Friction and Viscosity

Physical friction concerns resistance between contacting surfaces, while viscosity concerns a fluid’s resistance to deformation and flow. As practical metaphors, they direct attention to effort and delay in a process. Some barriers are avoidable; others perform a useful function.

In an everyday process, friction names the effort, delay, uncertainty, or repeated work between an intention and an outcome. Observe the sequence rather than assuming the person lacks motivation. An unclear instruction, missing permission, inaccessible control, or difficult handoff may explain why the task stalls. Different barriers call for different changes.

A pause can also serve a purpose. Reviewing recipients before sending sensitive information takes effort but may prevent a costly mistake. Evaluate a step by the goal it serves and its burden, then remove, simplify, relocate, or retain it. Physical friction and viscosity supply metaphors here; they do not establish equations for human behavior.

When to use it

When a task repeatedly stalls, a handoff creates confusion, or a design makes useful action unnecessarily difficult.

How it can help

Helps locate the concrete steps that make an intended action difficult and assess whether simplifying them would improve the outcome.