JTBD · First-Principles

Uber Eats — Group Order Adoption

Group Order has existed for years and still isn't the default for shared meals. A Jobs-to-be-Done teardown of why — and 15 specific changes to fix it.

Role
Solo PM — JTBD research
Method
Jobs-to-be-Done, first-principles teardown
Scope
Group ordering flow, food delivery
Deliverable
JTBD teardown + 15 proposed changes
The job, reframed

The job isn't "place one order" — it's "let everyone get what they want without 10 messages"

Group Order's adoption problem isn't a feature gap, it's a framing gap. The feature is built to consolidate one order; the actual job people hire it for is coordinating a group of different appetites and budgets with the least possible back-and-forth — and it currently doesn't do that job well.

15
Specific changes identified through the JTBD teardown
1
Core job the feature fails to do well, by first-principles analysis
Representative changes

A sample from the 15 identified, grouped by where the job breaks down

DISCOVERY

Surface Group Order earlier

Make the group flow visible at the moment a group decision is being made — not buried after a solo cart is already started.

COORDINATION

Live shareable cart link

A single link the whole group can edit live, replacing the screenshot-and-text-back-and-forth workaround people use today.

PAYMENT

Built-in bill-splitting

Split by item or evenly, settled in-app — removing the most commonly cited reason groups default to one person's card and informal IOUs.

DECISION SPEED

Time-boxed item voting

A lightweight voting mechanic for shared items, so the group doesn't stall waiting on one slow responder.