ReD partner Mikkel Krenchel speaks to the Wall Street Journal on the growing need for good friction within financial services.

Some big financial decisions such as applying for a mortgage or saving for retirement can benefit from these speed bumps, according to ReD Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in using anthropological research to inform design of financial products and other services. More companies are starting to realize they can actually improve customer experiences by slowing things down, said Mikkel Krenchel, a partner at the firm.

“This idea of looking for sustainable behavior, as opposed to just maximal behavior is probably the mind-set that firms will try to adopt,” he said. 

Chianoo Adrian, a managing director at TIAA, is also quoted on the topic.

Slowing down processing times can help build trust, said Chianoo Adrian, a managing director at Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America. When the money manager launched its online retirement checkup tool last year, customers were initially unsettled by how fast the website estimated their projected lifetime incomes.

“We got some feedback during our testing that individuals would say ‘Well, how did you know that already? Are you sure you took in all my responses?’ ” she said. The company found that the delay increased credibility with customers, she added.

Read the full article by Imani Moise on Wall Street Journal.