[Project Video] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YP25NtEf6g)
[App Demo] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYYLr4HRV6o)
Uberick is a critical design piece re-imagining Uber-esque ride sharing services as the primary mode of transportation in the 1920s. The Uber model and app is applied to the traditional rickshaw and the personalization aspects are taken to an extreme by allowing riders to choose their car brand, a theme song, their driver’s attire, and the manner in which the driver greets them. Rickshaws, a visually salient representation of class differences between the puller and rider and of the service industry more generally, are juxtaposed against the sleek Uber app and business model that is focused on automation, efficiency, and personalization. The goal of this juxtaposition is to call into question concerns of de-humanization of human service labor as a direct result of hiding workers behind machines and interfaces to cater to the comfort and convenience of consumers.