The Friction Equation: Satisfaction Is Value Over Effort
Two products can deliver the same value and earn opposite reputations. The difference is what you make people do to get it. James Sinclair captures this in Starting a Startup with a ratio simple enough to keep in your head. Satisfaction equals value divided by effort. Value is the outcome, the wow, the thing the user actually wanted. Effort is everything you charge them on the way — the clicks, the wait times, the cognitive load, the forms they fill before anything good happens. ...