The unintended consequence of public policies

In 1980, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) introduced spot fines on motorcyclists not wearing helmets. The primary motivation was to reduce head injuries, but it had an unexpected and dramatic impact in a totally different area: thefts. In the wake of the change, motorcycle thefts fell by 60 per cent, and stayed down.

You might think that if a person intended to steal a bike, this change in the law would not make that much difference: they just had to remember to bring a helmet with them, or to steal one, too. But, it would seem, most offenders did not do this. It was extra hassle, and required forethought. Riders often carried their helmets with them, rather than leaving them on the bike. In short, the requirement to wear a helmet introduced ‘friction’ to the act of stealing a motorbike, with dramatic consequences.

Product teams have spent years declaring war on friction as though every extra second were a war crime. Motorbike thieves would like a word.

The helmet rule worked on a behaviour it was not designed to touch. Stealing the bike now required forethought, another object and the possibility of looking conspicuous without it. Nothing became impossible. The opportunistic act became sufficiently annoying to lose momentum.

Digital design contains the same bargain. Two-factor authentication irritates legitimate users and ruins the afternoon of somebody holding only a stolen password. A second approval slows an unusual payment and interrupts a costly mistake. A confirmation step reduces conversion and may reduce fraud by rather more. The spreadsheet demanding “one-click everything” normally records the first cost beautifully and treats the second as folklore.

Friction is neither virtuous nor evil. It is a tax on a behaviour. Hidden cancellation taxes the customer for leaving and deserves contempt. A pause before transferring a month’s salary to a new account may deserve thanks.

So every friction-removal project needs a misuse column: what harmful act becomes easier too? And every protective step needs a burden column: who pays, how often and with what accessibility cost? The best journey is not the one with the fewest clicks. It is the one that spends effort on the right side.