We Need Friction

Most user experience designers or marketers aim to create a frictionless experience. And the reasons are simple:

1. Customers are more likely to recommend and return.
2. Net more money per transaction with the added benefit of return trips.

Yet a frictionless experience can have a negative effect. Minor yet important friction points build trust.

A colleague shared a story of losing the keys to his bike lock and needing a locksmith. The process, in his words, couldn’t have been smoother. It began with a Google search. From there, a website with a large phone number (and little else). Following a quick call with a customer service rep, he had a locksmith on site in 15 minutes. And that is when things got interesting.

After agreeing to a price, the locksmith took the bike to the back of his van, where he promptly cut off the lock. Not even 5 minutes later, my colleague had his bike, paid his bill, and the locksmith drove away. The transaction couldn’t have been smoother. But in the words of my colleague, it felt sketchy. But why?

It was too frictionless.

The website didn’t make him search for a number through reviews or testimonials. The customer service rep didn’t waste time getting more information than required. Same with the locksmith; he got to work once the price was confirmed. And the work wasn’t conducted in some “factory” but in the parking garage. The payment was made after the fact (a saving grace IMO), but again with no additional checkpoints.

And while it worked out in this case — if the same approach were applied to, let’s say, a hospital, people would immediately question the care they were being provided. As much as we hate it, we crave minor inconveniences to confirm that we can trust the process.

But there is a remedy that doesn’t include unnecessary friction points, word-of-mouth. When someone asks for a locksmith, my colleague will infuse his value (aka, how much I trust him) into the answer.