A contextual shared-ride concept for Uber, triggered when two riders are likely heading the same way.
I developed this as a solo semester-long project for VCODE 302, Visual Communication Design Studio IV at TED University. The brief was to choose a widely used app and design a new ephemeral feature that genuinely fit it. Defining what counted as ephemeral was part of the assignment, so the trigger mattered as much as the screens. I chose Uber.
Uber's existing ride options are optimized for individual trips. There was no mechanism for riders heading the same direction to a concert, an airport, or a university to find each other and split the cost. The gap was not only financial. It was a coordination problem. Two people going to the same place at the same time had no way to know about each other.
The brief required an ephemeral use case, meaning a feature that activates under specific conditions instead of staying visible all the time. That constraint shaped the concept from the start. The feature needed a trigger, time pressure, and a clear reason to act now.
Desktop storyboard outlining the Uber Share! concept from shared intent to shared pickup.
Current experience without Uber Share! (top) versus the contextual shared-ride flow (bottom).
Before designing the feature itself, I analyzed Uber's existing design system as part of the course work. I looked closely at its typography, restrained color logic, button hierarchy, and navigation patterns so the concept would read like something Uber could plausibly ship inside the product rather than beside it.
The mechanic starts when a rider enters a destination inside a shareable zone such as a concert hall, airport, university, or another high-traffic location. At that moment the app surfaces a contextual alert offering a shared ride at half the cost and showing a countdown because another rider is already waiting. That countdown is the ephemeral trigger. If the rider acts within the window, the shared route becomes available. If not, the opportunity closes.
Uber Share! appears contextually on the home screen when a shareable destination is detected.
Rider 1 flow
I structured the feature around two separate rider journeys. Rider 1 creates the share request, enters a matching queue, and commits before a driver is confirmed. The critical moment in that path is the lock: once the app finds the ride, cancellation is no longer allowed. Because Rider 1 is picked up second, the interface also has to explain co-rider proximity, route recalculation, and drop-off order without losing clarity.
Ride selection with Uber Share! listed first and average wait time visible.
Matching screen while the app looks for another rider going the same direction.
Match found. The route is being calculated and cancellation is locked.
Driver details and co-rider proximity are shown while Rider 1 remains the second stop.
Pickup progress while the driver heads to the co-rider first.
Drop-off state for Rider 1 as the second stop.
Rider 2 experiences the same trip from the opposite entry point. Instead of creating the request, Rider 2 joins an active share that already has a timer running. That changes the pacing of the flow, the decision point, and the route order. Rider 2 is picked up first and leaves the car first, so the interface has to make that asymmetry visible.
Rider 2 flow
Once Rider 2 enters the ride, the interface keeps the other rider's profile, rating, proximity, and drop-off order visible. The shared trip has to stay legible from first pickup to first exit.
Rider 2 joins an existing Uber Share! request while the countdown is still active.
Pickup state for Rider 2 with co-rider and driver details visible.
Drop-off state for Rider 2 with co-rider rating prompt.
The project went through two full iterations. The first draft established the concept and basic flow. The revised version separated both rider perspectives more clearly and refined the intermediate states across each journey. I also used five target groups to test where the feature should appear and why: budget-conscious riders, eco-conscious riders, event and airport travelers, campus communities, and late-night riders who care about safety.
Figma working board comparing the first draft and revised iterations side by side.
I completed the project as a feature concept resolved inside Uber's existing visual and interaction language. The final submission included before-and-after storyboards, interactive prototypes for both rider flows, and side-by-side videos comparing the solo and shared ride paths.
I received an AA for the work in VCODE 302. It was the highest grade across both semesters of the core UX design studio. The project was evaluated not only as a screen concept, but as a full product-system proposal with a defined trigger, two-sided flow, and tested use case.
Solo booking flow without Uber Share!.
Booking flow with Uber Share!, surfaced contextually and completed as a shared ride.