Don’t make it too easy: Why friction can be sticky for brands
While most brands aim to make their customer touchpoints as easy as possible Alison Tilling argues making people work for it will make them value it more.
Most brands and agencies aim to create seamless experiences for people. We design them to be easy, coherent and united across channels. Most of the time, that’s great. It means a world where things just work, quickly and well.
But for brands it is dangerous, because ultimately it could also lead to a world of bland sameness.
Of course no-one wants unnecessary pain, but there can be gold hidden in a brand’s rough edges that will help it stand out – and for all the right reasons.
Fascinating article, Alison.
Real food for thought on the quest for differentiation.
Good stuff, Ali.
As a lifelong imperfectionist it all sounds good to me.
And the bit about people liking to be expert in difficult things – a good example is today’s ludicrously over-complex mobile phones which are beyond the ken of any sane person – but so many people like to learn to navigate all the manifest bugs and dead-ends so that they can impress others.