Scroll. Scroll. Scroll.
It’s a pattern that can repeat for hours without a single break.
How do people so intensely fixate on relatively low quality content, for so long? Don’t we have such short attention spans? What powerful force is driving this nonsensical behaviour?
Let’s take Instagram as an example. When you open it, you’re treated to a new photo - and at first this new stimulus is interesting. Depending on the photo, it may take less than a second to get bored, or it may entertain you for nearly a minute. Regardless, when you get bored, you scroll down and magically the next photo appears. It’s a seemingly infinite flow of photos.
The process of scrolling from photo to photo has almost zero friction. It’s significantly easier to continue consuming stimulating content, than to stop. And so you just keep scrolling.
Let’s take Instagram as an example. When you open it, you’re treated to a new photo - and at first this new stimulus is interesting. Depending on the photo, it may take less than a second to get bored, or it may entertain you for nearly a minute. Regardless, when you get bored, you scroll down and magically the next photo appears. It’s a seemingly infinite flow of photos.
The process of scrolling from photo to photo has almost zero friction. It’s significantly easier to continue consuming stimulating content, than to stop. And so you just keep scrolling.
Can you reduce the friction between points where the users get value? Even if it simply takes a tap of a button, can you simplify it to a natural process?
Aza Raskin invented it in 2006, intending to optimise the user experience for ease of use. It was insanely effective. He learn’t that there is such a thing as too easy.
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