4 Ways Friction Can Improve UX

by Nick Babich

When designers hear the word ‘Friction’ it immediately raises negative thoughts in their minds. Friction slows down interactions and reduces conversions.

Good design is frictionless design

Users should go from A to B in the fastest, smoothest and most efficient way. right? Well, not always. Friction can improve UX in some cases. Here are 4 ways friction can improve UX of your product:

1. Friction can prevent users from making bad moves

Show confirmation dialog for irreversible actions

Frictions can make user to stop and think about what they are doing. And this can reduce the risk of mistakes: people stop and analyze the outcome from the action they are going to take.

Friction makes user get out of auto-pilot mode

A strong example of frictions increasing safety comes with a dialog where the user must confirm important action. When a user sees such dialog they might “Was this really what I wanted to do?” Notice that the most prominent button here is “Cancel.”

When users sees this dialog they might stop and think “Is it really what I want to do?”

Side note: Of course the apps we design should support Undo operations. But sometimes it’s impossible to introduce Undo feature due to business logic limitations or the nature of operation.

You can notice that the extra layer of glass protects the rocket ‘Launch’ button from accidental presses. Image by telstarlogistics

2. Friction can help users improve their skills

Education, Gaming

Friction increases cognitive load and it’s generally a bad thing when your design makes users think. But for educational products, friction can actually improve the final outcome. Most of us remember a time when we learn to ride a bicycle. It was a time of trials and errors. But since all of us had a goal—learn how to ride bicycle—the process education and friction that we had during the process was absolutely fine.

Transforming frictions from moments of pain into exciting challenges.

Games are another good example. In games, frictions sparks interest. No one likes games without friction because there would be absolutely no fun playing a frictionless game.

In game design, friction can turn from the pain points to exciting challenges.

Game designers use friction to foster learning and transform friction from the pain points into exciting challenges.

But when it comes to actual product design, there’s a thin line between what users find exciting and what they find frustrating. Too low level of friction makes the game boring, while too high of friction makes the game too challenging and lead to stress.

3. Friction can make users feel good

Feelings of accomplishment (IKEA Effect)

People value things they created or built more than those created by someone else. IKEA Effect:

The more effort you put into something, the more you come to value it.

This principle works for IKEA products, and it works for app or website.