Reducing Customer Wait Times
The Big Problem
Picture a parent in an emergency room deciding whether to leave a sick child to feed the parking meter, a caller listening to the same music loop over and over again, or a newcomer standing at a government counter as the number display crawls forward. Long waits drain trust and make people feel powerless, and that feeling grows when time is idle, uncertain, or unexplained.1 Queues swell when arrivals outpace capacity, which turns small surges into long lines.2
Waiting for services doesn’t have to be such a drag. Showing real work and progress calms frustration because people can see that their turn is getting nearer.3 Emergency departments that split flows and move key tasks earlier shorten door-to-provider times in ways that people notice.4 Contact center methods translate math into staffing and routing choices that cut minutes without cutting quality.5
A behavioral science approach treats patience as designable. Make the first step effortless with clear triage paths and helpful defaults. Replace silence with credible ETAs, visible progress, and prompt updates so perceived time shrinks. Use prompts and social proof to steer people to the right channel, and offer reliable callbacks that return a sense of control.
About the Author
Adam Boros
Adam studied at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine for his MSc and PhD in Developmental Physiology, complemented by an Honours BSc specializing in Biomedical Research from Queen's University. His extensive clinical and research background in women’s health at Mount Sinai Hospital includes significant contributions to initiatives to improve patient comfort, mental health outcomes, and cognitive care. His work has focused on understanding physiological responses and developing practical, patient-centered approaches to enhance well-being. When Adam isn’t working, you can find him playing jazz piano or cooking something adventurous in the kitchen.
