Uber Rent
Making rentals as easy as ordering an Uber
An end-to-end rental car booking experience now available on the Uber app in the US, ANZ, UK, and more.
My role
Led the design for Uber Rent end-to-end native experience from 0 to 1.
Oversaw the entire design process from problem definition to implementation. Collaborated closely with earner design, UX research, product, content, marketing, and Eng teams.
Worked with the creative team on all the social and marketing assets for the experience launch that was featured in Uber’s 2021 Product release event.
Background
The daily rental car industry reached $70bn globally in 2019; this growth occurred even in spite of the introduction of Uber as well as other transportation alternatives. However, the user experience continues to be expensive, stressful, timely, and at times, predatory.
In 2020, Uber Rent was one of the company's big bets, enabling Uber to tap into the rental industry. Uber is well-positioned to leverage its massive user reach, operational advantages, and technological superiority to solve problems that exist in the industry. The existing Rides and Eats tech and flexible supply are key to unlock meaningful industry differentiation - vehicle delivery (Uber Valet).
This project, Uber Rent native end-to-end booking experience, establishes the foundation for achieving the ultimate North Star experience — Uber Valet
Where we started
The Rent team launched a lite web view integration with our partner CarTrawler to understand if riders would use Uber to rent a vehicle in exchange for Uber credits.
Due to the nature of the implementation, there is minimal customization and integration with Uber and CarTrawler resulting in a suboptimal user experience. (The design team was not involved!!😫)
Existing experience (Phase 1) ☹️
What we learned from phase 1
Overall, conversion and engagement thresholds show that users would rent with Uber. Strong benchmark data shows that conversion is on par with the industry.👍🏻
Over 2/3 of users found Rent easy to discover, but only half thought it was easy to use. Users were expecting more from Uber than a white-label experience.😞
Use-case is almost on demand - 1 day booking lead time. Booking often commences on a Friday and lasts three days leading to a weekend-centric use case. Single-day trips are also prevalent.📅
Contrary to industry standard, we are seeing 4x disproportionate engagement on mobile📱
Funnel conversion reveals major friction around payment.💰
Goals & project scope
Product North Star
Making rentals as easy as ordering an Uber
Key differentiators:
- Availability/reliability for on-demand booking
- Valet vehicle delivery service
- Flexible pickup and dropoff
- Ease of use
- Competitive price
- Great customer service
How do we get there? ⬆️
Rental marketplace in the app
- Discoverability
- Supply
- Rewards
- Reservations
Will riders be willing to rent in-app?
Key metrics: conversion to shopping session
Phase 1
Native integration
- Seamless UX
- Payment options and add-ons
- APIs & Integration
Can we reduce funnel friction via a seamless UX?
Key metrics: conversion and incremental GB
Phase 2 (This project)
Unlock magic with Valet
Delivery and pickup
Earner UX
Earner route tracking
Pre/post-inspection
...
Is there a market for on-demand rentals?
Key metrics: experience uptake, customer NPS
Phase 3
Foundational user research
[Based on 500+ surveys from Uber riders]
Current car rental usage and pain points among Uber Riders
Half of Uber riders in major US markets have rented a car in the last 6 months - and 75% were for non-work use
Value for price and hassle of refueling/pickup/dropoff are top among pain points and reasons not to rent
[Based on 1:1 interviews with 18 renters from a mix of cities and mixed experience and frequency with car rental services]
Customers want a better experience at a similar price
- Available cars, time, locations, vendor
- Flexible pickup and return hours and locations
- Transparent fees and policy
- Responsive, effective and empathetic customer support
Factors people consider when comparing rental cars vs. shared rides
- Accessibility: Is rideshare easily accessible in the destination city?
- Multi-stop travel: Do I just need to get to point B from point A or do I also need to travel multiple times within the destination?
- Equipment-based travel: Do I need to transport things while traveling?
- Efficiency/ reliability: Is the wait time long for Uber rides? Will my order be likely canceled?
- Flexibility/ customization: Can I travel with my pets if I use Uber rides?
- Cost-effectiveness: Is renting a car cheaper than taking Uber rides?
- Have fun: Do I want a personal fun time? Do I enjoy the freedom of driving?
HMW present the right (and right amount of) information to help renters feel they are making informed decisions?
User flow
Linear vs. Form
Linear: users can start at any entry point on the page, they will be presented with the location editor, date picker, and time picker in sequence; after filling in these details, they'll go directly to the product selection list.
Form: Just like filling out a form, users can click on the input they want to edit. After each selection/input, they're taken back to the landing page with the updated information. The product list will only be shown when users tap the search button.
We opted for the linear approach as it streamlines the flow by eliminating a couple of steps. Users have chances to edit and confirm the date and location info at any step of the flow, therefore going back to the landing page seems redundant.
Final design
Prototype made with Principle
Landing page
Location editor
Date & time picker
Product selection
Car details
Core team & contributors
Kenny M | Product manager
Daier Y | UX researcher
David M | Content designer
Pradipta B | Engineer manager
Caleb V | GM, Operations
Christian A | Design manager