Stop motivating people. Start making it easy.
The Frictionless Playbook
I saw an ad for a titanium pan pop up in my Instagram feed. Well, my wife and I were just talking about non-stick pans and how there is not a great solution for pans that are safe AND provide a slick surface for scrambled eggs. And what do you know? 2 minutes later, pan ads start showing up. I’m not even surprised anymore.
Anyway, have you ever left an item in a cart before? You did your research, you are ready to buy something and then you stopped?
Me too. Many times. And this time I put the pan in the cart, sold by their “technology” and testimonials, hoping for once it’s not too good to be true. But then I abandoned the cart.
Why?
Apple pay failed to work.
And I had to create an account.
And there were all these upsells.
Talk about barriers to buy! You see, this is one of the truths about being human.
People don’t always choose the best option.
They choose the easiest one.
From the path we choose to take to the words we choose to read, the human brain always seeks to conserve energy.
Nobel laureate psychologist Daniel Kahneman called it the law of least effort:
“If there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will gravitate to the least demanding course of action.”
Daniel Kahneman
Roger Dooley, author of Friction, summed it up even simpler:
“Easier is better.”
Roger Dooley
I’m sure the pan company didn’t intend to, the fact is most businesses, leaders, and teams unknowingly make things harder, both physically and psychologically — and then wonder why people stall, ghost, or walk away.
This week on the Influence Anyone podcast, I sat down with Roger and had him explain why friction is the enemy and what we can all do about it.
(Roger Dooley is an author, international keynote speaker, and pioneer at the intersection of neuroscience and marketing. His work translates brain and behavioral science into real-world strategies that drive customer loyalty and business growth. He’s the author of Friction and Brainfluence, host of the Brainfluence podcast, and a contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Neuromarketing. Through his writing and speaking, Roger helps leaders eliminate the hidden barriers that block action)
Heartset: People don’t quit because they don’t want to act; they quit because you made it to hard to go on.
You’ve all experienced it.
When you face a 12-field form just to download a free guide.
When you tried to check out online and you’re asked to create an account.
When you felt ready to buy but they didn’t provide a crucial piece of information.
Physical or psychological friction stops you from doing the thing you wanted to do.
But when the tables are turned and you’re the one asking someone to do something (including yourself), you’ve unintentionally made it too hard to continue.
“I’m always amazed. Austin is one of the highest tech cities in the world, but every new doctor still hands you a clipboard of paper forms.”
Roger Dooley
Mindset: Stop trying to add motivation, start removing resistance.
When someone isn’t doing what you ask, the most common approach is to push harder. More value, more benefits, lower prices.
But that’s NOT typically the problem. People don’t need to be pushed down the slide. They need the slide to be smooth.
Roger calls this his Persuasion Slide model:
Gravity is motivation.
Angle is persuasion: your message, offer, or nudge.
Friction is the roughness that slows people down.
You don’t need more gravity. You need less friction.
There are two kinds of friction: physical and psychological.
1. Physical Friction: what you can see.
Too many clicks.
Too many screens.
Too many words.
Roger once reviewed a Fortune 50 financial website where the “Call to Action” button was buried under walls of black legal disclaimers.
“A normal human would look at that and say, ‘Oh crap, I’m not clicking this.’”
Roger Dooley
That’s physical friction. Tangible, visible, fixable.
2. Psychological Friction: what you can’t see.
Confusion. Anxiety. Overwhelm.
When customers feel uncertain, they hesitate. When they hesitate, they stop.
Roger saw this pattern repeatedly:
“People weren’t completing the process because it was hard to see what they were supposed to do next.”
Roger Dooley
That’s psychological friction.
And it’s even deadlier because it lives in the mind, not the in the interface or UX.
Organ Donation in Europe
Behavioral economists Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein found something striking:
In countries where citizens had to opt in to organ donation, participation rates hovered around 15%. In countries where citizens were automatically enrolled and had to opt out, rates jumped 75% to 90%.
The only thing that changed? Friction
The physical effort of checking a box, plus the psychological effort of deciding, “Do I want to?” stopped millions of donors.
Skillset: The Frictionless Playbook
Here’s how to make the Law of Least Effort work for you: in business or in life.
For any action you want someone (or yourself) to take:
1. Map the journey.
Follow the exact path your customer, employee, or yourself takes. Break down every step so you are able to scrutinize for friction. (e.g. You want to exercise in the morning. The steps are: Sleep → Alarm → Wake → Pick clothes etc.)
2. Find the “ugh” moments.
Those sighs, hesitations, and quiet frustrations… that’s friction revealing itself. Watch for cognitive overload, unclear directions, or intimidating walls of text. (e.g. You want to exercise in the morning, but when the alarm rings, you find yourself prioritizing more sleep, that’s the moment you find the most frustrating.)
3. Ask: Is this friction physical or psychological?
Physical = effort. Psychological = emotion.
One makes people tired; the other makes them anxious. Both kill action. (e.g. Getting ready in the morning has both physical and psychological friction.)
4. Remove one barrier. Just one.
You don’t need a redesign, you need a release valve. Simplify one screen, shorten one form, clarify one message. Roger calls this “micro friction” and every bit you remove compounds into momentum. (e.g. Remove the friction of choosing your clothes by laying them out the night before.)
5. Measure the result.
When you remove friction, conversion isn’t the only thing that rises. So does trust. So does belief. So does willingness to say yes again. (e.g. Remove the friction of choosing your clothes by laying them out the night before.)
💡 Rule of thumb: If it looks like work, it won’t work.
🧭 Bonus: The Frictionless Playbook in Action
Click HERE to see an example of a Friction-Filled Funnel vs. a Frictionless Funnel.
If you like this issue about frictionless influence, you’ll love:
Why Emotion is The Key to Influence and Decision Making (The 3-Step Emotional Trigger Map.)
Stop Making Hard Work Look Easy (7 Situations Where Showing Effort Helps You Win People Over.)
The Real Reason You're Not Getting Ahead (The SIGNAL framework to brag right.)
Change behavior, change lives 🤘🏽
Howie Chan
Creator of Influence Anyone
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Don’t miss:
The Influence Anyone Podcast
What if the biggest threat to your business isn’t competition but friction?
In this episode, I sit down with author and behavioral science expert Roger Dooley to explore the hidden forces that slow people down, push customers away, and quietly drain growth and how a few small shifts in effort can change everything.
We dig into stories and ideas that didn’t make it into the newsletter:
Why even billion-dollar companies can’t see the friction sitting right in front of them and how one financial giant lost conversions over a single design choice
The difference between good friction and bad friction, and how to use the IKEA Effect to make customers love what they build
What Roger’s dog taught him about motivation, effort, and the way humans actually make decisions
The simple psychological cues that make people trust a message or abandon it instantly
How AI is changing behavioral science itself, and why emotion is becoming the next competitive advantage
If you’ve ever wondered why some brands feel effortless while others feel like work, or how to make your business 10× easier to say “yes” to this conversation will completely rewire the way you think about influence.
🎧 Listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify, the Web, or wherever you get your podcasts.