Use friction to your advantage

What's inside: Problem solving rules, type principles, misguided design, multitasking, access to users, circles conference, and more.

Newsletter • May 17, 2024 • 3 min read

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Hey folks,

Here are the top 10 things I found worth sharing and your UX tip of the week.

UX tip of the week

Use friction to your advantage.

Apply friction in experiences to stop users from taking incorrect actions while guiding them toward correct ones (e.g. 2-step verification, form fields, etc.)
The irony about growing as a designer is learning to design with less time. Use friction to manage your responsibilities, new project requests, and deadlines.
- Create automated time block scheduling or “one for you, one for me” scheduling for productive work.
- Spend blocked time sending detailed project emails to deter back-and-forth email chains. Include info such as current workload, time estimates, and clear next steps.
- See also: Slow Productivity

Top 10 things worth sharing this week

Yonatan Zunger shared three rules for problem solving: 1) start with where then move to how, 2) systems are temporary but problems persist, and 3) any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
“The power of design does not, and never will, outweigh the power of technology or finance.” Dig into design can’t fix everything by Sarah Gallivan and the end of naval gazing by Paul Adams.
Elliott Jay Stocks released a new book of practical insights on applying the Universal Principles of Typography.
“Many designers and design teams now find themselves in a place between strategy and implementation, yet they are not fully empowered to influence either.” Rune Madsen articulated how product design is lost. See also: the unfortunate monoculture of where design can make an impact.
Anna Ratkai asked critical questions about whether or not the personalization of ecommerce helps users or exploits their personal data.
“As designers, don’t force people to juggle multiple tasks. Allow users to fix errors easily after the fact. After all, we’re only human, and multitasking is a recipe for errors.” People can’t multitask.
Dan Mall wrote about mid-life crisis in his recent article behind the curtain.
“The stakeholders who wouldn’t give you time or resource to talk to users can also be the first to demand evidence to support your design.” H Locke shared options for what you can do when you have no access to users.
Don’t forget to explore Figma resources by the Apple design team.
I’ll be speaking at Circles Conference 2024 this coming October. Use the code “GERREN” for a 10% discount if you’re interested in attending. (See the image below)

Thanks for reading!

This newsletter is a free hand-crafted resource for the UX community and beyond. If you like it, subscribe here and consider forwarding it to a friend.

Sincerely,
Gerren

← 5/10/24 Fast-track the magic moment

5/24/24 Shift from feature quantity to quality →

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