The Irrational Mind | With Kristen Berman

How Did Lyft Change The Way We Ride?

Mar 22, 2022

Kira Wampler, a product launching expert, discusses her time at Lyft and the brand's philosophy of treating better. She shares insights on the successful Undercover Lyft program and the incentives that built trust with new drivers. The implementation of a tipping system and the complexity of Lyft's choice architecture are also discussed. Kira's current efforts in the healthcare sector and the work of Jasper, a smart planner for cancer care, are explored too.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Lyft's Early Days and Marketing Strategies

01:44 • 27min

Dream Experiment and Mistakes Made

29:08 • 2min

Reducing Uncertainty and Ambiguity in Ride Sharing

31:08 • 5min

Redesigning Healthcare

36:13 • 10min

The Career of Kira Wombler and the Power of Nonlinear Thinking

45:58 • 3min

Let’s take a ride into some of the behavioral principles that made Lyft a trustworthy transportation solution for millions. In this episode, host Kristen Berman is joined by the almighty Kira Wampler. Kira has had a wildly incredible career launching and growing dozens of products. We talk about her time at Lyft: diving into the brand’s core philosophy of “treating better” and how rating systems and incentives took Lyft into a more human approach. We also discuss her current efforts at Redesign Health, where she's trying to drive medical adherence and design chronic care. Plus, Kira shares the process of helping caregivers’ jobs with Jasper, a smart planner for cancer care.

Jump straight into:

(01:09) - “We treat you better”: Kira's work approach during her first days working at Lyft and why positive interactions are actually contagious.

(05:03) - The Undercover Lyft Program: A successful content experiment that got Lyft on the world's radar.

(12:24) - The incentives that worked (and the ones that didn’t): On the Lyft Mentor Program and how it consolidated trust among new drivers.

(26:04) - Energizing Lyft users: Implementing a tipping system for drivers and ambiguity aversion.

(32:39) - A peer-to-peer ride sharing: The complexity of Lyft’s choice architecture when the app was launched.

(36:15) - Redesign Health: How Kira is taking her expertise to fund the future of the healthcare sector with companies like Jasper.

(43:20) - How is Jasper working to help people to take their medication regularly?

Episode resources

Connect with Kira through LinkedIn

Redesign Health

Thank you for listening to The Science of Change. Reach out to Kristen through LinkedIn and visit The Irrational Labs website for more information on behavioral science.

This show is presented by SetSail (follow on LinkedIn) and produced by Kristen Berman and Studio Pod Media. The executive producer is Rachael Roberts. All episodes are written by Kristen Berman and Ying Lin with experts, script editing by Jack viewer. Special thanks to Lydia Trupe for fact checking and citations. Music and editing provided by nodalab.