Apple Understands Friction: So Should You

Apple Ingeniously at Work on a New Way to Share & Buy Apps

For example, Aaron, a smartphone user, is at lunch with his friend Brent. After lunch, when the bill comes, Aaron demonstrates a specialized calculator application on his iPhone to Brent which determines an appropriate tip and how much of the lunch bill they each owe. Brent is very impressed with the calculator application and would like to obtain a copy for his iPhone too. In this case, Brent must ask Aaron the name of the application, browse to the online store on the mobile device, search the online store or elsewhere for the application, and finally select and download the application. A simple error in transcribing the name of the application, forgetting about the application, or any of a myriad of other setbacks can interrupt this chain of actions which Brent must accomplish to obtain a copy of the calculator application. Further, Brent could have other availability, licensing, or other feature-related questions to which Aaron does not know the answers. Brent can encounter some difficulty obtaining that information or downloading the application.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

Friction is the enemy.

With eBooks, it’s having to type in the name of a book or writer. Which is why I say all eBook devices should have cameras to scan QR/bar codes.

The biggest friction to making money is being able to pay. I’ll keep beating the drum no matter how smug everyone else is: these days, people are being stripped of their credit cards. That means no PayPal, no Google Checkout, or any other scheme the Net might dream up for payment. If money can’t go from paper cash to digital, that’s First Friction.

Defeat First Friction and work on the rest too.

There is lots of friction out there.