Low SMS Deliverability: Root Cause Analysis

While interviewing with Uber for a role as a Product Manager, I proposed a solution to low SMS deliverability, commonly plaguing the Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging space.

Product Manager Candidate | Uber Communications Platform | November 2021

Problem Statement

The following is a paraphrased case prompt provided by Uber.

SMS messages, and particularly one-time passwords (OTPs), are a critical part of the Uber user experience, necessary for phone number verification during new account creation as well as retrieving lost or forgotten credentials. Two KPIs that Uber prioritizes in this space are cost in USD and overall deliverability, i.e., rate at which SMS is successfully delivered to customers.

The SMS ecosystem is complex. It consists of different SMS providers in different regions, with each provider having independent aggregators through which SMS is routed.

Over the past month, there has been a significant decrease (> 5%) in SMS deliverability, which is capable of generating considerable friction for users looking to sign up or sign in to Uber. How should this issue be diagnosed, root causes be identified, and a solution to stem the impact to users and the business be crafted and executed?

Presented with this open-ended prompt, I followed a user-centric design process to investigate and eventually pitch a plan. Aware that any solution begins with understanding a problem, I first weighed potential causes of OTP SMS delivery failure, impacting thousands of active users of Uber Eats and Uber Rides globally. Then, priority and impact guided my final recommendation.

Early Ideation

Prior to my interview with Communications Platform, I had no experience with large-scale A2P messaging, be it over SMS, voice call, email, etc. However, this space resonated with me given the need for asynchronous modes of communication with my international students. Having observed the tangible impact of splintered communication, I earnestly researched techniques for strengthening Uber’s A2P messaging via SMS —and gleaned some tips for my own long-distance interactions along the way!

Owning an investor-facing chatbot at Blackstone had instilled in me that:

  1. Partnership with external vendors requires both transparency and responsible withholding of sensitive information. SaaS vendors offer a breadth of data resulting from exposure to multiple clients, which can either accelerate or risk internal business goals.

  2. Users receiving communications from applications or websites respond well to expected, consistent messages and poorly to unexpected or redundant ones.

These were key drivers of my final recommendation to introduce an SMS Quality Control System to champion A2P communication, specifically via SMS, firm-wide.

Design Process

In understanding the decline in SMS deliverability and forming an opinion on effective solutions, my design process emphasized UX and industry best practices. I reasoned that a sustainable fix to SMS delivery failure would unblock access to core application functions, regain user trust, and comply with long-term A2P SMS guidelines set by telephony vendors.

I followed this sequence of steps:

  1. Define Problem

  2. Identify Missing Information

  3. Establish Business Impact, Success Criteria

  4. Assess Potential Root Causes

  5. Explore Solution Alternatives

  6. Recommend Best Option, Elaborate on Feature Vision

  7. Plan Execution

My final presentation is below.