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Some time in the first half of 2016 my wife and I were travelling.
We stayed in a reasonably comfortable but very inexpensive hotel,
and meals weren't provided. As it happened, across the way was a
large retail park with a large well-known supermarket chain, and
they had a restaurant.
So we had breakfast there, and if we'd been out during the day and
wanted an early night, we'd have dinner there as well. There was
enough variety for this to be OK for the few days required.
I say it was a restaurant, but actually it was a canteen. There
was a counter where you took a tray and passed along, collecting
cakes and desserts, until you got to the till where you ordered any
hot food and hot drinks, and paid. The hot drinks were provided
immediately, you were given a table number indicator, and you went
to sit at a table. Then when your food was ready, it was brought
to you.
We ate there four or five times, and I noticed that they were using
a finite state machine. It went like this.
- You ordered, paid, and went to your table with the table number;
- Your food was brought to you;
- Some time later they would return and ask if everything was OK;
- Then they would take the table number(!)
Can you see the absolute genius in the design of this work-flow?
Suppose you are a member of staff. You can't remember everything
about every customer, but you can periodically scan the tables and
immediately know the state:
- People, table number, no food,
- ... they are waiting for their food.
- People, table number, food,
- ... go and ask if everything is OK,
- ... and remove the table number.
- People, no table number, food,
- No people and dirty dishes,
- ... clear and clean the table.
So of course, I upset the system.
On the last two occasions we were there, when they brought our food
I gave them the table number indicator. Cue deep confusion ... that
is not supposed to happen. But I explained that we'd prefer to
be left alone, and that if we needed anything we'd come and ask.
It was apparent on the faces of the staff that this was completely
unexpected. Most likely they never expected members of the public
to pay attention to the system and how it worked.
But it was a real-life example of a finite-state machine, beautifully
designed, extremely effective, and it even coped gracefully when faced
with something unexpected.
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