How Uber Manages People

Hi, GeekTimes. I would like to continue the topic of interesting about Uber after yesterday's post and share the free translation of the investigation of The New York Times about the methodology for raising LTV drivers and how to maneuver with the balance within the Uber ecosystem.

According to experts, the lack of employment contracts with drivers reduces the company's direct costs by 25%.

While drivers want to spend a minimum amount of time waiting for a new order, Uber want to provide transport for customers as quickly as possible. The first is beneficial when their colleagues are fewer on the line, the second when there are more.

At the same time there is another problem. When the number of drivers on the line falls, Uber introduces incentive factors that increase the cost of the trip, but this pushes passengers away and contradicts Uber’s long-term strategy of becoming an industry leader.
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Also, the stable growth of the company is threatened by high turnover, which could lead to a crisis, not to mention competition with Lyft. To increase working hours and motivate taxi drivers to work in less profitable areas, the company has hired hundreds of specialists in the field of social sciences and data analysis. Then we will talk about the ingenious, literally hypnotic techniques in the gamification system in Uber.

Company analysts have found that after the 25th order the outflow of drivers is rapidly declining. Therefore, Uber introduced badges for service, for conversations with passengers, for the number of kilometers, and so on. Also, drivers are always available statistics on orders that they completed this week, how much money they earned and what average rating from passengers received. All these metrics stimulate rivalry and an obsessive desire to stay in the game.

In the field of behavioral economics, there is a phenomenon called “wage targeting,” which occurs when an employee has the opportunity to independently determine a work schedule. The phenomenon is that a person finishes a working day at the time of reaching a certain goal (minimum wage). Uber is trying to inflate this amount. Each time after clicking on the “Exit application” button, the system sends a notification from the series “You only have $ 10 to $ 330 left. Do you really want to leave?". Such messages exploit the common behavioral trait of people who like to set goals, prompting them to drive more time.

YouTube and Netflix automatically launch the following videos trying to keep their viewers as long as possible. By analogy with video hosting Uber deliberately sends a new order to drivers before the previous one is completed. The “fear” of idleness motivates people to take not the most profitable order. In a behavioral economy, the following fact exists: people prefer to avoid loss rather than gain.

To combat the "sagging", the application indicates in which part of the city they arise and where they may arise in the near future. The most amazing thing is that Uber managers sign with female names and send messages like “Hello, this concert will be over soon. Will you come there? ” It is even thought out that the satisfaction of women's requests at the subconscious level is laid down in men, of whom the majority among Uber drivers.

Thank you very much for your attention.