redesignAnswer: The easiest, most productive way to improve @Uber screen is…

Rakesh Agrawal

… to add the color of the vehicle.

Having the picture of the driver, type of vehicle or license plate number isn’t useful when you’re trying to spot the car from a block and a half way.

You can see color from a block and a half or two blocks. (Depending on the size of the blocks, of course.) If you’re well versed in vehicle models, you might be able to see it from half a block or a block. (Unless it’s a Prius, of which there are many.) You certainly can’t read the license plate until the driver is a few feet away.

The driver’s picture is useless until the driver is right in front of you. Maybe when the driver is within 10-20 feet, the map and the vehicle info zooms into a picture of the driver.

Putting the color of the vehicle would be a huge improvement.

It would make it easer:

  • For passengers to find their driver.
  • Get passengers to hold their phone out or otherwise signal the driver.

It would also prevent incidents like what happened to me on Sunday — the driver sped past me at at least 30 mph. And then backed up several hundred feet in one-way traffic. Clearly unacceptable in my book.

redesignQuiz: What’s the easiest, most productive way to improve this @uber screen?

Rakesh Agrawal2 Comments

Difficulty: Moderate. Sam got it in about 15 seconds, but she is brilliant.

One small change to this screen would greatly enhance this Uber experience. What is it?

Uber screen

redesignAnswer: What the paper clip is for

Rakesh Agrawal

I use the paper clip primarily for ejecting SIMs. I also some times use it to reset routers and other similar devices.

Other people responded: to clean keyboards (I use business cards for that) and hanging things. Most paper clips probably won’t bear much load, but you could hang light things.

Apparently there a couple of other things people discovered in that photo.

redesignAnswer – Why I was able to buy a $140 ticket for $91 on Expedia

Rakesh Agrawal2 Comments

The key to solving this puzzle was checking the dates and the times.

Airfares, as many people know, have advance purchase requirements. Although these vary based on market, these are generally 21, 14, 7, 3 and 1. The closer you get to the travel date, the higher the fares are. A 21-day advance purchase is usually the cheapest. It gets more expensive at 14 days, more at 7 and so on. (These are general guidelines; airfare pricing is mind-numbingly complicated.)

There are various systems that price tickets. (Known in the industry as GDSs.) These systems are based in different places. Virgin America uses Sabre. Sabre’s systems are in the central time zone. (Even though Virgin America itself is based in San Francisco and the flight was originating in Los Angeles.)

To me, the most logical way to test if you met the advance purchase requirement would be based on airport of departure. But it’s tested based on where the computers processing the ticket are.

My flight date was two weeks from yesterday.

So as soon as the clock struck 12:01 a.m. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I didn’t meet the 14-day advance purchase requirements and Virgin America upped my fare to $140. But because Expedia’s tickets are processed on the West Coast, I still met the 14-day mark. So I got the 14-day advance purchase fare of $91, instead of the 7-day advance purchase fare of $140.

redesignQuiz: Why was I able to buy a $140 Virgin America ticket from Expedia for $91?

Rakesh Agrawal1 Comment

Difficulty level: Hard. But you can solve this without detailed knowledge of the airline industry.

Last night, I was trying to a book ticket LAX-SFO on July 14. I’m going to YxYY in Palm Springs and need a way to get back home. Around 9:55, I did a Kayak search, as I often do, to start the process. I saw that Virgin America had a fare of $91. I went to the Virgin America site and saw the $91 fare. After I selected the seat, I got a message that my seat was taken. I re-ran the search and saw that the lowest fare on July 14 was now $140. I checked on Priceline. Same thing.

I looked at the clock. It was now 10:03. I knew exactly what to do: I went to Expedia and booked the ticket for $91. In addition to inconveniencing me, Virgin America lost whatever they have to pay to Expedia.

Why was I able to book the ticket for $91?

Note that this is not a one-time fluke where there is a fare mistake. I have taken advantage of those in the past; I once flew roundtrip business class to London for less than $91.

If you’re in the travel industry, instead of commenting, please send your answer to redesign@agrawals.org.

The solution is here.

Apple’s lax credit card security

Rakesh Agrawal

Whenever I shop, I do market research. Last night I was at the Apple Store in Union Square in San Francisco.

An increasingly common thing for retailers to do is ask for ID on credit card purchases. I’ve had this happen at major retailers like Target, Macy’s, Walgreens and Apple. It’s also really common just about everywhere in Vegas.

But according to card association rules, you can’t require ID to complete a transaction. When retailers ask me for ID, I generally say that they can’t require an ID.

There are some circumstances where they shouldn’t complete the transaction. Last night was one of them. I had accidentally grabbed the card that I had ordered for my assistant. It wasn’t signed on the back and my assistant has a very female name. The Apple store clerk clearly looked at the name and went ahead and sold me an iPad Air anyway.

I’m joining OLO’s advisory board

Rakesh Agrawal

I’m pleased to announce that I’m joining the advisory board of OLO. You can see the press release here. Forbes recently had a great write up of OLO.

OLO provides online ordering for companies such as Five Guys, Noodles & Co. and Cold Stone Creamery. Guests can order from their smartphones and pick up their order in store without waiting in line.

I met founder Noah Glass earlier this year and was very impressed by his commitment to helping restaurants incorporate mobile technologies.

Mobile has changed a lot of spaces already; I think there’s a lot of potential to improve the restaurant experience for both consumers and operators:

  • A better consumer experience. We’ve all experienced the lunch rush. Your stomach is grumbling and you just want to eat. With order ahead, you can bypass the line and get straight to your food. Mobile ordering also increases order accuracy because you can see what you’re ordering. I was recently at a bar in Utah and ordered a Hop Notch IPA. The bartender thought I said half nachos. Oops.
  • Increased throughput for restaurants. People who know what they want aren’t turned off by a long line and go elsewhere.
  • Reduced operational costs for restaurants. Miscommunication in ordering and unclaimed orders cost restaurants money.

As I’ve noted repeatedly in my writings, local is a hard slog and OLO has shown the dedication and perseverance necessary to succeed in local. The company started off with mobile ordering by text message in 2005. It is also well financed, having recently received a strategic investment from PayPal as part of a $5 million round.

Noah and team are off to a great start and I look forward to working with them to help restaurants take advantage of mobile.

Google Going Too Far?

Rakesh Agrawal

The WSJ reported Google is creating a watch and a game console. I discuss with Lance Ulanoff, Mashable, and the CNBC team on whether the company is spreading itself too thin.

Video.