From Wait to Great!
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
When people have to wait in line you have a cognitive design problem. If you have customers (or employees) waiting in line you must attend to how they think-and-feel if you want a successful service experience.
The Psychology of Waiting Lines by David Maister, a well-known expert on the management of professional services firms, offers these insights (taken directly from the article):
1. Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time
2. People want to get started
3. Solo waits are longer than group waits
4. Anxiety makes the wait seem longer
5. Uncertain waits are longer than known finite waits
6. Unexplained waits are longer than explained waits
7. Unfair weights are longer than equitable waits
8. The more valuable the service the longer the customer will wait
Donald Norman from Northwestern University has recently reviewed and updated (2008) Maister’s original work on the Psychology of Waiting Lines .
