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I use Uber from time to time and enjoy it immensely. I agree with several of the article's things Uber could have done better, but so much of the whole outcry

I use Uber from time to time and enjoy it immensely. I agree with several of the article's things Uber could have done better, but so much of the whole outcry is people not wanting to take responsibility for their own actions.

mikeash 15y ago
It sounds like this is too extreme to apply a blanket label of "responsibility for their own actions". People have certain reasonable expectations of what something will cost, especially when it's a service they use habitually. If you suddenly change that cost by a factor of 4 or more, you can't reasonably expect people to spot that and change their behavior accordingly unless you make it extremely obvious. It doesn't sound like Uber made the surcharge as visible as the size would require. I imagine this will attract some replies which say that it's still their fault no matter how unreasonable one might consider the price change to be. If you're planning to write one, then before you do, please consider this question: do you study a taxi's rates from top to bottom before accepting the ride every time you take a taxi?
- krobertson 15y ago
  I agree that blame isn't all on the user... but most articles seem to be very one directional. Even the person in the article mentions seeing the warning but quickly dismissing it. Think how often you see an alert pop up and dismiss it without really reading it. I think even if Uber did a better job of notifying people, you'd still see an outcry.
  - mikeash 15y ago
    That you'd still see an outcry is an indication, I think, that you need to do even more to notify people. If you're going to charge 4-5x your normal rate, you need to make sure people know it before they accept it. Have the driver tell them, "We're currently charging 4x our normal rate, just so you know." Make the app pop it a sample fare in big numbers. Do something to make it absolutely blindingly obvious, not an alert that you can dismiss without really reading. If there's no reasonable way to accomplish that, then perhaps that's a sign that the surcharge is inherently unreasonable. Even if everybody was completely aware of what they were getting into, there would probably still be an outcry. But it would be a completely different outcry, along the lines of "you're charging too much and taking advantage of people" instead of "you completely ripped me off".
  - kmfrk 15y ago
    It's probably also a factor that a lot of people were fairly inebriated on New Year's Eve. :) It's one thing to create UX for the optimal user to notify them of the price surge, but people celebrating New Year's Eve?

mikeash 15y ago

It sounds like this is too extreme to apply a blanket label of "responsibility for their own actions". People have certain reasonable expectations of what something will cost, especially when it's a service they use habitually. If you suddenly change that cost by a factor of 4 or more, you can't reasonably expect people to spot that and change their behavior accordingly unless you make it extremely obvious. It doesn't sound like Uber made the surcharge as visible as the size would require. I imagine this will attract some replies which say that it's still their fault no matter how unreasonable one might consider the price change to be. If you're planning to write one, then before you do, please consider this question: do you study a taxi's rates from top to bottom before accepting the ride every time you take a taxi?

krobertson 15y ago
I agree that blame isn't all on the user... but most articles seem to be very one directional. Even the person in the article mentions seeing the warning but quickly dismissing it. Think how often you see an alert pop up and dismiss it without really reading it. I think even if Uber did a better job of notifying people, you'd still see an outcry.
- mikeash 15y ago
  That you'd still see an outcry is an indication, I think, that you need to do even more to notify people. If you're going to charge 4-5x your normal rate, you need to make sure people know it before they accept it. Have the driver tell them, "We're currently charging 4x our normal rate, just so you know." Make the app pop it a sample fare in big numbers. Do something to make it absolutely blindingly obvious, not an alert that you can dismiss without really reading. If there's no reasonable way to accomplish that, then perhaps that's a sign that the surcharge is inherently unreasonable. Even if everybody was completely aware of what they were getting into, there would probably still be an outcry. But it would be a completely different outcry, along the lines of "you're charging too much and taking advantage of people" instead of "you completely ripped me off".
- kmfrk 15y ago
  It's probably also a factor that a lot of people were fairly inebriated on New Year's Eve. :) It's one thing to create UX for the optimal user to notify them of the price surge, but people celebrating New Year's Eve?