Wait-Time Experience Design
Turn unavoidable customer waiting into engaging, revenue-producing activity.
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
The framework starts by identifying unavoidable waiting inside a customer journey. Rather than merely reducing or apologizing for that wait, the business designs a complementary activity whose natural duration fits it. The activity should entertain, educate, help customers shop, or otherwise increase the value of the visit while the core service is prepared. If existing venues or partners prevent the business from capturing that value, it can create an owned location that combines both experiences. Revenue may come from the core purchase, the waiting activity, or both, but customer flow must remain coherent. Bushnell used this logic for Chuck E. Cheese: pizza created preparation time, arcade games filled it, and animatronic entertainment made the venue a destination. Strong unit economics at the first site then justified expansion.
Origin
Bushnell wanted to capture more of the earnings generated by Atari games without competing for existing arcade locations. He combined pizza's preparation delay, arcade play, and replicable animatronic entertainment in an owned venue.
Core principles
- 01Treat waiting time as product surface area.
- 02Choose an activity that naturally fits the wait duration.
- 03Build an owned environment when existing locations constrain value capture.
- 04Combine complementary revenue streams around one customer visit.
- 05Make the waiting experience improve the core purchase rather than obstruct it.
How to run it
- 1
Find the idle interval
Measure when customers wait, why the delay exists, and how predictable its duration is.
Pro tip Observe actual behavior rather than relying only on stated complaints.
Watch out Do not manufacture a delay merely to monetize it.
- 2
Match an activity to the wait
Select an experience that customers can begin quickly and leave naturally when the core service is ready.
Pro tip Favor modular activities with flexible stopping points.
Watch out An activity that causes customers to miss fulfillment creates friction.
- 3
Design the combined journey
Arrange ordering, waiting, activity, notification, and fulfillment as one understandable flow.
Pro tip Use tokens, status displays, or alerts to connect the experiences.
Watch out Confusing movement between zones reduces both satisfaction and throughput.
- 4
Model complementary economics
Calculate capacity, spend, margins, dwell time, and staffing across the complete visit.
Pro tip Measure total contribution per customer and per square foot.
Watch out Extra revenue can be outweighed by congestion or real-estate cost.
- 5
Prototype one environment
Launch a contained site and test whether customers use the activity while waiting and return for the combined experience.
Pro tip Watch for capacity limits immediately; Bushnell knew on opening day that the first site was too small.
Watch out Do not scale from excitement without repeatable unit economics.
- 6
Standardize and expand
Document layouts, equipment, content, staffing, and operating metrics before opening or franchising more locations.
Pro tip Design entertainment elements for reliable replication.
Watch out Novelty alone will fade without refreshed content and maintained equipment.
In the wild
Bushnell chose pizza because its preparation created an ideal interval for arcade play. Inspired by the Tiki Room, he added replicable animatronic entertainment and opened a 5,000-square-foot San Jose venue that generated substantial cash flow.
→ Waiting became part of a destination experience, supporting a chain that eventually reached 250 company and franchise locations.
A pediatric clinic creates optional five-minute interactive health games for families during unavoidable pre-appointment waits. A screen alerts each family when the clinician is ready, and the games stop at natural checkpoints.
→ Perceived waiting falls while families learn useful health behaviors without delaying appointments.
Common mistakes
Adding unrelated distraction
An activity that conflicts with the core service or audience can make the environment feel chaotic rather than valuable.
Ignoring capacity
A compelling wait-time activity may increase dwell time and crowding. Model space, throughput, and handoffs before expansion.
Scaling novelty without operations
A memorable prototype does not guarantee repeatability. Standardize maintenance, content, staffing, and economics first.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for businesses with predictable waits and customers open to entertainment, education, browsing, or productive activity.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when customers need rapid throughput, quiet, privacy, or uninterrupted attention.
From the transcript
“And I said, Well, we've got to have food. And what the food needs to be is pizza, because there's a wait time, ideal time…”
“The most successful pizza time to go play the games while you're waiting for the pizza.”
“And we went to the tiki room and I said, Oh, my engineers can do this, and we can replicate it till the cows come…”
From the episode
Atari (with Nolan Bushnell)
Nolan Bushnell