Why Do Companies Add Friction to a Process on Purpose?

A pause, review, or limit can prevent errors, fraud, and unsafe choices. Friction is not always something to remove. Teams may add it on purpose.

The single most distinctive thing about this word

Many learners pair friction only with reduce, remove, or eliminate. Yet some situations need the opposite idea. A team may keep friction because it serves as a safeguard.

The verb tells you which direction is meant

The verb shows which direction you mean. To remove friction, use reduce, remove, eliminate, minimize, cut, or lower. To keep or add it, use add, introduce, create, build in, or retain.

"We're introducing an extra confirmation step before large withdrawals -- it adds friction on purpose, to slow down account-takeover fraud."

"This cooling-off period is deliberate friction: it gives someone a day to reconsider before a large purchase becomes final."

"We retained the manager-approval step even after the redesign, because that friction is what catches pricing errors before they reach a customer."

Getting the verb right isn't enough on its own

The verb may not explain why the friction exists. Add the reason when readers need that context. Phrases such as on purpose or to reduce fraud make the trade-off clear. "We added a confirmation step" names the change. "We added it to slow down fraud" also explains the goal.

Both directions can be correct

Friction can be useful or harmful. "We removed the extra confirmation step to speed up checkout" describes removal. "We added an extra confirmation step to slow down fraud" describes protection. Both are natural uses. Choose the direction that fits the situation.

Where this shows up

This contrast matters in risk, security, trust and safety, and process design. In these fields, extra effort may protect a person or system.

A quick check before you write the sentence

First, ask whether the team wants to remove or defend the friction. If it is useful, choose a verb such as retain or add. Then name the reason, such as fraud prevention or error checking. "We added a step to slow down fraud" answers the reader's likely question.

Practice scenarios

Practice using friction in situations like:

• defending a deliberately added confirmation step in a security write-up
• recognizing when a sentence needs the add/introduce verb family instead of the reduce/remove one
• stating the intent explicitly so added friction doesn't read as an accidental flaw

Useful practice phrases:

• "We're adding friction to this step on purpose, to slow down fraud."
• "This cooling-off period is deliberate friction."
• "We retained that friction because it's what catches errors before they reach a customer."

Teams can remove friction or defend it. The verb and stated reason make the direction clear.