Uber Product Design: Making Large City Airport Trips Smoother for Travelers
Company: Uber
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
You are a product manager at Uber. How would you improve things for passengers at a large, busy airport that serves a major city?
```hint Walk the traveler's journey
Trace a traveler from leaving home to leaving the arrival airport, and mark which moments a ride app can actually change and which belong to the airport operator. Pick the moment where the pain and Uber's leverage overlap most.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Is the "passenger" the air traveler moving through the airport, or specifically the rider in an Uber car going to or from it?
- Is the whole airport journey in scope (curb, terminal, gate), or only the parts Uber's apps touch?
- Should I cover departures, arrivals or both?
- Can I assume Uber could partner with the airport operator, for example on curb space and signage, or should the plan work without one?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A scope that ties the airport journey to what Uber can influence, with a clear choice between departures and arrivals.
- A specific traveler segment (for example frequent business travelers, families with luggage, or first-time international visitors) and the reason for choosing it.
- Pain points at concrete moments such as finding the pickup area, timing the request and meeting a driver at a crowded curb.
- Prioritized solutions that separate what Uber controls from what needs the airport's agreement, including the driver side.
- Success metrics with guardrails for drivers and the airport, plus risks such as fees, regulation and flight delays.
### Follow-up Questions
- A flight lands two hours late after midnight, when few drivers are online. What does your design do for that traveler?
- The airport refuses to change its curb layout or signage. Which of your ideas still work, and how do you reprioritize?
- How would you measure whether a smoother airport pickup brings the traveler back to Uber during the rest of their stay?
Overview: An Uber product design question asking how to improve the experience of passengers traveling through a large, busy city airport. It tests scoping the journey to what a ride app can change, choosing a traveler segment, prioritizing ideas that may need the airport's cooperation, and defining success metrics with guardrails.