Problem Solving Case Study - Uber

Disclaimer: This case study represents hypothetical scenarios and solutions, it is written for educational purposes only.

Problem Statement: You are the PM of Uber. The Appstore / Playstore rating dropped from 4.5 to 3.8 in the last two weeks. Find the root cause of the problem and come up with solutions to solve the problem.

Following is the approach we will use to solve this problem:

Approach:

1. Define the problem you are solving.
2. Understand the user journey.
3. Make certain assumptions.
4. Note down all possible reasons that may cause the problems. Divide them into external and internal reasons.
5. Root cause analysis conversation with stakeholders involved (because they are the people who can answer your questions).
6. Eliminate the obvious — Accuracy of data, understanding trends, etc.
7. Narrow down your scope — Platform, geography, etc.
8. Clarify assumptions.
9. Come to the depth of the actual problem.
10. Provide short-term and long-term solutions.
11. Metrics to track the solution.

Objective:

The objective is to find the root cause of the problem (Rating drop from 4.5 to 3.8) and provide solutions for the same.

Lets look at the User Journey of successful Uber Ride:

Assumptions:

1. We are considering the Indian market only.
2. We are assuming we don’t have actual comments data for the reviews and feedback section and only the metadata for the same. We will make it more of a conversation-based solution.

Possible Reasons:

External:

1. Competition has launched some scheme.
2. Bad PR about Uber.
3. Government Regulations.
4. Appstore / Playstore regulations or bugs.
5. Weather Problems.

Internal:

1. Metrics Error.
2. Launched a new version of App.
3. Bugs, such as application crashing or payment failure.
4. Changes in the incentive program.
5. Made changes at any of the pages under the customer funnel.

Root Cause Analysis:

Since we have listed out possible reasons and we need to get to the actual problem so we will be clarifying our assumptions with the PR Team / Engineering Manager.

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We will first talk to the PR team to discuss external reasons:

Me: Hey, I have some questions regarding the recent drop in ratings. Are we experiencing a drop in ratings both on the Appstore and the Playstore?

PR: Yes, the ratings have significantly dropped both on the Appstore and the Playstore.

Note: If the ratings were only dropped on one of the platforms then it might have been due to the store regulations or most probably due to some internal reason.

Me: Was the drop sudden or did it build up over a few hours or days?

PR: The drop build over a few hours.

Me: Hmm, Did the drop end, or does it still continue?

PR: The drop is still continuing.

Me: Is it happening in a specific geography or the drop in ratings is from a specific location?

PR: The drop in ratings is from users all over India.

Me: Has the competition launched some new scheme?

PR: Like us, the competition keeps launching new schemes to retain users but we can’t think of something that might have affected our product.

Me: Ok, Has there been some bad PR about Uber or some government regulations or Appstore regulations in past two weeks?

PR: No, there haven’t been any such scenarios.

Me: Ok, thanks for all the information.

We will now talk to the Engineering Manager (EM) to discuss internal reasons:

Me: Is the data accurate, I mean have we checked our data pipelines?

EM: Yes, we have checked our dashboards and data pipelines.

Me: Have we recently launched a new version of the Uber App on both the Playstore and the AppStore?

EM: Yes, we launched a new version for both platforms before 2 weeks.

Me: Ah, Ok. What changes were made?

EM: Some UI/UX changes were made to make the experience faster for the user.

Me: Ok, were any changes made in any of the pages of the customer funnel. Like selecting location, booking ride, or payments page?

EM: Yes, we made changes in the payments page, i.e. the last step.

Me: Ohh, are we experiencing some bug reports for the payments and drop-in rides after the new version release of the app?

EM: Yes, we can see some bugs and app crashes on the payments page being reported and also a drop in rides being booked.

Me: Thanks for the information.

Conclusion:

Ok, so we can assume the drop in ratings was not caused by any external factor and it is not from a particular platform or geography as well.

A new version of the app was launched and enhancement changes were made to the payments page which caused the problem.

Solution:

Immediate Solution:

• Fix the bugs and launch a new version of the App.

This is an essential step and will solve the problem at hand. Once the issue is resolved payments will be smooth and users won’t face any further issues.

• Award incentive or some offer to users after the new version is launched.

As this was an internal issue so we need to retain customers back and also improve the ratings on the Appstore / Playstore. Award incentives will help us with the same.

Long Term Solution:

• Proper testing of the new version and customer funnel prior to release.

This will help prevent such issues in the future.

• Alpha and Beta Testing analysis.

This will be useful to test new features with a focused group before publicly rolling them.

Success Metrics:

1. Daily number of rides booked.
2. Weekly Successful Rides.
3. User experience at payments page.
4. Appstore and Platstore Ratings/feedback.

This is how we identified the actual reason and provided a solution to the problem.

Thank you for the read :)