UBER
Emotion-Led Experience Strategy
Redefining loyalty by designing what matters to riders
Client: Uber EMEA
Agency: C Space London
My Role: CX & Experience Design Director
Scope: CX Strategy, Experience Mapping, Insight-to-Activation Toolkit
Engagement Type: Agency-led strategic partnership embedded into regional delivery
In Brief
- Loyalty was fading, and utility alone wasn’t enough to grow.
- We discovered that emotion, not features, shaped rider trust.
- I led the design of a framework that turned those feelings into action.
- We launched a full toolkit used across Product, Ops, Marketing, and Support.
- Uber shifted its focus from just performance to experience that builds loyalty.
1. Challenge
Loyalty was fading, and utility alone wasn’t enough to grow.
Uber faced a challenge in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa as rider loyalty declined. Despite fast and affordable rides, riders felt disconnected from the brand. Growth slowed, and new competitors emerged.
The issue lay not in the app but in the experience. Riders judged speed and price, but also how it made them feel. To build long-term loyalty, Uber needed to translate emotional insight into scalable and market-wide delivery.
2. Insight
We discovered that emotion, not features, shaped rider trust.
Most experience maps show what people do. We built one around what people feel. We spent nine months listening, observing, and validating:
— 60 ride-alongs in the UK, Egypt, Spain, and South Africa
— 4,443 participants across surveys, workshops, and online communities
— A mix of new, current, former, and prospective users
This work surfaced 11 Moments That Matter: key emotional points that directly shape loyalty, trust, and brand perception. These moments weren’t opinions. They were validated through regression analysis, mapped to user sentiment, and tied to real feedback on satisfaction, trust, and chance to return.
3. Change
I led the design of a framework that turned those feelings into action.
As CX Experience Design Director, I led the design of a new strategic layer: an experience system grounded in emotion and built for action.
Not another insight report, but a full delivery toolkit used across Product, Operations, and Marketing. We created:
— An interactive journey map with embedded data
— A Playbook to guide local teams in applying the insights
— Innovation Platforms aligned to Uber’s strategic priorities
— A microsite and dashboard built into Uber’s own internal systems
This wasn’t insight presented as content, but designed to be scaled.
4. Delivery
We launched a full toolkit used across Product, Ops, Marketing, and Support.
The project made an impact from the early stages because it was embedded deep within Uber’s teams.
We launched the toolkit five weeks ahead of schedule. To align our delivery, we co-led activation sessions with regional leads and ensured that the tools were available where decisions were made.
— 4,443 riders engaged
— 11 key emotional moments defined and adopted
— Toolkit launched early and integrated into EMEA planning
— Insights embedded in 4 departments: Product, Ops, Marketing, Support
The interactive journey map visualises the whole rider experience, highlighting key opportunities for innovation.
The journey map has hot spots linked to the Moments That Matter, which are connected to the related experience platform opportunity areas
4,443 riders engaged
Cross-market research in the UK, Spain, Egypt, and South Africa
60 ride-alongs
Captured the real feeling of using Uber, not just the function
11 moments that drive loyalty
Validated through behavioural and emotional data
Used across 4 teams
Insights embedded in Product, Ops, Marketing, and Support
5. Impact
Uber shifted its focus from just performance to experience that builds loyalty.
What mattered wasn’t ride times or app flows, but rather designing what people remember. Uber teams shifted from a feature-led mindset to an experience-led approach. The emotional map became the foundation for shaping loyalty today.
Uber didn’t just get insights. They got a system to act on them.
"The impact of this work could really have only been realised through a strong strategic partnership and C Space understood early on that more than a detailed map of our customer experience, what we really needed were the tools to activate and embed this in the business."
Daniela Nortjé
Customer Experience
Insights & Innovation
Uber EMEA
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