Adding friction to tools

I don’t believe in removing friction at all costs from tools.

Recently, as suggested by another author (who I can’t remember, sometimes my process fails me), I’ve removed Apple Pay from my iPhone. Now I have to manually approve purchases with a physical credit card.

It’s a test.

I have a hunch that many of my purchases are unnecessary. Adding friction and making the transaction take a minute or two isn’t a bad thing.

It’s the same with email. On my iPhone I’ve removed all mail apps, and have to login to iCloud mail (a less than ideal solution).

I don’t mind that.

For years, before pausing social media entirely, I would log out of all social apps. Each time I wanted to log back in I’d have to enter the password, a process that was just long enough to discourage me from mindlessly scrolling.

Now I’ve finally enabled Passwords integration with Apple’s newish app. I’m not sure I’m a fan. It’s too easy to login to things now.

Across many consumer based tools I try adding friction, to see if I can insert mindfullness and thought into why I’m using the tool. That’s, of course, different from creative tools where I’m looking for ways to speed up my process and iteration cycles.

My wish for all tools going forward is slower consumption abilities and improved creative processes.