Trust
It is essential for the user to establish trust in a product, and come to see it as credible, reliable, consistent. Over time, brand becomes a proxy for trust. But until then the product needs to create and sustain these qualities - if it wants to hang on to users. Trust is a continuously negotiated currency even after the brand is established, one whose value can be gained or lost with a single user interaction. Lack of trust can be a bottleneck in the development of the user-product relationship.
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Blinkist (01)
Blinkist demonstrates a strong understanding of its target audience right from the start, during the onboarding process. By subtly implying a large and diverse user base, the app builds trust and credibility without making explicit claims. This approach positions Blinkist as a reliable source of content for a wide range of reader preferences. Establishing this trust early on is crucial for fostering a strong connection with users and encouraging continued engagement with the app.
Principles at work
Anchoring Bias
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Mine (01)
Mine confidently asserts its industry knowledge from the outset, challenging the user with a thought-provoking question during onboarding. This bold move positions the app as a leading authority on privacy, a domain where users often feel uncertain and vulnerable. By directly engaging the user in this manner, Mine quickly establishes trust and credibility.
Principles at work
Authority Bias
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Toptal (01)
Toptal leverages Social Proof effectively by showcasing profiles of professionals from renowned companies during a new freelancer's portfolio creation process. This nudge instills confidence in the platform by demonstrating its association with top-tier talent. Simultaneously, it sets a high standard for freelancers, motivating them to produce great portfolios to align with the perceived level of expertise on the platform.
Principles at work
Authority Bias
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Masterclass (01)
Masterclass's brand identity and core value proposition are fundamentally rooted in credibility and trust. By featuring content, advertisements, and promotional messages delivered by globally recognized experts in their fields, the platform creates an aura of unparalleled authority. This collective influence significantly enhances the perceived value of the service in relation to its subscription cost, compelling users to consider upgrading to a premium membership.
Principles at work
Authority Bias
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Duolingo (01)
Duolingo cultivates a strong emotional bond with users by implementing this subtle yet powerful trust-building mechanism. Rather than offering extrinsic rewards like points, the app focuses on intrinsic motivation by providing users with a sense of pride upon completing tasks. This psychological reward is aimed at boosting self-esteem and fostering a reciprocal trust between user and app. By acknowledging and celebrating user achievements, Duolingo creates a positive and empowering learning environment, encouraging continued engagement and loyalty.
Principles at work
Optimism Bias
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Facebook (01)
Facebook capitalizes on the heightened emotional state users experience when sharing content by strategically positioning donation opportunities. By presenting charity options at this peak of engagement, the platform effectively channels users' enthusiasm into tangible action. This approach not only boosts charitable giving but also enhances the perceived value of Facebook as a platform that fosters both social connection and positive impact.
Principles at work
Noble Edge Effect
Dating Apps
Trust is paramount in shaping user perception and loyalty within the competitive dating app landscape. Given the deeply personal nature of these platforms, users have heightened privacy concerns and a profound sense of vulnerability. Consequently, consistently building and maintaining trust is essential for dating apps to cultivate long-term user relationships.
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Facebook Dating (01)
Facebook Dating immediately addresses core privacy concerns during onboarding with clear and concise messaging. Given the platform's historical privacy issues, this upfront transparency is a strategic move to rebuild user trust and encourage trial of the dating service. By providing a simplified overview of privacy safeguards, Facebook Dating leverages the principle of bounded rationality, allowing users to quickly alleviate concerns and progress through the onboarding process with greater ease.
Principles at work
Bounded Rationality
Its complicated!
Bumble (01)
In this example, Bumble prompts users to upgrade to premium by leveraging the optimism bias. This bias drives users to overestimate the desirability of those who have liked them and taps into their innate curiosity to check them out. However, this nudge does have a potential downside - by not showcasing at least one potential match before the upgrade, Bumble limits users' ability to perceive the value of the upgrade. This lack of transparency can create the impression that the app is trying to entice users into a subscription without providing adequate value, thereby eroding trust in the app.
Principles at work
Ambiguity Effect
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Tinder (01)
Trust is reciprocal between the user and the app. In this nudge, Tinder implements a clear verification process that goes beyond merely confirming identity. It signals to users that the platform values authenticity, reassuring them that potential matches are also verified, which reduces the perceived risk of using the app to connect with others.
Principles at work
Noble Edge Effect
MISS!
Oura Ring (01)
The way Oura Ring handles the moment (above) when a long retained user unsubscribes is an abject failure. Effectively, the churn experience says to the user: we don’t value your loyalty, we only value our revenue.
For a user who has used the product for several months the decision to cancel their membership could be driven by a variety of reasons. It might be because they are switching to another device, financial reasons, feeling the product no longer offers enough value, discomfort with paying to access their own data, or something else entirely. But Oura does nothing in this moment to actually try to understand why the user is leaving, or use the opportunity to continue a positive user relationship.
Images below show the difference - before and after unsubscribing - which can only be described as shocking!
With subscription
Without subscription
When a user unsubscribes, the detailed breakdowns of their readiness, sleep, and activity are reduced to just a single (effectively useless) score for each—an alarming drop in data availability. Worse still, all the historical data they’ve paid for vanishes entirely, along with unopened insights like seasonal reports.
This is when users realise that the premium price - above €329 - they paid for the ring is useless without a subscription. At around €70 a year, they understand that the total cost of ownership of the product is actually several hundred euros added to the ring’s price, and the longer they use the product the price increases in the order of hundreds of euros.
At this point, it is hard for users to not feel misled, especially when older ring versions provide the whole feature set without a subscription and when competitors don't impose similar charges. Also, Oura says it will continue to collect the user’s data after they unsubscribe (of course!), which it will turn into insights when the user re-subscribes. But any informed user is left feeling that on top of paying a premium price for the ring, they also end up providing their health data - for free! - to improve Oura’s AI models.
User churn can be seen as a strong signal of questionable trust in any product. In this critical moment, Oura should do more to avoid making churned users feel manipulated and prevent a loss of trust in the brand. Instead of focusing on what features the user will miss, Oura should highlight the positive experiences they've had with the ring. It should try to understand their likelihood to return based on their reasons for leaving. Acknowledging the benefits they’ve gained and offering to display the data they’ve already paid for within the app can leave a much better impression, for starters.
(Read another nudge writeup on how Oura Ring’s choice design distracts users from the true cost of ownership of the product when making the purchase decision.)
Principles at work
Conversational UI
Conversational interfaces offer a uniquely intimate and spontaneous user experience. Because users are more likely to engage instinctively in this format, building trust is paramount. Even minor details can significantly impact user confidence. As a result, carefully designing trust into conversational UIs is crucial for their overall success.
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Google Assistant (01)
Users tend to develop a sense of personality for conversational UIs. By anticipating users’ inclination to humanise these interfaces, designers can effectively cultivate user trust. Google Assistant exemplifies this approach here by responding to the query in a human-like, agentic, manner and providing subsequent search suggestions that further personalize the interaction.
Principles at work
Media Equation
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Siri (01)
A user's unexpected "Ha!" exclamation elicits a human-like response from Siri, which although out of context, is mildly entertaining to the user. This spontaneous interaction can shift user perception of the interface from a mere tool to a potentially smart entity, attributing human-like qualities to the system.
Principles at work
Media Equation