So, here's what you'd expect: Let's say Yug needs a cab to the station at 4 AM tomorrow. He books his ride in advance using Ola's "Ride later" feature for the specified time. He receives a notification confirming his scheduled cab. The cab magically appears at the scheduled time, and Yug happily completes his ride. Now that's what we call a nice user experience!

But let's snap back to reality: Yug needs a cab for 4 AM tomorrow, so he schedules his ride through Ola's "Ride later" feature. He receives the notification confirming his scheduled cab. However, when the crucial moment arrives, the cab may or may not show up—it's all a game of luck. Now that's not just bad, it's a vulnerable user experience.

So, let's dive into how this feature actually works, based on my observations and some chit-chat with Ola drivers. It seems more like an automated reminder that costs you Rs.30, rather than a true pre-booking of your ride. You schedule a ride on day D for, let's say, "X day Y:ZZ Hour." What this feature does is wait until it reaches "X day Y:(ZZ-10) Hour" to start searching for a cab on your behalf, assuming you thought you already scheduled it on Day D.

Clearly, this feature needs some serious improvement. It should either provide true pre-booking and cab assurance when you schedule it or, at the very least, warn users in clear words to be prepared for the possibility of being ditched by Ola at the last minute. Something like, "Your rider details will be shared with you 10 minutes prior to your scheduled time."

PS - Just to clarify, this isn't a customer complaint post, but rather a discussion on the product feature itself.

Thanks for Reading!