The Problem
A major Chilean retail chain needed to manage physical customer queues without physical infrastructure — a problem that became critical during COVID-era capacity restrictions. Customers needed to reserve spots in advance, receive real-time position updates, and be notified when it was their turn.
My Contribution
- Led a team of 4 engineers, coordinating with clients and designers to define requirements and iterate quickly.
- Designed the queue management system: virtual ticket assignment, real-time position broadcasting, and configurable capacity controls.
- Built real-time position updates using WebSockets, so customers received live queue status without polling.
- Shipped and iterated fast — the team’s emphasis was on getting to production quickly and refining based on real usage, which was critical given the time-sensitive client need.
Impact
The system handled 5,000+ daily users in production, eliminating physical queuing for a large-format retail environment.