4. Uber admirably honest. More friction a theme for 2020?Tl;dr: Some things can only be fixed if by adding friction to the experience. In an admirable act of transparency, Uber announced that in 2018, there were 3,045 sexual assaults in their vehicles in the US. A huge and disturbing number, even if it only represents 0.0002% of rides taken. This is not an Uber-specific problem, but because they’re the ones telling us, the clock is now ticking on their response. Almost certainly it’ll require a trade off between convenience and security, increasing friction in the experience. Which will be interesting, because we’ve become so used to friction being removed that accepting a movement in the opposite direction will require a really, really good reason. Like not being assaulted. A shift like this won’t be unique to Uber either. While removing friction has created billions of dollars worth of value, there have been unintended consequences. In response, we’re already seeing people adding friction back into their own lives, like only using debit cards to avoid going into debt, listening to vinyl to stop distractedly skipping tracks, or avoiding social media altogether. In a desire to avoid unintended consequences and be better corporate citizens, look for more companies to follow.
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