Always hurrying, never waiting

July 21, 2010 in Blog posts | 3 comments

What is more frustrating than an environment of hurry up and wait?

BPS Research Digest blog reports on research by the University of Chicago’s Christopher Hsee about the human tendency toward laziness, despite the happiness we feel when we’re busy. The implications of this conclusion for managers and public officials can be counterintuitive. Busy work isn’t so bad, and “useless” public projects may increase people’s happiness. The people doing the work, of course, not necessarily other people observing or paying for those projects.

Hsee and his team come across a tale of airport baggage claims, a domain where choice architecture forces us to be lazy by standing around, much to the detriment of our happiness. Our happiness is crushed even further if we wait for 45 minutes and notice that someone else who has only been there for 20 minutes gets her bag first!

Faced with rampant complaints from businessmen about the interminable wait for morning baggage delivery at a Houston airport (bags went from plane to claim in just 8 minutes – hardly interminable), the manager in charge devised a brilliant solution.

A closer analysis of the problem…revealed that the waiting time until luggage delivery consisted of two components: a 1-minute walking time from the aircraft to the luggage carousel and a 7-minute waiting time at the carousel…As passengers disembarked from the aircraft and approached the carousel area, a certain fraction of them (those with hand luggage) proceeded directly to the taxi stand, boarded a taxi, and commenced their working day; those waiting at the carousel were afforded the opportunity for seven minutes of watching passengers who disembarked after them start their business day before them…

The solution to this problem was to deliberately reinsert delays in the system. The aircraft disembarking location was moved outward from the main terminal, and the most distant carousel was selected for delivery of luggage, so the total walk time was increased from one to six minutes. After this insertion of delay was successfully completed and the system was perceived to be more socially just, passenger complaints dropped to nearly zero.

Gated copy of queuing paper is here.

  • http://www.clarakuo.com/ Clara

    Does it make sense to insert inefficiencies like this to decrease complaints? It sounds like Humans prefer being preoccupied than to be efficient.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lostmybear Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs

    As someone who recently had knee surgery, I would much rather have a short walk and a long time sitting (or even standing) than a long walk. This system seems geared toward the able-bodied. Just a thought.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lostmybear Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs

    As someone who recently had knee surgery, I would much rather have a short walk and a long time sitting (or even standing) than a long walk. This system seems geared toward the able-bodied. Just a thought.