VISION & STRATEGY www.ceotodaymagazine.com 50 A better way to describe it is perhaps encouraging enlightened and thoughtful engagement: digital experiences designed to gently slow us down and make us think before proceeding. Friction that serves a purpose. There are sectors where the need for these processes is self-evident. The appetite for frictionless experiences in the digital banking age puts customers at risk - with unchecked payments clearances sparking an “epidemic of fraud” as more than £4m is stolen every day on average in the UK. Financial services and banking brands naturally prioritise security and safety and put the necessary hurdles to ensure customers don’t make costly mistakes. People will value these precautions over needless, seamless speed - research found that less than 15% of customers think it’s important for account opening processes to be quick, but more than half believe security should be the priority. These changes may create short term hurdles, and maybe even negative feedback, but in the long run they help create a healthier ecosystem that benefits brands and users alike. Friction is human There is a notion that consumers want businesses to provide ease of Needlessly seamless and purposefully coarse Sometimes, a touch of friction in the machine can work quite well. High-end, exclusive brands like Supreme and Louis Vuitton leverage friction to build exclusive experiences. They will have 300 customers waiting in a queue outside, whilst three frolic happily in the store, hunting down a limited-edition product. In the digital world, we have lived through the era of ‘click first, think later’, which has contributed to the rise of fake news and social media bubbles - and providing the kindling for much larger scandals such as Cambridge Analytica. Engagement is the holy grail for social networks, and features that interrupt the flow of sharing or reduce the reply rate will ultimately impact the bottom line. But social media businesses are recognising that by implementing elements of friction in the short term, they can improve their platform experience and overall brand image in the long run. Twitter is a clear example of this, implementing UX changes to curb the spread of fake news during the 2020 US election, and label misinformation around COVID-19. transaction, smooth scrolling and quick navigation on websites and apps. But this is not always the case. Increasingly, people are looking to live more thoughtful experiences through positive friction. More people are implementing timelocks for apps like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. The new IOS reflects this growing demand, offering ‘need state’ modes that help us all switch off and focus when needed. We can also look at how the checkout-less Amazon, Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores have been reviewed. These outposts have been designed to remove as much “friction” as possible. And in these cases, the identified “friction” is human interaction. In my opinion, a helpful shop assistant can add more to the overarching brand experience than any form of seamless checkout. I still wouldn’t say I like the word friction. And it still doesn’t feel right to include in a strategy. But it is crucial to recognise where it is needed. By providing a helpful safeguard that sparks thoughtful engagement, brands and businesses can improve and enrich people’s experience far more than by simply saving them a few short seconds.
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