Scientific Definition
Any small cost — clicks, forms, thought — that shifts behavior.
Plain-English Definition
Any small cost — clicks, forms, thought — that shifts behavior.
Feynman Explanation
Friction is the cheapest behavior-change lever and the most underused.
Core Principle
Any small cost — clicks, forms, thought — that shifts behavior.
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Friction is the cheapest behavior-change lever and the most underused.
Examples
- A single extra checkout step can cut conversion by 30%.
- Internal friction (approvals, tools) silently determines what work happens.
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Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
- Subtract friction on what you want; add friction to what you want less of.
Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Subtract friction on what you want; add friction to what you want less of.
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Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Clear ownership of outcomes, not just tasks.
Asymmetric information attracts the worst counterparties.
We defer to perceived expertise, rank, or uniform.
Vastness that exceeds existing schemas dissolves the self briefly.
Negative feedback returns a system toward a target.
Membership in a group is a baseline human need.
Individually rational choices that produce a collectively bad outcome.
We seek tasks where we feel effective and improving.
Competing loyalties that compromise judgment.
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Signals whose value depends on being expensive to fake.