Self-service has become a cornerstone of modern customer experience. Customers want flexibility and control, and companies want efficiency at scale. Bryan Cheung, CMO at Liferay, explains.
The challenge is that the digital systems designed to make life easier often do the opposite. The Liferay 2025 Digital Self-Service Report reveals that many self-service journeys are driving frustration, abandonment, and higher service costs instead of loyalty and satisfaction.
The study surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults to understand how people navigate digital tasks, where friction occurs, and what support they expect. The results show that customers are doing too much work, and they know it.
Convenience That Feels Like Work
Self-service should simplify. In practice, it often transfers effort to the customer. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they have abandoned a digital task, and 73 percent said they have skipped a purchase because the process was too frustrating. Eighty-two percent said they feel they are doing work once handled by employees.
That perception matters. When people sense that a company is saving its own time at their expense, patience quickly fades. Healthcare, government, and financial services lead the list of industries where customers feel this burden most. In healthcare insurance, for instance, consumers say their biggest challenge is finding the information they need, yet digital service tools only satisfy that need 39 percent of the time.
Government portals show a similar disconnect. Seventy-three percent of states organize their services by the agency offering them, while only 27 percent organize them by service type, which is generally easier for users to understand. Small design choices like these determine whether self-service feels empowering or exhausting.
The Emotional Cost of Digital Friction
The emotional impact of poor design is often underestimated. According to the report, 64 percent of respondents said they feel frustrated during digital self-service experiences, and 39 percent said they feel exhausted. Only 12 percent said they feel empowered. Even among self-described “tech-savvy” users, two-thirds reported feeling overwhelmed.
The consequences go beyond annoyance. Each failed attempt increases support demand and damages trust. Only one-third of respondents said digital instructions are usually clear. Eighty-four percent said they have had to re-enter information a company already had, and 91 percent said they have restarted a task because of errors or unclear guidance.
Friction spreads beyond individuals. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they have helped someone else complete a digital process because the steps were confusing. That means the burden of poorly designed experiences extends to families, coworkers, and entire communities.
What Customers Really Want
When customers describe what they want from self-service, the answers are straightforward. Fifty-seven percent prioritize clear instructions. Fifty-four percent want simplicity. Forty-two percent want support available when needed, and 34 percent want reliability.
They also want flexibility. Thirty-one percent said the ability to save progress and return later would make their experience smoother. Twenty-six percent value step-by-step feedback, and 24 percent want real-time chat within the workflow. None of these features are cutting-edge innovations. They are basic design elements that show respect for a customer’s time and effort.
When companies deliver on these fundamentals, the experience becomes effortless. Customers complete tasks confidently and leave with a positive impression, even if they never speak to a representative.
Blending Human Support into Digital Journeys
Automation has advanced, but human reassurance still matters. The report shows that 36 percent of respondents want to talk to a person when self-service fails. Nineteen percent want human interaction for important or sensitive tasks, and 16 percent prefer human interaction when the process is unclear.
These are predictable moments. Successful organizations anticipate them and build live assistance directly into the digital experience. Features like callback options, co-browsing, and secure chat allow customers to continue where they left off without losing progress. This continuity keeps trust intact and prevents the frustration of starting over.
Measuring Effort, Not Just Outcomes
Improving self-service begins with measuring the right things. Many organizations track completion rates or resolution times but overlook how much effort customers expend to reach those outcomes. Monitoring the number of retries, restarts, and time spent on key steps provides a clearer view of the true experience.
Reducing effort should be a core performance goal for every digital team. When customers can finish a task easily, they feel competent and supported. That emotional payoff often creates loyalty more effectively than discounts or rewards.
Building a Better Experience
The path forward is clear. Companies must design self-service experiences that prioritize clarity, context, and respect for customer effort. The report outlines several practices that consistently make a difference:
- Unify data and identity. Prefill known information and ensure details carry over across tasks.
- Save progress automatically. Let users pause and resume without losing work.
- Provide guidance in context. Offer help within the task rather than through separate pages.
- Integrate human support. Allow seamless escalation to live agents when complexity rises.
- Track friction points. Identify where people re-enter, restart, or abandon, then focus improvement there.
Each of these actions brings self-service closer to its original purpose, making life easier for the customer.
A Return to Trust
People remember how a digital journey ends. A clear confirmation, a simple next step, and the feeling of progress all reinforce trust. When those moments are handled well, they turn frustration into confidence and convenience into loyalty.
Self-service will remain central to customer engagement for years to come. The difference between a system that drives satisfaction and one that drives people away lies in how thoughtfully it’s designed.
Customers want to help themselves, but they expect companies to meet them halfway.
About the Author
Bryan Cheung is CMO at Liferay.
