CHART 1 entered. They search for solutions that once came from support staff. They even manage workflows, such as submitting, verifying, and tracking claims or orders, which used to occur behind the scenes.
When customers sense that a company’ s systems are designed for internal convenience rather than user success, patience disappears.
The result is dissatisfaction and emotional fatigue. A digital form that rejects an address, a chatbot that loops the same questions, or a portal that times out before completion sends the message that the customer’ s time is less valuable than the company’ s.
Each of these moments has a measurable impact.
• Every restart or re-entry increases abandonment rates.
• Every failed self-service attempt pushes volume to the contact center, often at higher intensity.
According to the report, 91 % of users have had to restart a digital task after an error. That number represents lost time, lost trust, and increased strain across the organization.
WHEN CUSTOMERS BECOME UNPAID STAFF
One of the most striking findings in the Liferay report is that 82 % of respondents feel they are performing tasks that employees once handled. This sentiment signals a major disconnect in how companies view self-service.
Customers now routinely fill out data forms that replicate what agents once
CHART 1 entered. They search for solutions that once came from support staff. They even manage workflows, such as submitting, verifying, and tracking claims or orders, which used to occur behind the scenes.
These activities are framed by companies as empowerment. But they often feel like unpaid labor.
When that labor fails to deliver results, frustration builds quickly. For contact center agents, this has direct consequences. Agents report facing more emotional customers than ever, many of whom are already fatigued by digital systems before they even make a call.
In CX strategy, this is known as the effort paradox. As organizations invest in automation, customers feel less supported. They encounter more steps, more screens, and less empathy.
This tension undermines brand loyalty, placing revenues at risk. It also puts additional emotional pressure on the employees who serve as the final human touchpoint, which I am going to discuss in the next section.
THE AGENT EXPERIENCE CONNECTION
The consequence of this effort paradox is most directly felt by the employees who are tasked with being the final point of human contact.
Contact center agents often absorb the emotional residue of poor design decisions. So, when self-service tools fail, they become the safety net for every broken digital interaction.
CUSTOMER EFFORT
By the time customers reach the agents, they are already drained. These employees then spend time apologizing for systems they did not create, shouldering frustration they cannot resolve alone.
This dynamic has a cost. Emotional exhaustion is one of the leading contributors to agent attrition. Training new staff is expensive, and turnover interrupts service consistency.
More importantly, constant exposure to customer frustration erodes morale. When employees feel powerless to fix root causes, engagement declines.
But improving digital experience is both a customer and employee benefit.
• Every minute spent simplifying a process or clarifying instructions upstream reduces stress downstream.
• The more intuitive a system becomes, the fewer customers call in anger, and the more agents can focus on creating value instead of defusing tension.
I am going to explore this further on, but first let’ s look at why customers experience the issues that lead to customer friction. Namely their inability to realize value from their purchases caused by difficulties in their buying and usage experiences.
FRICTION BY DESIGN
Many of the problems customers face, causing customer friction, are not random errors but are the result of decisions made in isolation.
• Teams optimize processes for efficiency without considering the full journey.
• A marketing department might add extra verification to reduce errors.
• A compliance team might introduce a new confirmation step.
Each change makes sense locally. But they compound friction globally.
JUNE 2026 35