[2603.27550] Drag or Traction: Understanding How Designers Appropriate Friction in AI Ideation Outputs

Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction arXiv:2603.27550 (cs) [Submitted on 29 Mar 2026] Title:Drag or Traction: Understanding How Designers Appropriate Friction in AI Ideation Outputs Authors:A. Baki Kocaballi, Joseph Kizana, Sharon Stein, Simon Buckingham Shum View a PDF of the paper titled Drag or Traction: Understanding How Designers Appropriate Friction in AI Ideation Outputs, by A. Baki Kocaballi and 3 other authors View PDF Abstract:Seamless AI presents output as a finished, polished product that users consume rather than shape. This risks design fixation: users anchor on AI suggestions rather than generating their own ideas. We propose Generative Friction, which introduces intentional disruptions to AI output (fragmentation, delay, ambiguity) designed to transform it from finished product into semi-finished material, inviting human contribution rather than passive acceptance. In a qualitative study with six designers, we identified the different ways in which designers appropriated the different types of friction: users mined keywords from broken text, used delays as workspace for independent thought, and solved metaphors as creative puzzles. However, this transformation was not universal, motivating the concept of Friction Disposition, a user's propensity to interpret resistance as invitation rather than obstruction. Grounded in tolerance for ambiguity and pre-existing workflow orientation, Friction Disposition emerged as a potential moderator: high-disposit...