I’ve written about ideas like this before but just because it’s a repeat doesn’t make the idea any less important.
In the December 2009 issue of Wired, Ideo talk about how they would manage the problem of urban rage and in particular the stresses caused by queuing. The idea is simple, convert the queue from an object of stress into something positive.
Members of the public can register for a card which allows them to log the time spent queuing at participating locations. The time accrued on the card can then be converted into time which the member organisations then ‘donate’ to nominated charities.
The whole article is worth reading both for a fuller explanation of the queuing idea and also for an overview of the thinking processes within Ideo itself