Lyft Sheds Some Of Its Quirks As It Seeks New Users | TechCrunch

Lyft Sheds Some Of Its Quirks As It Seeks New Users | TechCrunch: "Those “secrets” were essentially around how users should greet their drivers and where to sit, and the email basically told users that fistbumping their driver and sitting up front were no longer necessary. While the email said users could continue on with Lyft traditions, it also seemed to make the service more open for users who just want to get from Point A to Point B:

“How you ride with Lyft is up to you. At the end of the day, Lyft is about helping each other get to where we want to go.”

While Lyft’s focus on community and friendliness was a key differentiator early on, there’s evidence that as it seeks new users, those same values might not be helping it.

Anecdotally speaking, I know multiple people who refused to use the service because they didn’t want to sit up front or have a conversation with their driver — they merely wanted a quiet ride and to respond to email in silence while going to or from work, for instance.

As Lyft seeks to grow and compete with Uber, the company realizes it’s going to need those passengers, too. The “Insider’s Guide To Lyft” seems a tacit acknowledgement of that fact.

There’s no doubt Lyft will continue to try to appeal to a certain type of user as a competitive differentiator. After all, some people will want a “friend with a car” rather than a “private driver.”

But for many users, the differences between the two are becoming increasingly blurred. And as Lyft seeks to go mainstream, it seems the company is increasingly aware of that fact."



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