Luna Maurer on Designing Friction
Reflections on the Talk
I found this talk through Tim Rodenbroeker’s work. He talks to Luna Maurer, an artist, about the ways that friction or the lack of friction are important ideas in how we think about our relationships with technology.
By increasing the amount of friction that we experience, we can ask the user to think more or become more aware of the thing that they are using.
They speak about how technology has become more and more closed to the user – we are much less able to know or understand what is going on and we are restricted from interfering with the architectures of our devices.
I think this conversation is about aesthetics or user experience as obstruction or illusion generating. In my own work, I like the idea of showing my working out, so that people can see that a person has been behind the work and that flaws and friction are normal parts of the creative process.
In saying this, I also understand the idea that friction can get in the way of the user being able to access the message.
I think I will keep having to think about this idea of friction in the context of user experiences and when (if ever) it is right or appropriate to make it harder for the user or viewer to experience the work. Especially if this is outside of an art context.