Photo by Massimiliano Sarno
Design that respects our presence doesn’t erase friction, it curates it.
In this book, Colomina and Wigley take a fascinating look at how design has shaped what it means to be human. They explore architecture and design history, questioning the boundaries between humans and the built environment.
Modern design has made friction its enemy. Smoothness sells, and speed, we’re told, is a form of care. Tap once. Scroll. Swipe right. No resistance. No delay. No decision, even. Friction, in this framework, is failure: an obstacle, a bug, an inconvenience.
But what if this “frictionless” ideal isn’t just misguided? What if it’s anesthetic?
In Are We Human?, Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley suggest that design today has become a kind of soft anesthesia. Not a numbing of the body with painkillers, but of the mind and senses with seamless experiences. In this model, we’re not meant to notice anything. The less conscious we are, the more “intuitive” it’s said to be.
Calm design resists this. It reclaims friction not as dysfunction, but as design’s most human gesture.
Friction as a Form of Attention
Good friction makes us pause. It awakens presence. The texture of a ceramic mug on your fingers. The quiet ritual of lighting a candle. The moment you take your shoes off before entering a room. These are not bugs in the system. They are the experience itself.
Slowness, ritual, and even brief resistance can return us to ourselves. Not to make things harder, but to make them felt. This is what we call thoughtful friction: friction that helps us land in the moment, reengage our bodies, and take responsibility for our actions.
It’s the friction of a second thought before clicking “buy now.” Of a handwritten note instead of an emoji. Of waiting a day before replying to a hard email.
Designers often speak of reducing “cognitive load,” but calm is not the same as ease. Sometimes, ease is dissociation. Presence takes a different kind of energy. Not speed, but rhythm. Not efficiency, but engagement.
Photo by Andrew Guan
Frictionless is Not Neutral
The ideology of seamlessness isn’t neutral. It serves an economy that profits from unthinking behavior. Every friction removed is a pause removed. Every pause removed is a moment of autonomy stripped away.
What happens when you remove all friction? You slide.
This is how attention is extracted.
This is how addiction is designed.
In truth, frictionless design doesn’t reduce effort. It redirects it. From deliberate presence to passive consumption. From inner awareness to outer stimuli.
We believe that resistance, when used with care, is a kind of ethical material. It can be shaped. Designed. Honored. Not everything should be easy. Some things should matter.
Friction as a Site of Care
At Calm Design Lab, we’re not advocating for clunkiness or nostalgia. We’re not against usability. We are against the erasure of sensation, responsibility, and time.
Thoughtful friction is friction in service of care. It’s what slows you down just enough to breathe, to notice, to choose again. It’s what gives weight to experiences, and depth to relationships.Design that supports well-being is not always seamless.
Sometimes, it is tactile. Sometimes, it is slow.
Sometimes, it resists you, gently, to help you return.
