I applied at Uber through its online portal and received a call for a video interview within a week.

Shared Screen Interview: The interviewer asked me about the cool things I had done in Android and we talked about them. He then moved on to a simple programming question, which I had to code on a shared screen. Although the question was quite easy, I believe the intent was to assess my coding style. At the end of the interview, he explained the entire process and informed me that I would receive a home assignment if I passed this initial stage.

Two days later, I received the assignment, which was due in three days. The task was to build an app using the provided APIs. I completed it on time and was soon called for an onsite interview.

The onsite interview consisted of five rounds:

• Product Design
• Object-Oriented Design (OOD)
• Assignment Code Review
• Algorithms and Data Structures (DSA)
• Android

Product Design: The first interview aimed to make me comfortable and gauge my product design capabilities. They inquired about my experience designing a product. I had done some related work, but it wasn't extensive. They then presented a real-life problem. The key to solving it was to ask specific questions and propose a solution that would address the need. I found this interview fun and refreshing. It went great.

OOD: They asked how I would design an app like Uber or a similar service. I had to discuss the major system components and key classes. However, I struggled with the finer details and how to code them. I believe this went pretty badly.

Code Review: The interviewer reviewed my code and asked me to justify my decisions. He also suggested better practices, primarily focusing on my coding principles and the correctness of my solutions. Unfortunately, I realized I had implemented a hack during the interview. It went fine, despite the hack!

DSA: Contrary to common assumptions, this interview was straightforward. There were no questions on dynamic programming, graphs, or complex trees. The questions involved threads, linked lists, and an easy problem solvable with a hash map. The interviewer was more interested in my approach than the difficulty of the problem. It went fine.

Android: I was asked about all major Android components. I mostly knew what I had used, but I still feel it's beneficial to be aware of all of them. It went cool.

I was informed of the decision on the same day, within a matter of hours. The lead recruiter provided feedback over the phone, which helped me understand what went wrong and what went right.

Uber has a nice office in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. The team was very friendly, and the overall environment felt like a mid-sized startup. It never felt like a formal interview, but more like a discussion with colleagues. I had to arrange my own travel, but I received the reimbursement on time.

How would you design an app through which you can see nearby travel options to a specific location? Travel options might include, but are not limited to, taxis, trains, or buses.