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For those curious, this is one screenshot I took of the UI that night: https://ibb.co/wzV8fQQ https://ibb.co/wzV8fQQ I fully expect sober and patient people to

by enw 6y ago

For those curious, this is one screenshot I took of the UI that night: https://ibb.co/wzV8fQQ https://ibb.co/wzV8fQQ I fully expect sober and patient people to defend this UI, but it was utterly confusing at the time (and as a consequence sadly hilarious).

wpietri 6y ago
I agree, that's a lot. High/drunk people are legitimate users, especially for something like Uber! Another heuristic I user is, "can a person with an upset toddler work this?" Spending time around parents with small children made it clear that even the smartest person can end up with what is effectively a cognitive impairment if they are trying to keep a small child alive. Attention? What's that?
- SilasX 6y ago
  > Another heuristic I user is, "can a person with an upset toddler work this? Incidentally, another UI that fails this is those automated answering services that “cleverly” let you answer with your voice instead of “press 1 for whatever”. The screaming toddler (or pet) will repeatedly short-circuit the process and get interpreted as an incomprehensible answer.
  - geoduck14 6y ago
    Oh, my gosh. I got noise canceling headphones SPECIFICALLY for my kids - only to learn they block low sounds, but not high pitched screaming.
    - rusk 6y ago
      That’s a good thing. You can listen to what you want to without that nagging feeling you might be neglecting your kids!
      - zelphirkalt 6y ago
        If it happens often enough, you might train your kids to use the high pitch screaming sound though, as that will get them the attention. Scary thought what might develop from there!
    - TeMPOraL 6y ago
      I got 3M safety earmuffs specifically for my kid. They reduce the noise to a more manageable level, which is useful if either of us have a headache. But we sort of got used to the noise, so we don't use them much.
      - wpietri 6y ago
        Seconded! I love my 3M earmuffs, low-end Peltors. I can add earbuds underneath them if I want a little music or generated noise to completely remove audio distractions.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  Arguably drunk people are the core user group of Uber. Aside from consultants and high powered executives, most people (pre-pandemic) went to bars far more often than they go to airports or other places where taking a personal car is inconvenient or otherwise illegal.
  - airstrike 6y ago
    Got to include investment bankers in that list too
- m463 6y ago
  No, the question is -- can an uber driver work this one-handed while eating and driving?
- toto444 6y ago
  This is indeed a good test. I realized how bad Youtube UX is when I was using it to find children's song with my baby in my strong (right) arm. That's when I realized how much swiping, scrolling and tapping you need to do when you use Youtube. Also the recommendations were really a pain in the ass. We watch Youtube in 3 different languages and that is beyond the ability of the recommendation engine.
smichel17 6y ago
I think your complaint is justified. I am currently tired, going to sleep momentarily, but not otherwise impaired, and it took me almost a full minute of staring at the screen, trying to figure out what you were trying to demonstrate.. Because it wasn't immediately clear to me if it was asking you to do something or if it was just a random screenshot to show the uniform grayness of the interface.
rntksi 6y ago
Our country had multiple car ride company launch a few years back and you could choose between Uber, Grab, Gojek, etc to get someone to drive you. The UI for Uber was the cleanest and most easy to use. I remember having to just do 2 steps to get a ride, as opposed to about 6 steps on the other offering the same service (e.g. Grab: choose "Ride", input Pin, input current location, input where to go, tap book, tap confirm) Uber got out of the market way back, and the other ones are now getting up to speed to how advanced its user flow was. Grab now ask you to input where you want to go to first for example (like Uber back in the days).
diydsp 6y ago
One of the most prominent features is the request to give live location... not a totally dark ui pattern, but certainly one with consequences.
quelltext 6y ago
I've never used Uber but I've used other apps (Lyft). And I have to say it looks pretty clear to me (of course I'm not drunk right now so...). I don't expect you to understand the app if you use it for the first time when drunk, but I feel like if you've used it sober before and they didn't just completely change the UI you should be able to grok it. Maybe not if you are completely dead drunk, but I'd say you'd have the same problem with other apps you don't have already internalized completely. What apps do you think would not have confused you in your state at the time?
conductr 6y ago
Wow. That looks like you photoshopped 2 screens together and put an Ad on it.
kangaroozach 6y ago
Yea way too much going on here.

by enw 6y ago

wpietri 6y ago

I agree, that's a lot. High/drunk people are legitimate users, especially for something like Uber! Another heuristic I user is, "can a person with an upset toddler work this?" Spending time around parents with small children made it clear that even the smartest person can end up with what is effectively a cognitive impairment if they are trying to keep a small child alive. Attention? What's that?

SilasX 6y ago
> Another heuristic I user is, "can a person with an upset toddler work this? Incidentally, another UI that fails this is those automated answering services that “cleverly” let you answer with your voice instead of “press 1 for whatever”. The screaming toddler (or pet) will repeatedly short-circuit the process and get interpreted as an incomprehensible answer.
- geoduck14 6y ago
  Oh, my gosh. I got noise canceling headphones SPECIFICALLY for my kids - only to learn they block low sounds, but not high pitched screaming.
  - rusk 6y ago
    That’s a good thing. You can listen to what you want to without that nagging feeling you might be neglecting your kids!
    - zelphirkalt 6y ago
      If it happens often enough, you might train your kids to use the high pitch screaming sound though, as that will get them the attention. Scary thought what might develop from there!
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    I got 3M safety earmuffs specifically for my kid. They reduce the noise to a more manageable level, which is useful if either of us have a headache. But we sort of got used to the noise, so we don't use them much.
    - wpietri 6y ago
      Seconded! I love my 3M earmuffs, low-end Peltors. I can add earbuds underneath them if I want a little music or generated noise to completely remove audio distractions.
ashtonkem 6y ago
Arguably drunk people are the core user group of Uber. Aside from consultants and high powered executives, most people (pre-pandemic) went to bars far more often than they go to airports or other places where taking a personal car is inconvenient or otherwise illegal.
- airstrike 6y ago
  Got to include investment bankers in that list too
m463 6y ago
No, the question is -- can an uber driver work this one-handed while eating and driving?
toto444 6y ago
This is indeed a good test. I realized how bad Youtube UX is when I was using it to find children's song with my baby in my strong (right) arm. That's when I realized how much swiping, scrolling and tapping you need to do when you use Youtube. Also the recommendations were really a pain in the ass. We watch Youtube in 3 different languages and that is beyond the ability of the recommendation engine.

smichel17 6y ago

I think your complaint is justified. I am currently tired, going to sleep momentarily, but not otherwise impaired, and it took me almost a full minute of staring at the screen, trying to figure out what you were trying to demonstrate.. Because it wasn't immediately clear to me if it was asking you to do something or if it was just a random screenshot to show the uniform grayness of the interface.

rntksi 6y ago

Our country had multiple car ride company launch a few years back and you could choose between Uber, Grab, Gojek, etc to get someone to drive you. The UI for Uber was the cleanest and most easy to use. I remember having to just do 2 steps to get a ride, as opposed to about 6 steps on the other offering the same service (e.g. Grab: choose "Ride", input Pin, input current location, input where to go, tap book, tap confirm) Uber got out of the market way back, and the other ones are now getting up to speed to how advanced its user flow was. Grab now ask you to input where you want to go to first for example (like Uber back in the days).

diydsp 6y ago

One of the most prominent features is the request to give live location... not a totally dark ui pattern, but certainly one with consequences.

quelltext 6y ago

I've never used Uber but I've used other apps (Lyft). And I have to say it looks pretty clear to me (of course I'm not drunk right now so...). I don't expect you to understand the app if you use it for the first time when drunk, but I feel like if you've used it sober before and they didn't just completely change the UI you should be able to grok it. Maybe not if you are completely dead drunk, but I'd say you'd have the same problem with other apps you don't have already internalized completely. What apps do you think would not have confused you in your state at the time?

conductr 6y ago

Wow. That looks like you photoshopped 2 screens together and put an Ad on it.

kangaroozach 6y ago

Yea way too much going on here.