I hate the word friction. Grating and grinding. Attrition and abrasion. Rub and resistance. Friction is synonymous with all the worst qualities a brand, business, product or service can exhibit. It evokes notions of a negative interaction between me and clients, customers or colleagues. Friction is what happens when stuff doesn’t work. And this belief has become common wisdom in modern business. Friction equals bad. Seamless equals good. Very good, actually. There’s no reason we’d want friction when ordering groceries or a takeaway or urgently need to talk to customer service. The value of seamless experiences has exploded in the digital era. And providing them has become the number one success criteria for a multitude of projects across a range of sectors: from logistics to tourism and travel, internal staff management to delivering personalised marketing campaigns. Everything must integrate fluidly and seamlessly with users’ habits, leveraging data to minimise the number of actions needed. Everything must be seamless. Except when it shouldn’t. Andrew Dimitriou, CEO EMEA at VMLY&R 48 Lessons from Louis Vuitton and Friends Friction is Good for Business
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