Creator tools get weird when they remove every pause

talk
1

Some friction is doing work. In creative tools, the little pauses are often where you notice something is off before you publish it into the world.

I keep thinking about this with templates, one-click exports, and all the “streamline your workflow” stuff — it’s nice until the tool starts deciding too much for you. Where do people here draw the line between helpful and too smooth?

2

One-click export is fine until it becomes one-click publish and you stop getting that “wait, is this actually what I meant?” moment.

For me the line is whether the tool is removing mechanical steps (great) or removing the last intentional check (dangerous).

3

I believe the example that comes to mind is that there can be a bit of friction that makes it better with the experience as it is in Letter Boxed. But if the game automatically suggests the next word or optimizes each one it would remove the aha! factor of figuring it out on your own.

This is true of creative tools, too. While tools such as templates and one-click exports can be useful for repetitive work, they should not take the place of the time you take to review and deliberate on your work. The quiet moments can be when you spot a mistake polish off an idea or find a new path to proceed.

The balance for me is: When a tool takes out busy work without taking out thinking. The creative decisions, of course and the final determination should be made by the user of the automation but the mechanical aspects should be sped up.