Defining Speed and Friction

In this talk, I'll be exploring two key concepts: speed and friction. It's important to have a clear understanding of what these terms mean in the context of user experience design.

Speed refers to the technical optimizations we can make to improve the loading and responsiveness of a website or application. This includes things like:

• Optimizing and compressing images
• Minifying code
• Implementing caching strategies
• Leveraging CDNs
• Improving server-side performance

The goal with speed optimization is to ensure that content and functionality are delivered to users as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, friction is about the things we intentionally do to slow down or distract users. This might sound counterintuitive, but there are occasions where introducing a bit of friction can actually enhance the user experience.

[Callout type="info"] The key is finding the right balance between speed and friction to create user journeys that are both efficient and engaging. [/Callout]

For example, consider the story I shared about Houston Airport. By deliberately slowing down the luggage delivery process and adding some "friction" (in the form of a longer walk to the terminal), they were able to improve the overall perception of the experience, even though the actual delivery time remained the same.

[Diagram to be made of user perception of speed vs actual technical speed]

So in summary, speed is about the technical optimization, while friction is about the deliberate design choices we make to shape the user's experience and expectations. Throughout this talk, I'll be exploring strategies and examples for leveraging both of these elements to create more engaging and effective user journeys.