Uber
Context and background
Uber is the leader on the ride-sharing business. This case covers the design of the ERD (Entity Relationship Diagram) authoring and reviewing feature, built for internal use by engineers and product managers across the company. The goal was to reduce the friction of creating and reviewing ERDs dramatically, using GenAI (Generative AI) to assist with authoring, surfacing the right reviewers, and cutting down a review process that could stretch over 60 days.
role and scope
user research, user testing, prototyping, documentation, UI design, UX design, vibecoding
stakeholders
1 product manager, 5 engineers, 2 engineering managers, VP supervision
timeline
~5 months from start to finish
tools
Figma, Claude Code
Avg. review time for complex ERDs
60+
days
What the new tool needed
The company is moving toward GenAI solutions and uPlan needed a full redesign to support that direction
“Engineers want to code, not write documentation.”
engineering manager
growth opportunity
Cursor and other GenAI tools are already heavily used at Uber
The ERD creation and review process at Uber was slow and painful. Complex projects involving legal, privacy, and security faced review cycles stretching over 60 days. The internal tool used for this, uPlan, was outdated and not built for the scale or speed the company needed.
Engineers at Uber don't want to write documentation. They want to write code. Any solution had to dramatically reduce the friction of creating and reviewing ERDs, fitting into existing workflows rather than adding to them. The redesign also had to align with the company's broader push toward GenAI-powered tooling, which meant designing for a future state that wasn't fully defined yet.
Uber was already moving toward GenAI solutions across the company, and tools like Cursor were in heavy use. There was a real opening to build a smart, AI-assisted authoring and review experience that could become the standard for how engineers document data systems internally, turning a painful compliance task into something close to effortless.
Engineers creating ERDs had to navigate a manual, form-heavy authoring flow inside uPlan. There was no GenAI assistance, no smart reviewer suggestions, and no way to track review status without chasing people across Slack and email. Complex ERDs involving legal, privacy, and security teams regularly sat in limbo for months, with no clear path to resolution or escalation built into the tool.
Cursor is the clearest reference: it doesn't ask you to change how you work, it just makes your current workflow faster and smarter. GitHub Copilot takes a similar approach with inline suggestions that feel like a natural extension of writing code. The common thread is reducing friction without removing control. The engineer stays in charge, the AI fills in the gaps. That's the model this tool needed to follow.
reference images
Research
Placeholder — describe what research was or wasn't possible at this stage, and the conditions under which the team had to work.
research type
time spent
~2 weeks
Objective
Placeholder — explain the reason behind this particular research type, or why a different approach was taken. Sometimes there was no time or space to do formal research.
Results
Placeholder finding — what was discovered overall.
Placeholder finding — a recurring behavior or pain point.
Placeholder finding — a workaround engineers were using.
Placeholder finding — something that informed the direction.
First iterations
Placeholder — describe the early explorations: sketches, whiteboard sessions, wireframes, or any first-pass ideas that were put to paper or screen.
Placeholder — what came out of this iteration. What worked, what didn't, and what shaped the next step.
Placeholder — any feedback received from users or stakeholders at this stage, even informal or directional.
sketches / wireframes
Placeholder — name the situation or problem being dealt with in this case.
Challenge 01
The problem
Placeholder — describe the specific challenge, what triggered it, and any feedback that confirmed it was a real blocker.
“Placeholder — a quote or piece of feedback that illustrates the problem.”
The solution
Placeholder — describe what was done to address this challenge. Be honest about whether it fully solved the problem or was a best-effort given the constraints.
solution screenshot or evolution carousel
Challenge 02
The problem
Placeholder — second challenge description and its context.
The solution
Placeholder — how this one was addressed.
solution screenshot or evolution carousel
final screens, collage or video
Final thoughts
Placeholder — overall reflection on the delivery. What the feature became, what it enabled, and any honest assessment of what could have been done differently.
What I've learned
Placeholder — a key takeaway from this project.
Placeholder — something about process, collaboration, or constraints.
Placeholder — something that would be done differently next time.