Friction Logging

Systematically identify user experience issues by walking through the product as a specific user persona

David Singleton
Building a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe)

Friction Logging

"You need to put yourself in a particular user's shoes. It's actually important to have a very clear idea of who is the person I am kind of modeling the friction for right now." - David Singleton

What It Is

Friction logging is a systematic practice for identifying user experience problems by walking through your product as a specific user persona and documenting every point of friction encountered. The process involves stream-of-consciousness note-taking while using the product, paying particular attention to places where the user you're modeling would find the experience difficult.

The key insight is that being meticulous about user experience requires intentionality about where to focus. Friction logging helps teams identify the highest-impact areas to invest time and effort in improving the experience.

At Stripe, this practice is used across many functions and is often the responsibility of PMs or engineering managers who run regular repeating loops of going through end-to-end product flows.

How It Works

  1. Define your user persona: Be explicit about who you're modeling. This might be an engineer at a specific company (like Atlassian), a first-time user, or an enterprise customer. The clearer your mental model, the better your friction log.

  2. Walk through the actual experience: Go through the product from start to finish - from the dashboard, to documentation, to writing code, to completing the task. Experience everything the user would experience.

  3. Document stream of consciousness: Keep meticulous notes as you go. Write down everything - what's confusing, what's slow, what's delightful, what's broken.

  4. Highlight friction points: Pay particular attention to moments where the user you're modeling would struggle. These are your highest-priority improvement opportunities.

  5. Praise what's good: Use the friction log to recognize great work. When you find something delightful, call it out.

  6. Share and tag stakeholders: Distribute the friction log to relevant teams who can take action on the issues discovered.

How to Apply It

Actionable steps for implementing friction logging:

  1. Set a regular cadence - PMs or engineering managers should friction log their product end-to-end on a predictable schedule (monthly is common at Stripe)
  2. Create a simple template - Document: (1) what you want to do, (2) the user persona you're modeling, (3) stream of consciousness observations
  3. Make it a habit at leadership level - Executives doing regular friction logs helps maintain a cohesive experience as teams work in parallel
  4. Use it to guide investment - The places where you find friction are where you should be meticulous and invest extra effort
  5. Don't just document problems - Celebrate wins to reinforce what great looks like

When to Use It

  • Before major product launches to ensure quality
  • On a regular cadence (monthly or quarterly) for ongoing products
  • When onboarding to a new product area to gain context
  • When you suspect user experience has diverged across parallel teams
  • After receiving user feedback to reproduce and understand issues

Source

  • Guest: David Singleton
  • Episode: "Building a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe)"
  • Key Discussion: (00:26:09) - Detailed explanation of friction logging process at Stripe
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

  • Walk the Store - Company-wide product review sessions
  • Jobs to Be Done - Understanding user motivations
  • Reference Customer Development - Co-creating products with early users
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