Friction
01 Definition
Friction meaning: Anything that makes a task harder or slower and discourages users from finishing.
Friction is any obstacle that adds effort, confusion, or delay as someone tries to complete an action, such as extra form fields, slow pages, or unclear steps. Reducing it usually helps completion, though some friction, like a confirmation step, is intentional and protective. The goal is removing needless effort, not all effort.
Why it matters
How Friction fits the work
Spotting and removing needless effort makes tasks easier to finish, which supports smoother experiences and cleaner conversion paths.
In context
Requiring account creation before checkout adds friction, so the store added a guest checkout option to reduce abandonment.
Practical note
Not all friction is bad; deliberate checks such as password confirmation or fraud reviews protect users even though they slow the flow.