Make me enter from one door while others leave from another

Daniele Catalanotto
Jun 28, 2022


Context

I've observed in many places a similar strategy for services where there is a big flow of people. It's something I've seen in this story about the great UX of japanese buses, it's something I noticed while taking a trenitalia train in Italy in 2021 during covid, and it's something I've noticed at one of the stops of the M1 Metro in Lausanne. What's the tip? 

Using one door or corridor to let people enter the service, and another one to let people leave the service. 

My rough notes in video



Side notes

This is the first draft of this Service Design Principle. Once adapted and refined multiple time, this principle will be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
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Nemos Kostoulas
Jul 5, 2022
Could be great, but make sure you don't feel like pushed cattle
  • What is the experiential benefit? Do people like it because not having to be bothered by other - rude - people? Is it nice because it is faster? Is it nice because it reduces cognitive friction > one clear path instead of multiple? 
  • Ikea masters this by having clear one-directional journeys in the physical retail, where you can take shortcuts if you want - not being completely forced
Daniele Catalanotto
Jul 9, 2022
Indeed Nemos, the example of IKEA is a pretty great one ;) 

I personnally feel that the benefit for the user is too not feel rushed, pushed and in the middle of chaos. And for the service creator he can reduce the time it takes to get people in and out. 
Daniele Catalanotto
Jun 6, 2023

First written draft

This is a first shitty written draft of this principle based on the video that I shot last year.

One thing I hate about public transportation is when you have to nearly fight to get in or out of a train or a bus.

But good news, certain Japanese buses found a solution. In these buses you enter from one side and leave from the other (1).

This makes the flow of people so much easier! And it works not only in Japan. For example, in Lausanne Switzerland there is a tiny metro line called M2. For a long time the stop at the main train station was super chaotic! Many people going in and out bumping into each other.

To improve the flow of people, they divided the entry corridor into two parts with a small fence. One side is for entering and the other side is for exiting.

This separation of entry and exit can even lead to safer transportation.

For example, during the COVID pandemic, trains in Italy did exactly the same thing. This allowed for less physical contact between passengers, making the spread of COVID in public transportation less important.

Sometimes it's helpful to force a specific way to use a service (2). This makes the flow of people easier and can even make the service safer.

Action question

What can you change in how people go through your service to make it less crowded?

Footnotes

(1) I learned about this through a story written by Carol Huang, which was shared by Shalvi Sabnis on Linkedin.

(2) As community member Nemos Kostoulas says "IKEA masters this by having clear one-directional journeys in the physical retail". In there you can even "take shortcuts if you want" which improves the flow without people feeling "completely forced".