Hi,

Small frustrations often point to the best innovation opportunities.

I was reminded of that last week at a train station.

I parked my car, took the train for a meeting, and returned late in the evening. Everything worked exactly as designed. The parking system was modern. The technology worked. The rules were clear.

And yet I still paid the full price.

Why? Because the discounted rate required one small step in the process, and that step was no longer possible once the service desk had closed. The system was technically correct. But the user journey broke down.

Friction is not just an annoyance.
It is often a signal.

That moment reminded me of something we often overlook in innovation.

A signal that something in the experience has not been designed around the real context of the user. A signal that there is still room to improve, simplify, or rethink the journey. And that also means friction can point directly to innovation opportunities.

Not always big, flashy opportunities. Sometimes the real opportunity is in:

• removing one frustrating step
• connecting two parts of a process better
• designing a solution that works in practice, not only on paper

That is where value is often created.

In innovation projects, we tend to focus on the idea, the technology, or the business model. But some of the best opportunities appear when you look closely at where people lose time, energy, or patience.

So a useful question is not only:

What problem are we solving?

but

Where is the friction that people have learned to live with?

That is often where innovation begins.

If this sounds familiar, you can read the full blog here.

And I would be curious: what friction in your world would you most like to innovate away?

Warm regards,

Piet V.

P.S. Once you start noticing friction in systems around you, you cannot unsee it. Innovation opportunities pop up everywhere.