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by wpietri 1958 days ago
I agree, that's a lot. High/drunk people are legitimate users, especially for something like Uber!

Another heuristic I user is, "can a person with an upset toddler work this?" Spending time around parents with small children made it clear that even the smartest person can end up with what is effectively a cognitive impairment if they are trying to keep a small child alive. Attention? What's that?

4 comments

Arguably drunk people are the core user group of Uber. Aside from consultants and high powered executives, most people (pre-pandemic) went to bars far more often than they go to airports or other places where taking a personal car is inconvenient or otherwise illegal.
Got to include investment bankers in that list too
> Another heuristic I user is, "can a person with an upset toddler work this?

Incidentally, another UI that fails this is those automated answering services that “cleverly” let you answer with your voice instead of “press 1 for whatever”. The screaming toddler (or pet) will repeatedly short-circuit the process and get interpreted as an incomprehensible answer.

Oh, my gosh. I got noise canceling headphones SPECIFICALLY for my kids - only to learn they block low sounds, but not high pitched screaming.
I got 3M safety earmuffs specifically for my kid. They reduce the noise to a more manageable level, which is useful if either of us have a headache. But we sort of got used to the noise, so we don't use them much.
Seconded! I love my 3M earmuffs, low-end Peltors. I can add earbuds underneath them if I want a little music or generated noise to completely remove audio distractions.
That’s a good thing. You can listen to what you want to without that nagging feeling you might be neglecting your kids!
If it happens often enough, you might train your kids to use the high pitch screaming sound though, as that will get them the attention. Scary thought what might develop from there!
This is indeed a good test. I realized how bad Youtube UX is when I was using it to find children's song with my baby in my strong (right) arm. That's when I realized how much swiping, scrolling and tapping you need to do when you use Youtube. Also the recommendations were really a pain in the ass. We watch Youtube in 3 different languages and that is beyond the ability of the recommendation engine.
No, the question is -- can an uber driver work this one-handed while eating and driving?