UX design in intercultural context — Uber’s struggle in China as a case
In August 2016, Uber China was merged with Didi Chuxing, the ride-sharing behemoth that now dominates China’s market, ending its 30-month battle in Mainland China.
The merger came as a surprise to many. By June 2016, Uber, with its aggressive capital venturing and innovative marketing, had set up operations in over 60 Chinese cities and was on its way to conquer 100 by the end of that year. In less than two months, the company’s operation came to a full halt.
Localization impacts user experience in more ways than we know and in that sense copying user experience and taking it to other cultures can often be risky.
Some argue that Uber’s merger with Didi should not be considered a total failure. From a market share perspective on one hand, Uber successfully (and perhaps strategically) disrupted the Chinese market and Didi’s global expansion. From UX point of view on the other hand, Uber’s operational struggle in China could be explained as unsuccessful localization.
“…for Chinese consumers immediate responses are almost always expected..”
Not hotline, only emails
One of the biggest complaints with Uber in China was the fact that customers were not provided means to get timely assistance — no phone line or chatbot, only help tickets can be submitted. Customers only waited to be reached. This ‘feature’ annoyed Chinese users and directly undermined Uber’s credibility in China.
This may not seem like too big of an issue in the US or Canada. But for Chinese consumers immediate responses are almost always expected (consider this: delivery time for online shopping is usually within 0–2 days. Chinese consumers have ridiculous high expectations on service industry efficiency).
On top, email communication is not commonly used among regular Chinese and remains mainly in business and formal settings. To them, Uber China’s help system is not helpful at all.
Didi, a company that knows well the Chinese market and users’ pains and desires, already had a similar product running for some time.
Taxis are cheap to begin with
A european or a Canadian in China is often amazed at the cheap taxi fare and is able to brag to their family at home how they can take a taxi to work daily.
Uber’s first product launched in China was called ‘Uber Black’, which was tailored to business elites for high end chauffeur service. During this stage, Uber had to subside Uber driver’s wages in order to keep them in business. It was not until later when their ‘People’s Ride’ was launched in non-major cities until they started to get busy.
By that time, unfortunately, Didi, a company that knows well the Chinese market and users’ pains and desires, already had a similar product running for some time. This means that Uber had missed an opportunity to occupy the market but found themselves in more fierce competition.
Core Team far removed
Uber’s core product team, during the company’s 30-month sojourn in China, were remoting from San Fran, while Didi had it’s core team of 5500 right here in Beijing. As some former staff pointed out, they had to report feedback to the San Fran HQ and the communication was simply not fast enough.
More so, a founding staff member recalled that Uber had intention to keep the marketing and user experience process local and was successful to some extent by employing local management. But the core product design (including fee structures), communicated through what Uber calls a ‘Playbook’, was handed over to staff as formula.
Uber is surely not the first Silicon Valley poster boy who came with confidence and a strong culture on human centered design, but struggled to make the same wave in a culture that’s radically different.
No doubt, the challenges are enormous as regular UX practices also cross paths with intercultural practices. Localization impacts user experience in more ways than we know and in that sense copying user experience and taking it to other cultures can often be risky.
I believe that localization must include a good understanding of cultural norms and nuances in order to be successful.