model and colour.
I select my pickup location as “LaGuardia Airport.” The GPS map looks like spaghetti. I’m not sure the best point to place my pickup location.
I almost quit the app to join the regular taxi line.
“How does Uber increase the chances of a successful airport pickup with minimal pain for both riders and drivers?” I think. I finally choose pickup location but I’m not feeling confident.
This next screen looks unfamiliar. I’m expecting the fare estimation screen. I am lost, alone and confused so I do a double take. It is too good to be true!
Uber tells me to ‘meet at arrivals (lower) level’ and prompts me to choose my terminal. I pick ‘Terminal B.’ I am given 3 pickup options in Terminal B — Crosswalk 1, Crosswalk 2 and Crosswalk 3. I can see the crosswalks from where I stand! This comforts me.
The pickup location pin moves into position when I select ‘Crosswalk 2’. I confirm pickup location. It goes without saying, it was a smoother pickup experience than I expected.
This is a delightful feature! Delightful features are the ones customers do not expect it (or explicitly ask for it). They come from deep insights into the customer behaviours and this airport pickup feature is truly delightful.
The sad truth is all delightful product features are doomed to become basic expectations. The first iPhone took our breath away in 2007. Now we expect ‘thinner, faster, lighter, better’ every year. We are harder to please. So when I encounter a product that delights me, I will write about it every time.
