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Humane Friction

Glossary entry in Friction & flow. Definitions, checks, and evidence for Humane Friction.

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Quick takeaways

The calibrated blend of protective, dignity, and velocity frictions across a full user journey.

Definition

The calibrated blend of protective, dignity, and velocity frictions across a full user journey. Humane friction slows only where risk, irreversibility, or coercion pressure is high.

Good humane friction is explainable, reversible, and measurable: it reduces downstream harm without trapping people in needless process burden.

AgencyStructural
Scope
I. Friction & flow. Designing intentional friction that protects people while keeping harm contained.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses Humane Friction to extend the i. friction & flow vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.

Adjacent terms

Dignity Friction Velocity Friction Appropriate Friction

Related concepts

Also tagged: Agency

Stoppability Reversibility Fair Burden Distribution Contestability Explainability for Accountability Refusal-Tolerant Systems

Also tagged: Structural

Ethotechnics Moral Behavior (of Systems) Ethical Load Path Ethotechnic Audit Conviviality Ethotechnic Maturity

Example corpus

  • A lending flow adds extra verification only for high-risk decisions and offers an accessible appeal path when checks block approval.

References

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Version

v1.1.0

Last updated

Jan 9, 2026

DOI

Pending Zenodo deposit

APA

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. (2026). Humane Friction. Ethotechnics glossary. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/humane-friction

MLA

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "Humane Friction." Ethotechnics glossary, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/humane-friction.

Chicago

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "Humane Friction." Ethotechnics glossary. Jan 9, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/humane-friction.

BibTeX

@misc{glossary_humane-friction,
  title={Humane Friction},
  author={Ethotechnics Institute Research Team},
  year={2026},
  howpublished={Ethotechnics glossary},
  url={https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/humane-friction},
  version={v1.1.0}
}

RIS

TY  - WEB
TI  - Humane Friction
AU  - Ethotechnics Institute Research Team
PY  - 2026
UR  - https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/humane-friction
ER  -

Scholarly metadata

Authorship

Contact: research@ethotechnics.org

Publication details

  • Published: Dec 3, 2025
  • Last updated: Jan 9, 2026
  • Version: v1.1.0
  • DOI: Pending Zenodo deposit

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Credit Ethotechnics Institute, include the term title + version, and link to the glossary permalink.

Archive snapshot: Wayback capture

Changelog

  • v1.1.0 · 2026-01-09 — Expanded scholarly metadata, operational tests, and provenance notes.
  • v1.0.0 · 2025-12-03 — Initial glossary release with stable permalinks.