Visit a fast food restaurant, coffee shop, or grocery store during a peak time of day. Spend 30 minutes observing the procedures in place to serve and process customers. Keep track of how long each process takes.
Write a 3-5 page analysis of your observations. Make sure that you answer the following:
- How would you measure the efficiency of the process?
- What are the key design principles that govern the effectiveness of this process?
- Did you observe lag times in the process?
- What part of the process was the slowest?
- What part of the process was the fastest?
- What changes to the process would you recommend?