The Psychology of Crowd Control

Crowd control is the term commonly applied practice of forming and managing waiting lines. So, the term crowd control used in this context really is a misnomer.

The practice of waiting line management is the opposite of controlling a crowd because what you are stopping a crowd from developing by guiding customers to form an orderly line.

All but the most aggressive customer would prefer to wait for service in a line rather than a crowd. Humans prefer the line to the crowd because lining up is more relaxing.

People in a line know what order they are going to be served in so they don’t have to stay alert and keep jostling to preserve their place.

But although lines are better than crowds nobody likes waiting lines.

Here we have a conundrum, we make our customers stand in lines because they prefer that to crowds but they don’t like lines either, so what is the solution? The first step is to understand that it is not lines that your customers object to, it is waiting.

If it is waiting that is annoying your customers, the secret to providing a better experience is the eliminate or reduce the waiting time.

Eliminating all waiting time is often unfeasible because the arrival of customers is a stochastic (variable) event and keeping enough service positions open to handle the maximum number of people that could arrive at one time is not commercially viable.

Some waiting and therefore some lines are inevitable, but it is possible the speed customer flow and reduce waiting time with good queue system design.

In other articles we have discussed queue layout and directional signage, but our experience of waiting is as much a psychological as a physical one. We all know that a 10 minute wait can seem either very short or very long so in this article we will discuss the psychological aspects of waiting.

Four Key Elements to Perceived Waiting Time

What we are discussing here is the perceived rather than actual waiting time. Here are four elements that make waits seem longer.

The stress of a poorly designed queue system makes the wait seem longer. Are you in the shortest line, is the line next you moving faster, should you switch lines?

Unfair waits seem longer than fair waits. The line next you moves faster and people who joined after you get served first. That makes your line seem to be moving even more slowly.

Not knowing how long the wait will make it seem longer. If the line is moving at a regular pace the wait time can be determined but if customer transaction times vary so the line starts and stops the expected wait time becomes difficult to judge.

Having nothing to do while waiting makes time drag.

How Queue System Design Affects Perceived Waiting Time

The first three elements of perceived waiting time can all be addressed with a single action. Switch to a single line queue system. In this queue design a single line serves all service positions. This layout changes the waiting psychology by reducing stress

Anxiety – With a single line system there is no having to chose a line, worrying if it the quickest and whether you should switch lines

Unfairness – Once in a single line you are guaranteed to be served in the order you arrived in.

Unknown Time – As the line is served by all cashiers if a delay at one does not stall any customer. The line keeps moving and that regular movement allows the wait time to be assessed.

Boredom – the most effective way to entertain customers standing in line is to sell them something. Browsing merchandize occupies customers making the wait seem shorter. This approach has the added benefit of turing a dead space of the queue into a revenue generating area.

Conclusion

The advantages of the single line queue system are resulting in this layout being used more frequently however it is surprising how many organizations still use the old fashion multi-line queue. Those that do are passing on a simple way to both speed customer flow and make the wait seem shorter. The result of staying with multi-line queue systems is reduced customer satisfaction which no organization can afford in today’s competitive environment.