Killer products are opinionated

Make it faster. Remove all friction. These are the catchy mantras of product building 101, but they also happen to be misleading. They spell out a recipe for making something complaint-free, but nowhere near extraordinary. Friction isn’t always the villain. Positive friction creates memories, and memories are how customers remember you.   Killer products are opinionated about, among many things, the cadence of friction. They speed through the generic moments, but slow down for the special ones. They grow from a reliable product into a beloved experience.  Let’s look at some examples, and learn how to apply this to your own products. ‍

In the 1940s, Pillsbury started making instant cake mixes. Instead of juggling dozens of ingredients, you could bake a cake with just their mix + water. They eliminated all friction, and yet the product flopped.  ‍After talking to customers, Pillsbury stumbled upon a surprising finding: instead of being a source of frustration, making cake was a way to express love.  That’s when Pillsbury decided to make the cake mix less simple — instead of being pre-made, you had to add eggs. Sales picked up, and cake mixes still rake in millions to this day. Adding in the right amount of friction make their product more rewarding. ‍

Done well, it can surge far beyond 100%.   In a world that worships speed, it’s ironic that there are companies that obsess over the aesthetic and acoustic details of packaging. They are literally perfecting the layers that delay customers from getting what they bought. In fact, they design friction to enhance excitement, and evoke that Christmas morning feeling. Why bother? Well, for one, unboxing has spawned wildly popular videos, becoming effectively free advertising for products. Positive friction is a tool to turn any customer into a viral marketing campaign. ‍

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