What's the wait?

I agree with your potential problems with ordering ahead, but what about the people who choose to use the app and order like they normally would now? There would probably be a large group of people standing around the kiosk like they would be now, and the problem of blocking the entrance to Wean would still be in effect, because with shorter wait times people would continue to place orders until the wait time becomes noticeably longer on the app, and how long would that take, depending on how many people show up and now quickly? I'm imaging a scenario not unlike disney world lines that show the wait time, but when that time is short more people add to the line, and the wait time only updates every 5-10 minutes.

This app could be very beneficial to that space in Wean 5, and to students who generally are looking for a place to eat and don't want to/don't have time to wait in a long line. Using crowdsourcing to let people know the wait time for different places to eat could be effective.

I think "locking" a user out if they do not opt into collecting the data for you is a little harsh and impractical. Some users may forget to collect data, or some may feel that giving the app this data is an invasion of privacy. Instead of punishing users for not collecting data, how about rewarding them if they do collect data (coupons to places to eat around campus etc.).

The approach to observation is really well considered - you've been able to gather some nice metrics about the ordering process. This does rely heavily on the quantitative, but what about the qualitative? What was the experience for people in the queue and how did they respond to having to wait for so long? Is the experience better for people with a friend? How did they bide their time - did they use their smartphone, look around, etc? By focusing onthe quantitative, you have overlooked some of the embodied and experiential components of ordering and waiting. I think this could be equally revealing for your project.

That said you've a very well rounded documentation of your concept which is really well illustrated and explained.

You might explore some alternative strategies that go beyond the planning for ordering or functional process of queuing. For example, what might help them pass the time while they wait - is there a game they could play that only works in the space? could the application spark conversations going between other people in the queue? etc.

This is a cool idea, but once you introduce the idea of ordering through the app, the actual line becomes unnecessary. Also, relying on people to start and stop a timer for the wait time to be accurate probably won't end very well. I like the idea to incentivize it, but I think some students will get frustrated with being forced to do this and stop using the app. Here's my proposal: have a touchscreen display near La Prima as well as being able to order from your phone, and automatically have a timer start once an order is placed. A barista can then press a button once the order is filled, removing it from the "orders" list and stopping the timer. This way the wait time will be accurate, because every single wait time is accounted for. I'm sure there are a million ways to tweak and implement this idea, but the framework is there and I really like it.