Testing our rider app
Renewed admiration for our foodpanda riders
I recently decided to do a rider shift - both from a desire to dogfood our rider app, but more importantly, to better understand our riders’ day-to-day work, flows, and potential struggles.
It was very humbling.
I decided to do the session on my motorbike, which made the experience more relevant (as a most of our delivery folks use a motorbike) but also more challenging. My shift was during peak lunch hour in the CBD of Singapore - I did not need to wait to get orders!
Some observations:
- Parking a motorbike in the CBD is a nightmare. Our delivery partners who are on bicycles and e-scooters (or walkers) probably have it easier in this aspect!
- Basements of malls are a maze! I found it quite difficult to find certain restaurants, which was made harder as I was in the middle of peak lunch crowd.
- Delivering orders in offices took more time that I expected. Don’t underestimate the time needed to park, register, wait for lift and finding the office!
- Large orders are challenging! I had an order with 7 soups from a mala restaurant (yums yums) which was quite bulky (how to carry!) but more importantly, I needed to make sure the soup wouldn’t spill en route which would result in an unsatisfied customer!
- I probably looked very lost, but the delivery community is really strong. Some of them proactively helped me find my way and gave useful tips. Super grateful of how supportive they were.
- Thankfully, all vendors and customers I came across were friendly!
Our rider app was quite good. There were no major crashes or problems, though I did find room for improvements which I’ve since submitted to the relevant teams. Some were usability related (given my noob experience) while others were related to performance.
My shift only lasted a couple of hours, but it tired me more than I expected. I did end up with a better understanding of our delivery partners’ experience and am grateful for the role they play in delivering delightful experiences to our customers.
