Seeing the effort behind a service makes us value it more.
Many restaurants redesigned their space so customers can see into the kitchen. Watching how your order gets made increases recognition of the service's quality, even when the final dish is identical. We value a product or service more when we're aware of the effort behind producing it.
Uber Labs wanted to reduce cancellations after a ride request on Uber Express Pool, especially when the wait time was long. Showing users the real-time location of the assigned vehicle, the progress of the search, and an explanation of how the estimated arrival time was calculated cut the cancellation rate by 11%, without the request being resolved any faster.
Uncertainty about what's happening generates more anxiety and distrust than the wait itself. Making the effort or the process visible reduces that uncertainty and increases the perceived quality.
Source: Kamat, P. & Hogan, C. (2019). How Uber Leverages Applied Behavioral Science at Scale. Uber Engineering.
A status tracker (for an order or a loan application) usually reduces user frustration more than actually speeding up the process, because users tolerate the wait better when they know what's happening.
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