I visited my local Apple Store yesterday, as it happens on a pre-booked Genius Bar appointment. The thing about visiting Apple Stores, particularly on a Saturday afternoon, is that they are just packed to the walls full of people, there's no structure, no till points, no queues - just a morass of bodies peppered with a few blue t-shirts. For a retail store, it's total chaos. Compared with other retailers, no store comes close to the number of people per square foot Apple Stores seem to attract every single weekend - when busy, Apple Stores have more in common with a packed night club - you can barely move around.

But I actually find it quite annoying, I'm used to structure in a store, clearly signposted till points with queues.

Apple famously prides itself on design, but I used to think that the chaos found in Apple Stores is the antithesis of good design. It didn't add up. Yesterday, as I waited for my Genius Bar appointment to come up, I worked out that the Apple Store retail anarchy experience is actually awesome design.

If Apple adopted a conventional store configuration with till points and queues, what for some people is currently an annoying (but just bearable) retail experience would become totally exasperating and would actually drive people away.

I don't know the numbers, but for the sake of illustrating my point; assume that at least 33% of all people in store are there for a Genius Bar appointment, 33% are evaluating a purchase or purchasing something, and 33% are tyre kickers - (I'm the remaining 1%, doing all the people watching).

The anarchic configuration makes it pretty hard for each customer to work out why the other people have come to the store - we could all just be tyre kickers which subconsciously implies no queues = great.

No queues or till points also obscures the fact that (using my abstract splits) anything up to 66% of people are actually queuing, waiting to be served. I also casually observed that people visited with family members or friends, so not many singleton shoppers or Genuis Bar vistors. Groups queuing would make the lines look even worse - and the store even more repellent, like airport check-in decks with big groups checking in. Imagine if you walked into a store and saw monster queues - if you're like me you'd turn on your heels and walk right back out again.

The nightclub-like chaos also creates the impression of a crowded market bazaar, noise, people gesticulating - it creates a buzz, people feel like they're part of a movement, aroused consumers - which is also probably great for inducing impulsive buying, particularly with younger customers. And a packed store acts like a social magnet for people passing by.

So, I think I now get it. The organised chaos is actually quite brilliant design. I might find its unconvential approach unsettling or annoying, but it's the lesser of two evils and obviously works for Apple.