David Maister, “The Psychology of Waiting Lines”, 1985
Queuing psychologists: three givens of human nature
We get bored when we wait in line.
We really hate it when we expect a short wait and then get a long one.
We really, really hate it when someone shows up after us but gets served before us.
Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time
David Maister, “The Psychology of Waiting Lines”, 1985
Supplement/Replace posters
Public Service Announcements
Trailers
Polls/Simple Games
How do you feel about Brick-and-Mortar Amazon Stores?
Queuing psychologists: three givens of human nature
We get bored when we wait in line.
We really hate it when we expect a short wait and then get a long one.
We really, really hate it when someone shows up after us but gets served before us.
“Uncertainty magnifies the stress of waiting, while feedback in the form of expected wait times and explanations for delays improves the tenor of the experience.”
Alex Stone, “Why Waiting Is Torture”, New York Times 2012 Aug 18
Show TP95% Wait time
Parameterized by time of day, day of week
How long do I have to wait for an elevator, given that it's Wednesday noon? “3 minutes”? Screw that, I'm taking the stairs.
Self-healing/Self-optimizing system
Busy elevators ⇛ High TP95 ⇛ Take stairs
Idle elevators ⇛ Low TP95 ⇛ Take elevators
Queuing psychologists: three givens of human nature
We get bored when we wait in line.
We really hate it when we expect a short wait and then get a long one.
We really, really hate it when someone shows up after us but gets served before us.
Anecdote
Don't show current floor
Algorithm is a black box.
Knowing the current floor doesn't tell you much.
All I care about is ETA.
Current floor is data that just infuriates you for no good reason.
UI Mockup
TP95: 47 sec
57°F
Need to move on with presentation
Further Incentivizing Stair-taking
Badge-in at door to stairs
Track scores
Leaderboard
Gift card/Phonetool icons
Evaluation Summary
(For judge's convenience)
Cost of implementation
Low cost, high return
A couple of LCDs + Commodity PC per floor
Already gathering the data anyway
Can scale software (poster, trailers, games, etc.) as simple or complex as budget allows
Ease of use
Instinctual
Watching trailers, so easy even I can do it
Anyone can understand "It'll take 3 minutes to get to the lobby if you take the elevator right now"
Most engineers at Amazon already familiar with TP95 terminology.
If you're not familiar, your guess-interpretation at seeing "3 minutes" on the screen is probably correct.
No training required, just have humans do what comes naturally
Value Generation
Low cost, high return
Morale significantly improved
Actual productivity improved
Improved casual information dissemination
Improved poll participation rates, paves the way for prediction markets