Friction makes the story.
We've spent the last twenty years trying to remove friction from almost every aspect of modern life.
This isn't really an article about Gymshark.
Every update promises fewer clicks. Every platform promises a faster route from intention to outcome. We can order food, book holidays, create presentations and communicate with colleagues in seconds. Convenience has become so embedded in our lives that we barely notice it anymore.
And that's a remarkable achievement.
Few people would genuinely want to return to buffering internet connections, paper maps or waiting days for information to arrive. Technology has solved countless frustrations and, in doing so, transformed how we work and live.
The easier experiences become, the less likely they are to leave a lasting impression.
Think back to the last week. Most of us will struggle to recall the hundreds of emails, notifications, posts and messages that passed across our screens. We consumed them, responded to them and moved on. They served a purpose, but very few became memorable.
Now think about the things you do remember.
Perhaps it was a workshop where people covered walls with ideas and debated them in person. A note someone wrote by hand. A book you've marked up over time. A prototype passed around a table. These moments tend to stay with us because they required more than passive consumption. They demanded participation.
The effort becomes part of the experience.
For all our talk of efficiency, many of the things we value most still contain an element of friction. We travel to see live sport instead of simply checking the result. We attend concerts despite having every song available on demand. We spend hours preparing meals for family and friends when ordering takeaway would be considerably easier.
Logically, these decisions make very little sense. Emotionally, they make perfect sense.
What we're really paying for isn't convenience. It's involvement. The investment of time, energy and attention creates a stronger connection to the experience itself.
That's why friction shouldn't always be viewed as something to eliminate. In many situations, it's what gives an experience meaning.
This feels particularly relevant as artificial intelligence accelerates the production of content. We can now create more ideas, more assets and more communications than ever before. The barriers to creation are falling rapidly and that's creating exciting opportunities for organisations and creatives alike.
But while technology can make things faster, it doesn't automatically make them more meaningful.
Humans still form connections in remarkably analogue ways. We remember conversations more than notifications. We trust experiences more than claims. We value evidence of effort because effort signals intention.
That's why physical and shared experiences continue to matter.
Not because digital is failing, but because digital and physical play different roles. One helps ideas travel. The other helps them stick.
The most effective communicators increasingly understand this distinction. They use digital channels for reach, accessibility and scale, while recognising that memorable moments often require something more tangible. Something that invites people to engage, contribute and respond.
Because when people participate in an idea, they begin to take ownership of it. And ownership is what creates memory.
Perhaps the future isn't about removing every possible obstacle from the journey. Perhaps it's about understanding which moments benefit from speed and which benefit from a little resistance.
After all, many of the experiences that shape us most weren't effortless.
They left an impression precisely because they asked something of us in return.
And sometimes, the thing that makes an idea memorable isn't how smoothly it arrives, but how deeply we engage with it once it gets there.