Workflow Substitutions
#friction #workflows note/develop🍃
The physical world is slowly merging into a digital one. The more things that come online, the more automation that can take place, but this happens indirectly. They're not replaced one to one. Substitutes arise that weren't previously possible. The digital solutions never fully replace the physical ones either. Robots or AI didn’t replace travel agents. Search engines and travel websites did. Mail rooms were replaced by email. Postboxes were replaced by that message, but both still exist today. They’re just used less frequently. We didn’t replace business travel with personal aircrafts. Instead, we created Zoom so people could be anywhere without needing to travel.
New tools are often used to replicate old methods. The first PCs were glorified typewriters, used to create memos that were printed and mailed. Email attachments replaced printed memos, but the workflow remained. Expense reporting evolved from carbon copies to digital forms to apps, until someone realized a photo would suffice. As Benedict Evans writes, “new tools start out being made to fit existing workflows, but over time the workflows change to fit the tools.” This process takes time. But occasionally, like with VisiCalc (the first spreadsheet software), a new model emerges fully formed. VisiCalc introduced an entirely new concept without a paper analogue. Changing workflows is one introduction.