We spent 20 years removing friction now we are realizing friction was sometimes protecting people

We spent 20 years removing friction. Now we're realizing friction was sometimes protecting people.

Steve Krug wrote "Don't Make Me Think" in 2000. The whole industry followed. We got exceptional at removing obstacles. Seamless onboarding. One-tap purchases. Infinite scroll. We optimized for task completion and called it good design.

Then we noticed the same principles that made apps intuitive also made them addictive. The attention economy wasn't a side effect. It was the product.

A shift is happening now, accelerated by EU regulation. Design is being redefined as the protection of human rights, not just the removal of obstacles. The goal is no longer helping users complete tasks. It's ensuring systems respect, inform, and preserve human autonomy.

This changes what senior designers get paid to do. Not just make things easy. Make things honest.

Next brief you review, ask one question the client didn't ask: what does this design make harder for the user to control?