This should be my first post on Medium and I'm excited to share my thoughts on Grab — the app I use daily for various needs. In this post, I'll put on my "Blue Hats" to highlight features of Grab that I find beneficial for users and that often solve pain points.

Disclaimer 1. These are my personal opinions as a Grab customer. 2. The points I discuss are based on my own experiences and knowledge. 3. There are two types of users here: customers and drivers. 4. Feel free to add your thoughts or feedback to the points I present.

Grab Group Order

My first impression of the Group Order feature was: "Grab is amazing!" One of the best parts of this feature is the payment system, where customers can easily pay using their own wallets. This is a one-stop solution, especially for customers who struggle with splitting bills or collecting payments from friends. There are also two other payment options: everyone paying the same amount, or the group creator covering the entire bill. These options make the feature more flexible and tailored to different situations.

In terms of pricing, the Group Order feature offers great discounts — the more people join, the cheaper the overall cost becomes. Another highlight is the excellent customer experience: from the initial onboarding to the delivery of food, Grab keeps users informed with updates on who's joining the order and the details of the items. Notifications are sent whenever there's an update on the order. Overall, Grab's Group Order offers an easy-to-understand, rewarding experience with the best price offers.

However, there are a few areas where the feature to make it more outstanding:

• Allow customers to add participants using registered contacts in Grab. This nice-to-have feature should ease customer to join the Group Order.
• Add an order log to the activity history, as currently, only the host sees the log. Meanwhile, as a participant only get log in the payment history without information for what payment for.
• Enable delivery to different addresses. This should be complex and we need to do more discovering about the worthiness vs risk. But sometimes there will be scenario when participants isn't in the same place.

Grab Scan Driver's QR to Pay

This new feature allows customers to pay for ride services directly. After discussing it with my partner, we tried to figure out why Grab released this feature. My partner suggested that it could be to address the long and costly process of topping up, which requires extra fees for each top-up. I questioned why not just use tokenization? But not everyone is familiar with tokenization, and the process is also quite lengthy, requiring an active phone number linked to the bank's ATM card issuer.

Unlike my partner, I thought this feature was designed to help customers pay additional costs like tolls, parking fees, and others. Alternatively, it could be useful when drivers don't have enough cash for change. I formed this hypothesis before I tried the feature. Two days ago, I used it for a trip to Alam Sutera. I chose cash payment, expecting to switch to the Scan Driver's QR to Pay method, but it didn't work after selecting cash as the payment method.

During the onboarding process, Grab highlights the Scan Driver's QR to Pay option so that customers are aware of it. When I tried the feature later, the driver's QR appeared correctly, and it worked smoothly for making payments. Another positive is that the price discount was the same for both payment methods.

In my opinion, the Scan Driver's QR to Pay feature needs further development, particularly regarding its implementation. It should be explored more, especially as an alternative payment method when customers select cash. However, Grab also needs to consider the driver's expectations and ensure that the benefits for drivers remain the same as when cash payments are used.

From a customer's perspective, I believe the Scan Driver's QR to Pay feature also provides a good solution for drivers, allowing them to receive their settlements faster. As I've heard from drivers, it often takes at least two days for settlement funds to be available. With this feature, the funds could be processed in real-time, and drivers would have more flexibility in choosing their settlement accounts.

Weather Prediction & Map My City

I'm really impressed with these two features, as I believe they're a smart way for Grab to gather more data for training their AI. Beyond that, I have a feeling these features will help Grab offer fairer prices, more accurate time estimates, better vehicle recommendations, and more. However, this is just my hypothesis on why Grab launched them. If the actual reason differs, my recommendations in the end may be off the mark.

As a customer, I think Grab did a great job with the Weather Prediction feature. It's found in the order tracking section before the driver arrives. When I tap the cloud symbol, a pop-up appears showing different weather types I can select. It's simple, with just four weather options, making it easy for me to contribute.

Here are some points that I believe could maximize the use of the weather feature:

• Grab should explain the purpose of the weather feature so customers understand why they should contribute.
• From a customer's perspective, this feature doesn't offer much benefit because there are no rewards. If Grab develops it further, I'm sure more customers would be willing to contribute their data.
• This feature should be expanded beyond just the pick-up phase, also covering the delivery process. This way, more data can be collected. However, Grab should ensure customer safety, especially if it's implemented for motorbike rides.

Moving on to another related feature, Map My City, I feel this one lacks initial exposure. It's not easy to find and there hasn't been much notification or campaign to promote it on the homepage. But again, I trust Grab has tailored the rollout plan for this feature. The onboarding process is much better compared to the Weather Prediction feature, as it clearly explains why customers should contribute, and Grab has set up a campaign for contributions. Additionally, there's a verification process for contributions, which is great for reaching remote areas in Indonesia, making this feature especially suitable for the local culture.

Final Thoughts

To wrap up, I truly love Grab and the innovative features it continues to bring to the table. From the Weather Prediction to Map My City, these features showcase Grab's commitment to enhancing user experience and collecting valuable data for better services. Grab has done an excellent job in delivering practical and intuitive solutions that simplify our daily lives. However, like any great service, there is always room for improvement, and I'm excited to see how Grab will evolve and continue to surprise us. After all, it's not just about the features, but about how they make us feel like part of something bigger — a community that's always moving forward together.