Behind The Counter
The script exists to protect you as much as the person reading it
Scripted service sounds like a refusal to think, and parts of it are actually a set of obligations being…
· 3 min read
Anjali Raghunathan
Deputy editor, What Nobody Explains
13 articles
Queues & Waiting
Why an unexplained wait feels twice as long as an explained one
Waiting is experienced rather than measured, and a handful of design decisions change the experience…
· 4 min read
Queues & Waiting
Why the ticket number skips yours and then comes back
A numbered ticket display usually shows several queues at once, which is why the order looks broken when it…
· 4 min read
Unwritten Rules
The office kitchen runs on notes because nobody owns it
Shared facilities without an owner develop a predictable set of conventions, and a predictable set of…
· 3 min read
Queues & Waiting
Why appointments run late in a pattern you can predict
Delay accumulates through a session rather than occurring at random, which is why the first appointment of…
· 3 min read
Queues & Waiting
What the rope maze is for, and what a virtual queue changes
The physical shape of a line and the decision to let you wait somewhere else are two separate design…
· 3 min read
Small Print
Why every list ends with including but not limited to
The phrase looks like padding and is a deliberate instruction about how the list that follows should be…
· 3 min read
Unwritten Rules
The line on the floor and the habit of standing back
Waiting a few paces behind whoever is being served is a privacy convention that predates every marking…
· 3 min read
Paperwork
What happens to a case number when a case has several parts
A single matter often generates a family of related identifiers, and knowing which one addresses which part…
· 3 min read
Unwritten Rules
How a seat becomes somebody’s seat without anybody deciding
Repeated use turns an unallocated place into a recognised claim, and the strength of that claim follows a…
· 3 min read
Unwritten Rules
What the time on an invitation is actually telling you
Punctuality conventions vary by the type of occasion rather than by the person, and arriving exactly on…
· 4 min read
Behind The Counter
Why some things still have to be done in person
Almost everything has moved to a form or a phone line, and the handful of steps that resist it fail…
· 4 min read
Queues & Waiting
Why being called is rarely the end of the waiting
Most services are several stages long, each with its own queue, and the number displayed on the screen…
· 3 min read