Intentional Friction: When Sound UX Slows Users Down

While the baseline goal of UX is to eliminate unnecessary friction, intentional friction is an indispensable safety mechanism for high-risk operations:

The Destructive Action Paradigm

If deleting an entire customer database or transferring $50,000 required only a single unconfirmed click, catastrophic user errors would multiply.

UX Friction Patterns

• Confirmation Dialogs: Requiring explicit user verification before irreversible deletions.
• Type-to-Confirm Safeguards: Forcing users to type the project name (e.g., 'type DELETE MY-REPO to confirm') before permanently removing data.
• Undo Grace Periods (Snackbar Undo): Allowing immediate undo for 5 seconds rather than interrupting flow with a modal.