The Psychology of Waiting Lines: A David Maister Classic

I was looking for reading for our course next term at the d.school called "Business Practice Innovation," as we might have the students do some prototyping of the "waiting in line experience."  I had this vague recollection of an old article on the psychology of waiting in lines. I was also thinking of the topic because it is Black Friday in the U.S., where many people get up absurdly early the day after Thanksgiving (and sometimes camp in front of stores) to get gifts at bargain prices (see the picture above at Wal-Mart). 

After a bit of web search, I found it, and to my surprise, it was written by David Maister in 1985. And is called "The Psychology of Waiting Lines."   It hasn't lost a bit of spark.  I will keep looking for articles on the subject, but I would be surprised if anything this good has been written since. His guidelines are simple, but have powerful implications for designing the experience:

Occupied Time Seems Shorter Than Unoccupied Time

People Want to Get Started (e.g., once you devote a little attention to people -- hand them a menu or a drink or some task to do, they feel like things have started and the time seems to go by more quickly)

Anxiety Makes Waits Longer

Uncertain Waits Are Longer Than Known, Finite Waits

Unexplained Waits Are Longer Than Explained Waits

Unfair Waits are Longer that Equitable Waits

The More Valuable The Service, The Longer The Customer Will Wait

Solo Waits Feel Longer Than Group Waits

I urge you to check out the details.  Not only are these ideas ones that organizations and their designers can actually use, most also can be traced to basic -- and well-researched -- psychological principles.

P.S. In looking for a good picture, I found this one of people waiting in line in Shanghai that looks like an especially bleak experience to me -- I'd love to see a d.school class tackle that one. 

Comments

[Jan]

Just wanted to share this websit:
http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/mn/biz/overview.htm

It's where the CEOs of Silicon Valley earned their degrees. I thought it would be much more MBAs, but as it turned out, a lot have a degree in Electrical Engineering. Interesting.

[Creighton Chun]

It seems to me that the theories of "The psychology of lines" are rather vauge and general. Perhaps the rules of line Etiquette would be far more interesting.

[tercume]

Many of the characteristics you cite remind me of the wait for admission to the "Festival of Lessons and Carols" on Christmas Eve at King's College Cambridge. The College is very good about communicating the wait, the timing is well-known, and there is a perception among the group that it is worth waiting for. The queue usually closes at around 10:00a for the 4:00p service, since everyone knows that the Chapel can only accommodate a certain number of people. Once in the queue, members of the choir will sometimes come around and sing, and you are allowed to hold a place for one other person, meaning that you can have a portion of your group take a stroll through the town or bring back a bracing cup of tea.

[Phil]

You're right that David Maister's article hasn't lost a bit of it's spark. And if there's a better article on the subject, I haven't read it!

Oddly, although I use the article regularly in my undergrad teaching, the last time I referred to it was at a recent faculty meeting on how to improve the student experience during enrolment. At one point I relayed some complaints I'd had from damp freshers, about having to queue in the rain. One of our senior management team declared "I had to queue in the rain so why shouldn't they?"

At the time I referred him to Maister's theories, although in hindsight I missed a golden opportunity to introduce the No Asshole Rule into the discussion. I guess there's always next year!

[cbooker]

Many of the characteristics you cite remind me of the wait for admission to the "Festival of Lessons and Carols" on Christmas Eve at King's College Cambridge. The College is very good about communicating the wait, the timing is well-known, and there is a perception among the group that it is worth waiting for. The queue usually closes at around 10:00a for the 4:00p service, since everyone knows that the Chapel can only accommodate a certain number of people. Once in the queue, members of the choir will sometimes come around and sing, and you are allowed to hold a place for one other person, meaning that you can have a portion of your group take a stroll through the town or bring back a bracing cup of tea.