Design for trust in only 4 steps: Initial interaction
In this article, we will explore how can we win the trust of the users and establish a relationship early on
I started working on incorporating the trust factor in my design process after a discussion with many startup founders. They eagerly want to gain the trust of their users early on through their foundational values such as ethics, quality and services. But incorporating that into product design was still a challenge and that’s how my quest started.
UX designers rarely focus on how to generate trust for the user. So how do we even start? By asking the right questions.
- How can I build trust between the user and the product?
- How can I define trust through designs for a better experience?
If these questions are popping into your head, you are already started taking the first step to solving this issue.
In this article, we will figure out ways to win users’ trust during their initial interaction with the product. This is a very crucial stage to establish the first impression.
Let’s start our quest
Visual design
Visual design is essential in creating that first impression and a solid foundation of a brand or product. It is also the first thing user will notice. Rather than fancy designs or always something new, most users prefer a familiar approach with a pleasing design. This can be achieved by combining Aesthetic-Usability Effect and Familiarity Bias.
A little about them…
- Aesthetic-Usability Effect: Aesthetically pleasing designs can generate a positive image of the product and make them appear more usable. That is crucial to building a positive experience.
- Familiarity Bias: Users prefer familiar experiences and are likely to avoid the unknown.
We will try to understand it with examples. Do you understand what the screens above do or are used for? It is clear that it shows the location of restaurants and some info about them. Even if we do not get any explanation, we still understand what it does because we interact with similar apps or websites.
And that similar app is Airbnb or many other hotel booking apps. Do you want to know why a restaurant booking app used designs similar to a Hotel Booking app? Then check out the Diner app case study here.
WAIT! Do you think this is going to be enough? I guess we will have to run a little more…
Information points
Do you think the information in design and their hierarchy can have any impact on users’ trust? Well, it can if handled well.
Presenting relevant information to users before they make any crucial decisions is as important as any visual design, if not more. Even if it may not seem suitable for business in the short run, establishing positive relations with users will eventually help in the creating desired impact.
Showing the total interest amount that you will have to pay along with the interest percentage clears users of any doubt about their transaction. This helps them calculate their expenses in advance and avoid any painful experiences.
By the way, did you also notice the second image has a higher interest rate? Did you notice at first? Did it have any effect on your trust? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Trust is never zero, every positive or negative experience is constantly affecting the trust level.
Borrowing trust
Trust does not seem like something that can be borrowed, but actually, we are subconsciously doing this in our daily lives.
Let’s try to understand this in a simple way, we usually trust unfamiliar people more if they are connected to someone we know, like a Mutual Friend. If you see your friend hanging out with some strangers on a regular basis, soon you will not view them as ‘Stranger’.
In technical terms, it can be defined as a combination of Halo and Cheerleading effect (I learned these jargons from Saptarshi Prakash medium article, Hehe).
Let’s try another example to understand this better.
Do you think this brand here is able to earn your trust? You probably have some reservations and want to know more about this brand. So let’s try to look at another example.
Now it looks better and more trustworthy. That is because we borrowed trust from known brands for our unknown products.
By the way, the Law of Proximity also works here, elements in close proximity are expected to have common functionality, feature, trait or identity in some way.
4. Humanising the design
This is kind of a new term which I am experimenting with but similar concepts have been used a lot by great UX designers. A simple definition of this would be ‘to trigger a real and positive emotion through the interface by adding human elements.
To understand this better, let’s suppose there is an app where you can book appointments with any doctor. Trust is really important when you are deciding on something as important as a doctor. Showing doctors’ achievements is not enough, we also have to show the feedback and reviews of their patients and what kind of experiences they had.
You notice how the second figure is showing something different. There you can only see a few reviews but you learn more about the person who posted that review, like what they look like, some info about them, their ailment & diagnosis, and how many appointments they had with that doctor.
It is successfully able to build some trust just because we trust someone’s word if we think we know them as a person. So seeing the feedback as individual humans rather than some set of data helped build trust in that doctor and their reviews.
Recommended reading: https://airbnb.design/designing-for-trust/
Note: This review style may not work in some other scenarios where you might need to see quantitative data like e-commerce websites.
Congratulations! you have cleared level 1 of this quest and are ready to tackle a whole new realm of challenges. But our quest will get tough and complicated as we move to the next level. But that is for some other times.
