in this everything-as-a-service frictionless-seeking world, consider the tension between CONVENIENCE and RITUAL. For example, subscription coffee startups vs. the escape and pleasure of going out for coffee, smelling the brew, entering a new environment.

Ritual, it turns out, is made of friction - a friction that forces us out of mindlessness and into awareness. Anything that forces us to escape muscle memory and our screens yields unexpected dividends - especially when it comes to creativity (by definition, escaping patterns)

as consumers, let’s weigh the balance between optimizing for convenience while appreciating the frictions that fuel ritual.

and as product and experience designers, let’s value and incorporate certain frictions that prompt pause and awareness in this frictionless world.