Design a discreet in-trip alert for Uber riders who feel uneasy
Company: Uber
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Riders sometimes start to feel uncomfortable during an Uber trip. What would you launch so a rider can signal that discomfort, and how would it work?
```hint Remember who else is in the car
Think about where the rider is and who is nearby when the feeling starts, and how different an awkward ride is from a dangerous one.
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### Clarifying Questions
- Does "uncomfortable" cover everything from an awkward conversation or loud music to feeling physically threatened, or only safety concerns?
- Should the signal go to Uber's safety support team, to the rider's trusted contacts, to emergency services, or to different places depending on how serious it is?
- Does the feature cover pickup and drop-off as well as the time in the moving car?
- Which markets is this for, given that emergency-service links and rules on recording rides differ by country?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A goal tied to rider trust, with a clear view of how the feature differs from the emergency tools Uber riders already have.
- A breakdown of discomfort situations by severity, and the constraint that the driver may be the cause and is within earshot.
- A prioritized set of solutions with a clear first version, including who responds to the signal and how fast.
- Fairness to drivers, including protection against false or retaliatory reports.
- Success metrics and guardrails suited to a feature whose ideal usage is low.
### Follow-up Questions
- Drivers fear the signal will be used against them unfairly. How do you keep riders safe while protecting honest drivers?
- After launch, the number of signals in one city rises sharply. Is that good news or bad news, and how would you tell?
- Should drivers get a similar way to signal that a rider makes them uncomfortable? What would change?
Overview: A product design question about Uber's in-trip experience: what would you launch so a rider who feels uncomfortable during a ride can signal it, and how would it work? It tests handling discomfort at different levels of severity, designing around a driver who is present, response operations, driver fairness and metrics for a rarely used safety feature.