The Importance of Trust in UX
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” — Albert Einstein
As social animals, we’re wired to trust those we know. Our immediate and extended social circles carry huge sway in the actions we chose to take. This is the power of networks.
When the web moved its focus from linked web pages to personal connections via social media, it fundamentally changed how the web operated. Social media is where most people now experience the internet. While the digital world we design for evolves at a fantastic rate, our primate brains still make decisions based on what we hear and see in our social circles.
The social web has had a huge impact on trust. Who we believe and who we don’t is changing. Large organisations that were once the trusted source of truth, such as news networks and newspapers, have been displaced. Truth is now crowdsourced for better (Wikipedia?) or worse (Twitter?). We are quick to share our opinions online, and those opinions are visible to all in our social networks.
For online businesses, if you can gain trust, you’ll gain customers. Airbnb is a company that used ‘social proof’ (people you trust) to build its multi-billion dollar business. Famously held up as an accommodation business that doesn’t own any hotels, they offer trusted hosts that have been validated by their network. If a host isn’t up to the mark, the crowd speaks.
The reality is businesses need to be honest with users about their service or product. People no longer rely on slick advertising to learn about a business. Instead, we openly share who we ‘Like’ or ‘Follow’. We give honest reviews on YouTube, showing the reality of a product. We use review sites such as Trust Pilot and Trip Advisor to assess services. Gaining the trust of users has never been more challenging or more important.
When it comes to the user experience, being clear, honest, and authentic is what will make you trustworthy. In 1999 the Nielsen Norman Group defined four factors in which a website can communicate trustworthiness: design quality, up-front disclosure, comprehensive and current content, and connection to the rest of the web. How we measure these factors has changed since 1999, but the principles still stand. Being legitimate, open, and transparent are the first steps in gaining your users' trust.
In his excellent talk, Gerry McGovern, a UX expert talks about the difference between businesses that serve their users and those that serve themselves, and how the user-centred approach is better for all. Free content, trials, or samples that allow the user to try before they buy shows openness and confidence in a product. Trust, transparency and honesty on your site are more important now than ever before, down to even the smallest of details such as shipping charges, subscription commitments, or data privacy.
Don’t hide the facts about your product from users, share them. That’s what they want. If there are gaps in your product, they’ll find out and they’ll tell you (and everyone else!).
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