SMS Deliverability at Uber
While interviewing with Uber for a Product Manager role, I proposed a solution to a common problem in the A2P messaging space: low SMS deliverability. Presented with an open-ended problem statement, I followed a user-centric design process to investigate and pitch a plan to address OTP SMS delivery failure, impacting thousands of active users globally attempting to leverage Uber Eats and Uber Rides.
Product Manager Candidate | Uber Communications Platform | November 2021
Problem Statement
The following is a paraphrased case prompt provided by Uber.
SMS messages, and particularly one-time passwords (OTPs), are a critical part of the Uber user experience, necessary for phone number verification during new account creation as well as retrieving lost or forgotten credentials. Two KPIs that Uber focuses on in this space are cost ($) and overall deliverability, i.e., rate at which an SMS is successfully delivered to the customer.
The SMS ecosystem is complex. It consists of different SMS providers in different regions, with each provider having independent aggregators through which an SMS is routed.
Over the past month, imagine that there has been a significant decrease (> 5%) in SMS deliverability, which is capable of generating a lot of friction for users looking to sign up or sign in to Uber. How should we diagnose the issue, identify the root cause, and craft and execute on a possible solution to stem the impact to users and the business?
Early Ideation
Prior to my interview with the Communications Platform team at Uber, I had no experience with large-scale A2P messaging on any channel, be it SMS, voice call, email, etc. However, this space resonated with me given my past experience working with international students and observing the real-life implications of splintered communication. I welcomed the opportunity to research ways to strengthen Uber’s SMS platform and glean some tips for my own long-distance interactions.
I drew inspiration from my time at Blackstone and outlined a strategy with which to approach low SMS deliverability at Uber. At Blackstone, I led ideation and design of a chatbot for investors subscribing to funds electronically. Primarily, this taught me:
Managing partnerships with external vendors requires both transparency and responsible withholding of sensitive information. While SaaS vendors offer a breadth of data given their exposure to multiple clients, at times, the same vendors restrict and risk internal business goals. This is key to remember while considering integrations with vendors like Twilio and MessageBird to improve SMS deliverability.
Users receiving communications from apps or websites respond well to familiar, consistent messages, and respond poorly to unfamiliar or redundant messages.
Though I was a stranger to the world of mass user-facing communications while interviewing at Uber, I weaved these two findings into my proposal for addressing SMS deliverability issues that the company faced.
Design Process
To understand the decline in SMS deliverability and form an opinion on the most effective solutions, I followed a design process emphasizing user experience and industry best practices. I reasoned that a sustainable fix to SMS delivery failure would result in unblocking user access to core app functions, regaining user trust, and complying with long-term A2P SMS guidelines set by telephony vendors.
My solutioning process followed this sequence of steps:
Identify Missing Information and Success Criteria
Define Feature Vision and Business Impact
Assess Potential Root Causes
Explore Solution Alternatives
Recommend Best Option
Plan Execution
See my final presentation below.
Outcomes
My final proposal was to design and implement an SMS Quality Control System. I reasoned that by enforcing consistency and predictability into Uber’s SMS communications, users would be more willing to engage with Uber SMS, and vendors would be less likely to block Uber SMS.
In reality, Uber certainly leans on quality checks and last-mile rules to regulate email traffic, for example, but in the SMS space, quality control is not the most effective solution to deliverability drops. To counter the forces that lower A2P SMS deliverability, Uber utilizes a smart-routing system to dynamically allocate high-priority SMS to vendors that exhibit strong deliverability over a specified look-back timeframe.
One other piece of feedback from my interviewers on my approach to addressing low SMS deliverability was to consider vendor costs. I had approached the issue from a purely user- and vendor-oriented lens, but in practice, SMS costs heavily influence business and strategy decisions.
As for me — I got the job! I know a lot more about A2P communications than I once did.