Friction Layers

We tend to conflate user experience with usability, and lots of thinking about friction gets pegged to this limited definition of UX. That distracts us from seeing tons of friction-trapped value to unlock.

Contemporary UX design is a symptom of the millennial tech upbringing

Optimizing for drinkability/usability increases your TAM, but the opportunity cost is significant. You will lose consumers who want craft, who want to express their tastes, who want to understand something about the world — beyond their capacity to consume — through use of your product. Setting usability as the design standard keeps your product fr... See more

The “Transitional Tech Generation” grew up with a maniacal focus on friction-reduction, creating tons of value along the way by smoothing interfaces and transactions. But there’s more to unlock. There are layers to this thing.

We’ve framed UX & friction in terms of how easy it is for the user to complete an action by interacting with a digital system, or how effectively software can help the user manipulate the physical world. These actions flow outward, fulfilling a user’s goal by extension and enabling an outcome outside of herself. What about reducing the friction of ... See more

SNAP. #Roamcult. Stitch Fix. Just a few examples of companies for which UI/UX is a powerful “soft” moat, where user experience and brand are entwined.

The Airbnb backstory is also a great reminder of how an edge in UX can be *the* thing that catapults a startup from challenger company to world-changing business

Awakening to less obvious, more abstract opportunities to reduce friction