1 of 75

IT'S A TWO-WAY STREET: BUILDING TRUST RELATIONSHIPS USING USER EXPERIENCE PRINCIPLES

2 of 75

Elysé Girard

Executive Director of Communications and User Experience

Hirak Ray

User Experience Researcher

Amber Reichert

Director of Content Strategy

MEET OUR TEAM

3 of 75

PHILOSOPHY OF BUILDING USER TRUST

4 of 75

WHAT IS TRUST?

Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something

5 of 75

WHAT IS USER TRUST?

User trust is a form of faith users have that your system or interface will match their needs without compromise

6 of 75

WHY USER TRUST MATTERS

Trust in the context of UX matters because it builds the user's cognitive and emotional confidence in the reliability, integrity, and competence of a system or interface to consistently meet their expectations, perform as intended, and safeguard their interests.

There is no replacement for trust

7 of 75

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF USER TRUST

8 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Motive

Honesty

Reliability

Authenticity

Competency

9 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Motive: When users understand your motive, they are more likely to honestly and authentically use your system or interface without fear of ulterior motives.

Motive

10 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Honesty: Providing honesty in your intentions and the user’s interactions will help ensure that the users understand that your systems are honest, and that there are no tricks or deceptions.

Honesty

11 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Competency: Demonstrating your system or interface’s competency provides users with expected experiences across all channels and the users learn what to expect based off of previous experiences.

Competency

12 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Reliability: Users come to trust you when they realize that you deliver on the consistency and function of your system or interfaces.

Reliability

13 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Authenticity: When people feel that content is genuine, they are more likely to trust the message and believe what is being said or provided.

Authenticity

14 of 75

TRUST BUILDS REPUTATION

Reputation is important because it can result in a framework that helps to emphasize the merits of your system or interface and either draw more users in or deter them from engaging.

Why does reputation matter?

15 of 75

TRUST BUILDS FORGIVENESS

Trusted systems or interfaces are often given the benefit of the doubt when errors occur. Users are more likely to assume that any issues are temporary and will be resolved promptly.

Why does forgiveness matter?

16 of 75

TRUST INVOLVES ONLY MAKING PROMISES YOU CAN FULFILL

Set realistic expectations

Ensure that the promises you make are realistic given your resources, time, and abilities.

Before making any commitments, evaluate your own and your team's capacity to deliver.

Be clear and specific about what you are committed to and the timeline for delivery.

Regular updates demonstrate your commitment and help manage expectations, especially if there are changes or delays.

Assess your capabilities

Communicate clearly

Track progress and provide updates

We can’t guarantee stability in the digital world, as we have learned from the pandemic. The digital space is constantly changing and even though we do our best to keep up, sometimes we end up being reactionary to new situations. There are a few things you can do to create better stability without making promises.

Set realistic expectations

Be honest about what you can and cannot do. Ensure that the promises you make are realistic given your resources, time, and abilities. Avoid overpromising to please others in the short term.

Assess your capabilities

Before making any commitments, evaluate your own and your team's capacity to deliver. Consider what obstacles that could impact your ability to fulfill the promise.

Communicate clearly

Be clear and specific about what you are committed to and the timeline for delivery. Clear communication helps prevent misunderstandings and sets concrete expectations.

Track progress and provide updates

Once you’ve made a promise, track your progress and keep stakeholders informed. Regular updates demonstrate your commitment and help manage expectations, especially if there are changes or delays.

17 of 75

WHAT CAN WE PROMISE?

User-centric decision making

Make decisions that prioritize the well-being and satisfaction of your users.

Respect user privacy and ensure robust data protection measures are in place.

Respond promptly and transparently to user inquiries and concerns. Take responsibility for any mistakes and work to rectify them.

Engage with users genuinely and respectfully.

Privacy and data protection

Responsiveness & accountability

Authentic engagement

Building trust with users by demonstrating your values and ethics involves consistent actions that align with your stated principles. This demonstration can serve as a promise to abide by these principles.

User-centric decision making

Make decisions that prioritize the well-being and satisfaction of your users. Show that you value their needs and concerns by actively considering their feedback and addressing their issues.

Examples of this in practice would be:

responsive design that works on all devices
accessible interfaces that work with keyboard navigation and screen readers
good alt text so your content is reliable if someone has low vision or slow internet
intentional information architecture that follows the mental model of the users, making finding information easy

Privacy and data protection

Respect user privacy and ensure robust data protection measures are in place. Clearly communicate your privacy policies and how user data is handled, emphasizing your commitment to safeguarding their information.

Responsiveness and accountability

Respond promptly and transparently to user inquiries and concerns. Take responsibility for any mistakes and work to rectify them. Accountability builds trust by showing users that you are reliable and committed to their satisfaction.

Examples of this in practice would be:

Sharing promptly that servers or down or that there will be a service interruption.
Notifying users that there is an error that you’re working to correct
Letting users know there might be big interface or system changes coming soon
Identifying ways to notify users of big disruptions like public health concerns, weather alerts, or safety concerns.

Authentic engagement

Engage with users genuinely and respectfully. Authentic engagement fosters a deeper connection and trust.

18 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

19 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

20 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

Encourage open communication

21 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

Encourage open communication

Help to clarify and understand needs

22 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

Encourage open communication

Help to clarify and understand needs

Demonstrate active listening

23 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

Encourage open communication

Help to clarify and understand needs

Demonstrate active listening

Build transparency

24 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

Encourage open communication

Help to clarify and understand needs

Demonstrate active listening

Build transparency

Encourage collaboration and inclusion

25 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

Encourage open communication

Help to clarify and understand needs

Demonstrate active listening

Build transparency

Encourage collaboration and inclusion

Facilitate problem-solving

26 of 75

TRUST IS ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Show genuine interest

Encourage open communication

Help to clarify and understand needs

Demonstrate active listening

Build transparency

Encourage collaboration and inclusion

Facilitate problem-solving

Promote empathy

27 of 75

Achieved through actions concerning visuals, language, interfaces, and interactions

Establish dependable behavior patterns

Demonstrate you care

Demonstrate consistent behavior

Provide multiple methods for feedback. The changes you implement should reflect input from users

Demonstrate you’re listening

TRUST IS CULTIVATED OVER TIME

28 of 75

BUILDING USER TRUST MATTERS

In a competitive landscape, trust is a crucial element that can make a significant difference in the success and longevity of a system or interface.

Building user trust is fundamental

29 of 75

ESTABLISHING TRUST THROUGH THE THINGS WE CREATE

30 of 75

CONSISTENT AND RELIABLE

Consistent phrasing and visuals

“This feels stable/familiar”

Reliable technical tools

Plus a fallback!

…and a few examples from the UVA Library, to use when the world goes wacky.

Accessible &

inclusive practices

“There is a place for me here”

31 of 75

CONSISTENT VISUALS AND PHRASING

Examples:

The place where you go to get help at a library

“help desk”

“service desk”

“circulation desk”

“information desk”

Book delivery service

“LEO”

“Library Express On-Grounds”

“LEO delivery”

Consistent terminology

I’m going to start with the words. I’m a words person. In academia, we tend to have jargon, acronyms, and complex vocabulary – it’s how people know how smart we are. This has come up quite a few times as we’ve been moving into a new library building this year and working to make signage, maps, and resources to help people navigate it. Making signage for a new space is a really efficient way to quickly find out how many words-related disagreements there are within your institution.

And that’s a problem! Because higher ed can be intimidating, stressful, and complicated. The more inconsistent we are with those terms we use to talk about ourselves, the more confusing we make things—and it can even give a sense of instability, of ground moving under someone’s feet, if they perceive some sort of uncontrolled variance.

I have 2 quick example of ways we’ve tried to improve this:

The first example I have is about “the place you go to get help” at a library. We realized last year that we had quite a few ways of referring to this place (some of those are listed here), and recognized the opportunity to bring those into alignment for the sake of approachability and clarity to people visiting Library spaces.

This front desk naming project, which Hirak will also talk a little more about, was also a great opportunity to build trust within our org, among our colleagues: They saw the problem at the same time we did, we were able to talk it through and convey our own assumptions and goals, understand each other a little better, and then Hirak helped us set up some user testing to better understand people’s assumptions around these various terms.

Finally, that same group of colleagues and stakeholders was able to meet and decide how to respond to that user research—because data doesn’t make decisions, people do. In the end, the collaborative nature of the process really contributed to its success.

I have another example here relating to our book delivery service, which uses an acronym… people who have been here a long time understand it, but nothing about the acronym, or even the words that make up the acronym, convey clearly what the service does. But this is one of those situations where changing the name of the service entirely would be a complicated process, and it’s one we’re not in a place to take at this point.

So, in a more measured response, this is a tweak that our team has made: Simply to refer to this service as “LEO delivery” rather than just “LEO”. And one benefit of that is that LEO is actually used consistently, so adding the word 'delivery' has helped shed light while maintaining that sense of stability.

But the idea here is to build that rock-solid foundation: One clear name for a service, used consistently across interfaces, allowing people to communicate clearly and have confidence as they engage and seek out information.

32 of 75

CONSISTENT VISUALS AND PHRASING

Branding & visuals:

Is this entity situated within something else?
How are your tools marked to convey that ownership consistently?
Do the color schemes hold together across interfaces?

33 of 75

INCONSISTENT/WEAK BRANDING

I’m not completely sure this is where I wanted to be
Can I trust this?
If something goes wrong, who can help?
Risks feeling like a knock-off…

34 of 75

STRONG/CONSISTENT BRANDING

I’m in the place I expected to be
I’ve used this before and it’s familiar to me
I know who to call if something goes wrong

35 of 75

RELIABLE AND USABLE TECHNICAL TOOLS

It works how I expect it to work

Best practices and user heuristics, consult Nielsen/Normal or similar. User testing.

It works pretty much all the time

It shouldn’t break often.

But what happens when it does?

If it isn’t working, there’s clear messaging in place about how or when I can complete my task

36 of 75

RELIABLE AND USABLE TECHNICAL TOOLS

...FOR EVERYONE!

Web accessibility, usability

Inclusive language

37 of 75

EXAMPLE TIME!

Levers to pull when the world goes wacky.

38 of 75

LEVERS TO PULL WHEN THE

WORLD GOES WACKY

A way to proactively put messaging in front of our web visitors

For large-scale service interruptions
For broad-impact unexpected changes

2. A self-serve way for someone to check system status

“Is ABC working now?”
“When does X come back online?”
“I know Y was unavailable. Is Z also unavailable?”

39 of 75

ALERTS

Alerts communicate:

A service change or interruption will critically affect Library operations,
for most or all patrons,
for a notable period of time

40 of 75

TWO KINDS OF ALERTS

Sitewide – For something that affects a large body of people, and/or has a critical impact.

Regional – For users of specific services only, appears in-place on those service pages.

41 of 75

STATUS DASHBOARD

42 of 75

YEAH...BUT DID IT WORK?

43 of 75

LEVERS TO PULL WHEN THE

WORLD GOES WACKY: TIPS!

Because this is “exception” messaging, you MUST keep them up to date.

Every out-of-date piece of content loses credibility

Consider level of severity:

Don’t disrupt people’s flow if changes don’t affect them;
but DO make information discoverable if they want to seek it out

44 of 75

Building user trust through research

45 of 75

What user research entails

Qualitative	Quantitative
Interviews	Surveys
Contextual Inquiries	Web analytics
Focus groups	Card sorting
Direct observations	Tree testing
A/B testing

46 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

47 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal teams and colleagues

48 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal teams and colleagues
Meetings and ideation --> carries over to deliverables

49 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal teams and colleagues
Meetings and ideation --> carries over to deliverables

CAVE (Collaboration, Alignment, Visibility, Engagement) ^[1]

^[1] https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/ux-research-building-trust-with-stakeholders-85949bd60fc4

50 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal teams and colleagues
Meetings and ideation --> carries over to deliverables

CAVE (Collaboration, Alignment, Visibility, Engagement) ^[1]

Meeting with stakeholders and discussing protocols

^[1] https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/ux-research-building-trust-with-stakeholders-85949bd60fc4

51 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal teams and colleagues
Meetings and ideation --> carries over to deliverables

CAVE (Collaboration, Alignment, Visibility, Engagement) ^[1]

Meeting with stakeholders and discussing protocols
Aligning on key research questions

^[1] https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/ux-research-building-trust-with-stakeholders-85949bd60fc4

52 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal teams and colleagues
Meetings and ideation --> carries over to deliverables

CAVE (Collaboration, Alignment, Visibility, Engagement) ^[1]

Meeting with stakeholders and discussing protocols
Aligning on key research questions
Providing regular updates to your stakeholders

^[1] https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/ux-research-building-trust-with-stakeholders-85949bd60fc4

53 of 75

How to build trust with research project stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal teams and colleagues
Meetings and ideation --> carries over to deliverables

CAVE (Collaboration, Alignment, Visibility, Engagement) ^[1]

Meeting with stakeholders and discussing protocols
Aligning on key research questions
Providing regular updates to your stakeholders
Developing empathy for users and building trust in your insights

^[1] https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/ux-research-building-trust-with-stakeholders-85949bd60fc4

54 of 75

How to build trust with users

Consistency
Transparency
Engagement

55 of 75

Consistency

Consistent recruitment standards to build a user testing environment

56 of 75

Consistency

Consistent recruitment standards to build a user testing environment
A/B testing and member checking to verify whether users' needs are indeed being met

57 of 75

Consistency

Consistent recruitment standards to build a user testing environment
A/B testing and member checking to verify whether users' needs are indeed being met
Compensating users for their time consistently

58 of 75

Transparency

Being transparent with confidentiality, anonymity, security, and protocols.

59 of 75

Transparency

Being transparent with confidentiality, anonymity, security, and protocols.
Creating a safe space for users to share

60 of 75

Transparency

Being transparent with confidentiality, anonymity, security, and protocols.
Creating a safe space for users to share
Presenting outcomes of user testing to reinforce that users' opinions have value

61 of 75

Engagement

Listen to users, be willing to adjust to their needs, answer their questions

62 of 75

Engagement

Listen to users, be willing to adjust to their needs, answer their questions
Building UX presence in public spaces to increase engagement/interactivity with users (UX desks)

63 of 75

Engagement

Listen to users, be willing to adjust to their needs, answer their questions
Building UX presence in public spaces to increase engagement/interactivity with users (UX desks)
Incorporating UX research in digital and physical environments

64 of 75

Positive outcomes of building user trust through research

Validity of data from genuine thoughts and sentiments shared by users

65 of 75

Positive outcomes of building user trust through research

Validity of data from genuine thoughts and sentiments shared by users
Consistent data recruitment (research queue)

66 of 75

Positive outcomes of building user trust through research

Validity of data from genuine thoughts and sentiments shared by users
Consistent data recruitment (research queue)
Established relationship with users

67 of 75

Positive outcomes of building user trust through research

Validity of data from genuine thoughts and sentiments shared by users
Consistent data recruitment (research queue)
Established relationship with users
Respecting and valuing users' needs

68 of 75

Positive outcomes of building user trust through research

Validity of data from genuine thoughts and sentiments shared by users
Consistent data recruitment (research queue)
Established relationship with users
Respecting and valuing users' needs
Becoming a reliable pillar for users

69 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF

INTERNAL TRUST

Motive

Honesty

Reliability

Authenticity

Competency

70 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Motive: When users understand your motive, they are more likely to honestly and authentically use your system or interface without fear of ulterior motives.

Motive

71 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Honesty: Providing honesty in your intentions and the user’s interactions will help ensure that the users understand that your systems are honest, and that there are no tricks or deceptions.

Honesty

72 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Competency: Demonstrating your system or interface’s competency provides users with expected experiences across all channels and the users learn what to expect based off of previous experiences.

Competency

73 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Reliability: Users come to trust you when they realize that you deliver on the consistency and function of your system or interfaces.

Reliability

74 of 75

FIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TRUST

Authenticity: When people feel that content is genuine, they are more likely to trust the message and believe what is being said or provided.

Authenticity

1 of 75

2 of 75

3 of 75

4 of 75

5 of 75

6 of 75

7 of 75

8 of 75

9 of 75

10 of 75

11 of 75

12 of 75

13 of 75

14 of 75

15 of 75

16 of 75

17 of 75

18 of 75

19 of 75

20 of 75

21 of 75

22 of 75

23 of 75

24 of 75

25 of 75

26 of 75

27 of 75

28 of 75

29 of 75

30 of 75

31 of 75

32 of 75

33 of 75

34 of 75

35 of 75

36 of 75

37 of 75

38 of 75

39 of 75

40 of 75

41 of 75

42 of 75

43 of 75

44 of 75

45 of 75

46 of 75

47 of 75

48 of 75

49 of 75

50 of 75

51 of 75

52 of 75

53 of 75

54 of 75

55 of 75

56 of 75

57 of 75

58 of 75

59 of 75

60 of 75

61 of 75

62 of 75

63 of 75

64 of 75

65 of 75

66 of 75

67 of 75

68 of 75

69 of 75

70 of 75

71 of 75

72 of 75

73 of 75

74 of 75

75 of 75