The CX Lens: Rethinking leadership through the customer lens

LEGO and the power of friction: building customer experience brick by brick


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🪞 What This Episode Is About:
While the world rushes toward frictionless convenience, LEGO has built a different path—one brick at a time. In this episode, we explore how LEGO’s customer experience model thrives on tactile play, intentional constraints, and a philosophy that says: effort matters. With initiatives like LEGO Insiders, sustainability campaigns, and inclusive retail experiences, LEGO shows that loyalty isn’t earned by removing friction—but by designing the right kind of it.

📌 Key Themes:

  • Tactile Power: Why physical interaction builds stronger emotional connections

  • Creative Constraints: How limitations unlock imagination—and loyalty

  • Constructive Friction: Deliberate effort that deepens satisfaction

  • Hybrid Play: Seamlessly blending digital and physical to elevate experience

  • Community and Co-Creation: Designing with—not just for—the customer

💡 Featured Examples:

  • LEGO Insiders: Loyalty through unified, cross-platform engagement

  • LEGO Ideas: Fans design the future, friction included

  • City Missions: No instructions, just creativity

  • Inclusive Stores: Sensory-friendly certifications in partnership with KultureCity

  • Sustainability Wins: Brick reuse, takeback programs, and material upgrades

🗣️ Memorable Quotes:

“Customers don’t just consume LEGO—they co-create it.”
“Friction, if done right, becomes the heartbeat of a meaningful experience.”
“LEGO shows that effort isn’t a barrier—it’s part of the reward.”
“Unlimited choice often paralyzes. Smart constraints liberate.”

📈 Why It Matters:
LEGO flips the script on CX trends. Their model teaches us that ease isn’t always the answer—and that purposeful complexity can build unforgettable experiences.

✅ Takeaway for Leaders:
Stop obsessing over removing all friction. Start designing better friction—experiences that invite effort, reward curiosity, and turn customers into committed creators.

🔍 Listen Now and Reflect:
Are you giving your customers a smooth ride—or a meaningful journey?

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The CX Lens: Rethinking leadership through the customer lensBy Ludo Raedts