A friction log is a structured record of what happens when you use a product from the perspective of an end user. You go through a workflow, write down what worked and what didn't, and share it with the team that built it. The goal is to drive empathy for the user experience and surface the fixes that reduce friction.
This repo contains everything you need to start writing friction logs: an article explaining the practice, templates you can copy, a completed example, a recording setup guide, and AI prompts that help you draft logs faster.
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| why-friction-logs.md | Why you should write friction logs, how to write a good one, and how to get started fast. |
| example-friction-log.md | A completed friction log for a fictional SDK. Shows what a real log looks like end to end. |
| templates/friction-log-template.md | Full template with all sections: BLUF, persona, pros, cons, friction points, recommendations, video timestamps, and more. |
| templates/friction-log-template-lite.md | Lightweight template for quick reviews. Just the essentials: BLUF, pros, cons, friction, recommendations. |
| templates/recording-sop.md | How to set up your screen recording environment. Covers Cap.so (recommended), plus alternatives like Loom, ScreenFlow, Camtasia, and Tella. |
| prompts/friction-log-prompts.md | Copy-paste prompts for AI tools (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Kiro CLI). Write a log from a transcript, analyze a recording, grade a draft, extract screenshots. |
- Read why-friction-logs.md to understand what makes a good friction log.
- Copy one of the templates from
templates/into your project. - Set up your recording environment using recording-sop.md.
- Record yourself going through the product workflow. Narrate out loud.
- Use the template to structure your notes into a friction log. Or paste your transcript into one of the AI prompts to get a first draft.
- Share the log with the product team and follow up.
- How Stripe uses friction logs by Mike Bifulco
- Friction logging toolkit (templates and slides)
- An introduction to friction logging
- frictionlog.com
MIT