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Design Examples
Waitlist Landing Page Examples
How products handle the wait: notification prompts, referral animations, release countdowns and restock reminders, with examples from Dice, Contra, Spotify and IKEA.
Real world examples:
Updated: 26/08/2026, view all 1,450 examples
Examples on Built for Mars include
Contra shows your spot jump 1,000 on share
Dice asks for notifications after you join
IKEA saves sold-out cart items for restock
When you join a wait list on Dice, they’ll prompt you to allow notifications specifically for that event.
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Note: this only appears if you have notifications already turned off. They've framed a reason to turn them on.
Go to UX BiteView#1113
If you go to delist your property on Airbnb, you'll instead be prompted to pause bookings for a while.
More context
Pausing subscriptions have been shown to reduce churn in subscriptions.
So it's fair to assume this makes it easier for hosts to come back to Airbnb after an extended break.
This leaves the default as "active but paused", not "delisted". Psychologically that makes a difference.
In the checkout, Booking will tell you that similar hotels which match your criteria have already sold out, creating scarcity.
If you hover over the share button, your position in the Contra waiting list will dynamically change to give you a nudge into sharing.
More context
i.e., the animation of watching 1,000 places be knocked off your position demonstrates a clear value. It's framed the benefit.
This is better than simply saying "you'll move up the waiting list", as it's more visual.
If you start browsing ride options on Bolt, they’ll expand the rows to contextualise the benefit of each (e.g., faster, seating for 6).
Go to UX BiteView#1304
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There are more than 1400 UX Bites like this
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FAQs
When should you ask waitlist joiners to turn on notifications?
The moment someone joins is when the reason is obvious, i.e., they want to hear the second tickets appear. Dice prompts right after you tap join, and only if notifications are already switched off, so the request arrives with its justification attached.
How do you make a referral feel worth the effort?
Certainty. Hovering the share button on Contra drops your place on the list from 11,720 to 10,720, so the reward is visible before you commit. Watching 1,000 places disappear is more tangible than a promise that you'll "move up".
What are the alternatives to letting someone drop out entirely?
Keeping the default state as paused rather than gone. Airbnb answers a delisting attempt with "Taking a break" and a date picker, and IKEA answers an out-of-stock cart item with a save-to-list and a restock reminder instead of a removal.
Can a countdown do more than mark time?
It can carry discovery with it. Spotify pairs the countdown on an upcoming album with the singles already released from it, plus a pre-save button, so the wait ends in listening and a commitment rather than a dead end.
Does scarcity messaging belong this late in a flow?
It works when it's specific to what the user just entered. During checkout, Booking flags that two similar four-star hotels are already unavailable for those exact dates, which frames delay as a risk rather than a neutral option.