A little bit of friction is no bad thing

“Sometimes things with a little more friction make unique behaviours possible. We should be careful of only designing for ease-of-use and forgetting about what is good to use”. 

This nicely captures the essence of a thought-provoking conversation I had recently with a smart design research contact.  Following on from this, I mentally gathered a couple of real-life examples and insights to help hammer home this sentiment which I now share with you:

1.       Speedier quotes aren’t always desirable

While searching for the best insurance quote can be financially rewarding not many people would honestly say they ‘enjoy’ going through the process of doing so. Therefore you would think any design improvements that reduced the overall effort and time required to find the cheapest quote would be welcomed. However you’d be wrong.

Working on the website development of a UK comparison website unearthed an insight that at first glance felt counter-intuitive. While users wanted a speedier process, research found that a significant improvement in absolute speed was less desirable. You see, while many people said they were looking for the cheapest quote what they really wanted was the best value quote relevant to their personal outlook and circumstances. A superfast effortless process increased their concerns around inadvertently making the wrong choice. It also raised fears about a more streamlined selection of results possibly foregoing key user considerations such as minimum excess fees or no claims bonus. Subsequent to this, the design implication recognised the importance of including some key added steps to return the right results rather than stripping the process down to the bare minimum to achieve the fastest results. 

2.       Saving money could cost more in the long run

A finance client looking to offer a richer and more user friendly digital proposition for brokers and end clients could have completely rerouted all inbound queries via its new digital channel under development. However while this would have saved them a hefty sum by reducing the cost to serve via their call centre they were forward thinking enough to recognise the inherent value of still prioritising some key traffic queries via the telephone. You see, they understood that not all calls were ‘bad’ and that certain queries unlocked value that could only be cultivated when handled through trained call centre staff.

3.       Fandom is rewarded through dedicated effort

My final and most recent example cropped up at the excellent 2013 dConstruct technology and culture conference run in Brighton. Maciej Cegłowski who lovingly crafts the bookmarking service Pinboard amongst other things gave a great speech around the obsessive nature and idiosyncrasies of fandom. He talked about how ‘fans are inveterate classifiers who bend websites to their will’ to support, share and grow their passion across online communities. However one key point he noted in servicing their digital needs was that the fan as a tool-using animal doesn’t like an experience that is too slick or easy to use.

Why is that? Well if you look at the characteristics of fandom it’s about people who spend a large chunk of their time, energy (and in many cases their savings) on their passion, even down to the most minor of details. Aligned to this there is also an element of social preening within community websites around their level of fan commitment. Therefore to be a true fan requires devoted enthusiasm, which in this case was manifested through their ability to master some rather clunky tools.

If anything, I hope the above illustrations help serve to underline that good design must always start with a clear understanding of the user mindset, motivations and goals aligned to the business needs. With this in mind you can hopefully avoid the design peril of wrongly taking a frictionless approach that results in you slipping on thin ice.


(Extract of a blog originally posted on the service design consultancy we are experience website - http://www.weareexperience.com/).