Approach technical problems with psychological solutions: Elevator mirrors reduce perceived waiting time by distracting passengers.
Article: Why Do All Elevators Have Mirrors?
Have you ever wondered why most elevators have mirrors?
While there are several explanations, including reducing claustrophobia, discouraging bad behavior (passenger's feeling of being watched), and making it easier for people in wheelchairs, there's one explanation I found the most interesting: mirrors help distract people from the wait time to go from one floor to another.
When elevators were first introduced, many people complained about the lengthy time it took to travel between floors. However, at that time, it wasn't technically feasible to make elevators faster. So instead of focusing on the technology, designers found a solution by understanding human psychology: they added mirrors.
It turns out that people generally enjoy looking at themselves (how surprising, huh?). By adding mirrors, elevator designers made the waiting time feel shorter emotionally, even though the actual travel time remained the same. Passengers became distracted and less stressed about the wait.
I like this explanation because it demonstrates that, sometimes, it's better to approach a problem by understanding human psychology instead of focusing on technological improvements.
If you want to learn about waiting (instead of doing it), The Psychology of Waiting Lines is a fun paper to read.