Waiting Room
Queue paging app for hawkers
WHENEVER I GO TO THE HAWKER CENTRE, I am often greeted with snaking lines and hot, thick air. Hawker centre trips are often uncomfortable and time-consuming because of the inescapable lunch hour crowd.
Photo: Makansutra
There must be a way to avoid queues
I looked around for F&B ordering systems. Current options were either too focused on placing orders in advance (e.g. WhyQ, GrabFood, foodpanda) or required the queue ticket holder to be in close proximity to the queue calling display (e.g. KOI, McDonalds, Din Tai Fung). What if I wanted to place an order there and then, but leave the queue and return when my order is ready?
Early technology
Bulky as it may be, some hawkers use the queue paging coaster, which helps notify people when their order is ready.
Hawkers automate the process for food collection by discreetly (or not so discreetly) alerting patrons when it’s their turn. Less crowding also means a more inviting storefront!
However, removing the physical queue makes it impossible for users to know how many people are ahead of them. It is important that users do not feel as if they have sacrificed this information for the convenience of stepping away. How do people feel about this?
Photo: Pagertec
When waiting hurts
To explore this issue, I started thinking about the entire queueing experience. How do people feel about waiting? What are they doing while waiting for their turn? What are their experiences with the coaster? I conducted interviews with 7 participants to find out more.
"Queueing is just a huge waste of time... I'd rather do something, like walk around, window shop nearby. I try to avoid queueing, but sometimes it's like, I just want that bak chor mee you know? So I just have to mentally prepare myself for the wait."
— Quote from a user interview
I created a user persona and an ideal user flow for how I imagined my app will help tackle the pain points. The opportunity presented here was to create a queue paging app that would allow users to track their turn, so that they can be seated elsewhere or be free to run errands.
From here I identified 3 high-priority features for the app:
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A way to enter stall details
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Information about the queue
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Manage notifications
User vs. business: finding the balance
Applying the research insights will definitely be helpful for users, but a successful version will require it to be profitable for businesses as well. Many interviewees indicated that they wanted information about the queue length and time as it would influence their decision to place an order. However, providing such data might have an adverse effect on the participating hawkers. I needed to balance between competing interests of the stakeholders to ensure that the app is viable, so I designed a wireflow where the queue time is only available after placing an order.
"A good product designer needs to start every task by first understanding why it’s important for the business."
— Ariel Verber
A look inside the Waiting Room
After usability testing of the app, the placement of some information and buttons had to be changed. Most people did not think about confirming their orders in the app because they would be preoccupied with the collection of the food, hence that button was removed.
Moving forward
There is a lot more to be done with Waiting Room. What if people joined more than one queue? Can they manage multiple queues on the app? What about sectors beyond F&B, such as hair salons, doctor visits and theme parks? These are areas worth exploring. But for now, feel free to check out the current prototype!