Uber for Seniors and Poor Visibility

What happens when we simplify the Uber UI for seniors and people with poor vision?

Uber has a lot of sophisticated users, but being an Uber user is starting to require a nuanced understanding of their business. There is no simple “Order Car” button. Upon opening their app in Salt Lake City, I am confronted with the following options: uberX, uberSELECT, SUV, ACCESS, uberSKI, uberSKI XL, uberXL. Or in LA by the beach I see: POOL, uberX, SELECT, BLACK, SUV, LUX, ACCESS, uberXL; I just want to order a car. For anyone who has read The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, you could say Uber has serious ‘brand in brand’ identity issues.

I’ve been using Uber for a long time, so I get it, but what about my elderly aunt who needs to stop driving, or my 75 year old father, or the hundreds-of-thousands of people with poor vision, limited finger dexterity, or even just new users with a limited understanding of Uber’s complex business? Some of Uber’s UI/UX decisions border on disaster.

Some issues I see:

• Not respecting link color/convention
• Ambiguous buttons
• Extremely small font sizes
• Overly dynamic interfaces (e.g. Destination input field)
• Poor labelling

1. The destination input field is hidden, floating ambiguously behind the pickup location field, this UI makes no sense. I design software for a living, and it’s even hard for me to use.
2. Gestural controls for zooming the map are difficult for people with poor finger dexterity. Let’s add zoom and center buttons with labels, so people know what they do.
3. Seniors are automatically price conscious, so they don’t need to know the difference between uberX and uberXL and the myriad other options, just give them the cheapest option. Make it simple.
4. Also, I’d like to see how much my fare will cost before requesting a car, that should be a top-level option.

1. Again, let’s fix the problem with the phantom destination input field.
2. Let’s also make our links blue, so we know what tappable and what is not.

1. If I order a car, instead of presenting me with an ambiguous “X,” tell me what it does instead.
2. Also, take advantage of a branding opportunity. Use a title like “Requesting Your Uber” instead of just “Requesting.”

1. I think we can condense two views into one.
2. Let’s add some proper buttons to help understand what is clickable.
3. What color is my car? Tell me, don’t expect me to know based on a small picture.

Accessibility is always a big issue with software. As Uber has become ubiquitous, we need to ask whose problems are really being solved, and how much of an impact is that making in people’s lives? If the app is too hard to use for segments like seniors or people with poor vision or poor environmental visibility, this is a disservice to a greater compassionate society. Hopefully Uber can figure out how to address this.