Friction is a design choice
Apply EAST to distinguish helpful friction from sludge in a work process.
The move: ask what the friction is doing. EAST is useful because it does not start with a motivational speech. It starts with the environment. If the desired action is hard, hidden, socially awkward, or badly timed, many people will not do it even when they agree with it. Friction can be protective. Requiring a second confirmation before deleting customer data is good friction. Asking for the same company address on six procurement forms is sludge. The difference is whether the effort improves the quality of the decision. Use this test: if the step catches a meaningful error, keeps someone…
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