'We All Hate Friction' – Insights from Digital Leaders

Maybe, just maybe, the reason we like to talk about password friction so much is because we hate it. So much.

We've recently been attending a number of retail & technology events (most recently Shoptalk, Adobe Summit & eTail East) and our conversations with digital leaders have been eye-opening.

We weren't necessarily surprised by what we heard from the digital leaders we met with, who spanned a range of industries. But it did shift our thinking, as many good business conversations do. Especially when it comes to how friction from traditional sign-up and sign-in negatively impacts a wide range of digital experiences.

Here are three takeaways from our recent conversations:

1. Friction is more than just a commerce blocker

For years, we've been helping digital leaders take aim at the friction caused by passwords. Typically the focus is on reducing friction to drive additional revenue. But recently, we were reminded that friction isn't just about sales.

Our digital lives and physical lives are becoming harder to delineate — as more of our time and daily activities have a digital element. Friction affects how we gather information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work. In a sense, friction is becoming a blocker to life.

2. Brand leaders are sick of friction, too

The personal frustrations we feel as consumers around passwords and authentication are shared by the leaders of digital brands. They see the impact of friction on their business metrics every day — in abandoned carts, failed logins, and customer service tickets about forgotten passwords.

3. There's a real appetite for change

The good news? Brand leaders are actively looking for solutions. They understand that the old ways of doing authentication aren't working, and they're ready to explore alternatives like passwordless and passkeys.