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?