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Friction vs. Features
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Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 16, 2023 at 10:11 PM
Paul in the recent Curio thread mentioned friction, especially in regard to Noteplan and Agenda. The concept of friction as being a deterent to good and efficient note-taking is certainly valid. I had never really thought about it until I began seeing that term pop up relative to note-taking apps, and then I realized that was a reason so many great apps just didn’t seem to work for me. Every app has some friction. But I think there is a correlation (though not necessarily one to one) between friction and features. The more features an app has, the more likely it is to have a lot of friction. At least that’s my theory. I am wondering if anyone can present a counter example… that is, a feature-rich app that is relatively frictionless.
But what exactly is friction? I guess it is anything that impedes the smooth collection or writing of notes. Having to select a folder, or decide on a tag, or lift fingers from the keyboard to format text or anything like that. But it might be more than that. It might be your relationship to the interface. Is it uninspiring? Or confusing? Do you have to stop and think about what to do next, once you’ve made your note?
I am thinking that Mem might be an example of a relatively frictionless app, and yet, I find it uninspiring. That’s probably just me.
Anyway, I am interested in other recommendations for low-friction note-management apps.
Steve
Posted by satis
Mar 17, 2023 at 01:24 AM
To me frictionless notetaking apps means effortless writing (fast launch, lack of lag, implementation of quick-capture, simplicity in UI with obvious keyboard shortcuts, attractive and customizable formatting), but also involve other abilities without which I’ll quickly abandon the app.
(For example, I know a lot of people who migrated (or whose companies made them migrate) to OneNote, but I encounter a discernable lag when typing in the app which makes it unsuitable for my writing. And I know people who love using Bear and IA Writer but the UI and limits to font/background customization drive me up the wall.)
Foremost is good app and in-note search, but close behind are cross-platform document accessibility, easy sharing, output options. And given this site’s focus, levels of hierarchy are also of interest.
Other capabilities involve of and how the app handles linking and tags (a deep and complicated topic) and multimedia.
Posted by Paul Korm
Mar 17, 2023 at 01:45 AM
If software makes it easy to quickly start new, or open an existing document, and get going. And then continue writing without lag. Then it’s low friction.
Having written tens of thousands of pages in Word, I would say it for me is the lowest friction app I have. Just writing that feels like heresy. Yes, Word is bulked out with nightmarish ribbons, menus, confusing commands and features, but for basic just-get-it-down-and-fiddle-later writing, it serves me well. I’ve used it so much for so long that I don’t even see the cruft when I’m engaged in writing.
It’s interesting that a few tens of thousands of people use Obsidian (their claim), which a few hundred million people use Word (their claim). It can’t all be bad.
Posted by nirans@gmail.com
Mar 17, 2023 at 02:04 AM
> Do you
>have to stop and think about what to do next, once you’ve made your
>note?
I think I would add the word ...again. I can learn how to do things, but if I have to work at remembering a procedure more than twice(I am exaggerating), that is friction.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 17, 2023 at 11:44 AM
This is another example of “your mileage may vary.” I have the opposite reaction to Word. I hate writing in it. To me, trying to do anything but type in it is a major chore. It doesn’t help that Microsoft changes how things work in Word from time to time.
I used to do most of my writing (on my PC) in a plain text editor called Notetab, because it was so easy to open it and start typing (proving your point, Paul). It doesn’t work as well in more recent Windows editions, sadly.
Paul Korm wrote:
If software makes it easy to quickly start new, or open an existing
>document, and get going. And then continue writing without lag. Then
>it’s low friction.
>
>Having written tens of thousands of pages in Word, I would say it for me
>is the lowest friction app I have. Just writing that feels like heresy.
> Yes, Word is bulked out with nightmarish ribbons, menus, confusing
>commands and features, but for basic just-get-it-down-and-fiddle-later
>writing, it serves me well. I’ve used it so much for so long that I
>don’t even see the cruft when I’m engaged in writing.
>
>It’s interesting that a few tens of thousands of people use Obsidian
>(their claim), which a few hundred million people use Word (their
>claim). It can’t all be bad.
>
>