Uber wants its riders to rate drivers as often as possible. Ideally, every rider would provide a rating for a driver on every trip. The company knows it cannot make this goal happen as ratings are optional within the app. A new feature in the Uber app could lead to more ratings for drivers, though. With the latest app update, riders now have the option to rate their drivers in the middle of a trip.
An Attempt To Get More Ratings On Drivers
Riders needed to wait until a trip was completed to rate drivers before this update. Now they can initiate a rating at any point during the trip as well. To the average person, this might seem like an unnecessary change. Why would a rider want to rate a driver before the end of a trip? Uber hopes the answer soon becomes “because they can”. When riders rate their drivers, the company gains valuable insight into its drivers.
Essentially, riders help Uber police its large pool of drivers. Uber keeps tabs on its drivers every time a rating or review is left by a rider. The company knows it doesn’t have to worry about drivers that constantly receive five-star reviews. On the other hand, drivers that receive lackluster ratings too often hurt the company in various ways. Riders help Uber identify problem drivers so that they can be removed from the platform.
Uber’s introduction of mid-trip ratings benefits the company more than anyone else. Simply put, the company wants to get more and more reviews for drivers. Riders don’t necessarily benefit from this change, and the same could be said for drivers. Uber believes a rider is more likely to leave a review with an extra chance to do so. While that approach might make sense, it remains to be seen how riders use this new option.
A Minor Change With Potentially Major Ramifications
For obvious reasons, this feature won’t be rolled out to drivers. Uber wants as much data as possible on its drivers. The company isn’t nearly as concerned about removing problem riders from the platform, as doing so hurts its bottom line. A relatively minor change to the Uber app could hurt drivers in the long run. In the end, Uber uses driver ratings to reduce its own need to check on drivers, and riders willingly handle this task each ride.
Dil Bole Oberoi
