How often have you found yourself staring at your computer screen as a progress bar tracks the machine’s fitful loading of an application or completion of a search and wondered, “What’s taking so long?” Good managers worry about wait time because a great deal of evidence (not to mention common sense) suggests that reducing it can increase customer satisfaction. Our research, however, demonstrates that a different approach—simply showing people what is taking so long—gets better results. Customers find waiting more tolerable when they can see the work being done on their behalf—and they tend to value the service more.
A version of this article appeared in the May 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review.
