The business case for trustworthy design
We all know change isn’t easy. Our organisational structures make this so. Yet there are times we need to step up. We need to be creative and overcome inertia. We need to navigate complexity. And we need to help our team, organisation, and our customers, make progress.
That’s what this article is about. It’s about progress towards trustworthy design. And it’ll help you build your business case to do just that.
But why?
In essence;
- Trust is at an all time low
- Data trust is even lower
- Many organisations early attempts to close the data trust gap have failed
- Some organisations and design patterns have even been dubbed deceptive by design
- These types of ongoing behaviours have led to pretty significant, multi-billion dollar lawsuits
- Organisations need data to deliver customer value. But we’re moving towards a more person-centric data future. People are gaining far more control over their data
- Deep and meaningful customer relationships matter. You can’t develop these relationships by following people around. But you can by earning access to customer data
In the context of ‘design’ we’ve all observed a plethora of dark patterns recently. These patterns are designed to manipulate behaviour in the favour of the designer. Dark patterns are the opposite of customer-centric. They’re the antithesis of trustworthy. These patterns must be avoided. They will not help you earn access to people’s data. as a result, they won’t help you innovation in the medium to long-term.
So I’d like to argue, strongly, that manipulative design isn’t the best way to achieve customer and business outcomes. I’d like to argue that trustworthy design is the way forward. And I’d like to give you a simple framework to go about arguing the same.
Let’s start.
Step 1: Build your team
Even if you think trustworthy design is the right thing to do, not everyone will agree. Different metrics, motivations and considerations drive behaviour. So if you’re trying to make change, get focused and start recruiting a group of people who believe what you believe and have the ability to help you execute.
In an ideal scenario you’re going to recruit a group of people that has the tools and expertise to;
- Understand your customers, your business and your market
- Effectively navigate regulatory environments, and
- Ship product (or at least a small increment).
Meaning;
- A researcher
- A lawyer well versed in data protection
- A designer, and
- An engineer
From my experience, the best way to bring these people together is to network. Another decent idea is running a lunch and learn. Chances are the people investing their time in the latter are already a little interested in this space. Use the forum as an opportunity to better gauge this interest and present some ideas about what you’d like to do next.
The outcome you’re looking for here is a small, cross-functional team, ready to roll up their sleeves and get work done. You’re more likely to drive change if you can show progress. A business case, consisting of a series of hypotheses, is unlikely to really cut it.
Before moving on, it’s worth noting that in some organisational contexts, a business case is required. If this is your reality there are plenty of resources to help you build your case. If you need help on this, get in touch. I’d be happy to send resources your way.
Also, if you feel the need to do something today, don’t be deterred. You can make a heap of progress by yourself. You can then use that to build further support.
Step 2: Start small and showcase value
It’s now time to roll up the sleeves. My suggestion is to start small. There’s certainly no need to ‘build’ anything just yet.
Data Transparency Experience Mapping and Experiments are the two approaches I’d advocate. Familiarising yourself with Data Trust by Design will also go a long way in supporting both of these approaches.
Experience mapping is great because it’s something many of us are familiar with. It enables us to engage with a small group of customers (say 5 people). Then, by conducting hybrid usability and contextual inquiry research sessions, we can start surfacing some new insights. These insights will help us frame hypotheses. Which of course, we need to prioritise and put to the test.
This is where experiments enter the picture. We frame a hypothesis, design an experiment, execute it and use the data to inform what we do next.
In both cases you’re likely to focus on things like;
- Comprehension
- Time to comprehension
- Propensity to willingly share
- Propensity to advocate
- Valuable versus ‘valueless’ friction
- Attitudinal shifts, like markers of frustration or delight etc.
Over the past 12 months we’ve observed the following results as part of our Data Trust by Design program;
- DTbD patterns increase comprehension (the ability for a person to accurately articulate what they are sharing, why, for how long etc.) by approximately 60%* (measured by accuracy of recall) when compared to control (i.e. tickbox with link to terms, privacy policy etc.)
- DTbD patterns decrease time to comprehension (the time from first engaging with the UX to the time they’re able to explain exactly what they’re sharing, for what purpose etc.) by an order of magnitude* when compared to control (existing design pattern for data sharing i.e. tickbox with link to terms, privacy policy etc.)
- DTbD patterns increase propensity to willingly share data (i.e. ancillary data such as a bank proposing they process location data to help fulfil a specific outcome such as the best/cheapest coffee on someone’s way to work) by up to 8x* when compared to control (existing design pattern lacking context, transparency/granularity etc.)
Additionally, we’ve observed significant attitudinal (subjective) improvements where participants have communicated how seamlessly the data sharing request (DTbD pattern) was embedded into their experience (when compared to their expectation of what ‘control’ might mean). Rather than the request hindering the experience, people express gratitude and support for the way they were able to contextually share data on terms they were comfortable with.
How this plays out in the longer-term is unknown. What these types of insights will do is help you build a stronger case for why trustworthy (specifically in the context of data) design is worth investing in.
If you’re interested, we dive much deeper into these approaches in our Designing for Trust Playbook. We also run regular workshops.
So, once you’ve learned from your customers, framed your hypotheses and conducted your experiments, it’s time to start building your case.
Step 3: Build your case and move fast
Do you go broad or narrow? This is a good question. The answer depends. My suggestion is go for the direction you’re most likely to receive approval for. If that means proposing something very specific, like re-designing the upfront terms and conditions experience, then go for it.
Do what you gotta do to start bringing trustworthy design to life. Over time you can tackle the bigger stuff.
In fact, you might eventually build enough support to start embedding data trust into your strategy and practices.
Conclusion
Trustworthy design means designing for people. It matters. It’s something we can all contribute to. It’s something we can all help improve for the good of the people we serve and our businesses.
The three steps in this process will help you get started. Navigating political complexity, achieving buy in and actually doing the work is up to you.
If you’re in this situation and want to chat, reach out. We spend our days focused on this stuff and would love to talk more about what you’re challenged with, what you’re learning and what you’re achieving.
I’ll leave you with this. This is actually about helping maximise access to your customers. The brands closest to their customers’ will eventually win their market.
Establishing a trustworthy brand (culture, workflows, practices and outputs; products, services and business model) is a big part of how you can go about achieving that. So although this effort might seem very specific, it’s a strategic exercise. Don’t forget to remind your stakeholders :)
