30-Second Delay in Ride Matching

Requirements Clarification & Assessment

1. Objective Understanding:

   • Primary Goal: Determine if a 30-second waiting period in the shared ride algorithm can improve ride matching efficiency and overall operational effectiveness for Lyft.
   • Stakeholders: Identify who benefits most from this change — riders, drivers, or Lyft as a company.
   • Baseline Metrics: Establish current metrics for ride matching without the waiting period, including match rates, ride completion rates, and average waiting times.

2. Key Metrics Identification:

   • Primary Metrics:
     • Match Rate
     • Ride Completion Rate
     • Average Waiting Time
     • Driver Utilization
     • Cost Efficiency
   • Secondary Metrics:
     • Customer Satisfaction
     • Driver Satisfaction
     • Revenue per Ride
     • Cancellation Rates

3. User Experience Consideration:

   • How will this waiting period be communicated to users?
   • What might be the potential user drop-off rate due to the additional waiting time?

4. Experiment Design Consideration:

   • Ensure a randomized controlled trial (RCT) setup.
   • Define control and treatment groups clearly.
   • Ensure the groups are comparable in terms of user characteristics and ride patterns.