Appearing trustworthy and credible is critical to gaining and maintaining users. Everyone starts off with varying levels of skepticism. But there are certain key characteristics that will raise your trustworthiness.
Let’s break down the four factors of trustworthiness.
The first is design quality.
Quality is reflected in a variety of details. For example, have a clear and meaningful navigational structure, a lack of typos or broken links, and a professional-looking visual design.
The second factor is the upfront disclosure.
People appreciate when sites prominently display contact information. Also, they like providing clear links to their return policy or FAQs and revealing shipping fees or any additional charges early on in the process.
The third factor is having comprehensive, correct, and current content.
Providing relevant related information can also support this factor as people appreciate that the organization is well informed and committed to being helpful.
For instance, a moving company could offer content with tips for how to best pack fragile items.
The last factor is connection to the rest of the web.
People often use a multichannel approach when seeking information and shopping online. They have learned to trust external sources, like social media and review sites, more than company-sponsored content on the website itself.
Presenting links to these outside sources shows you’re clear and honest about the products and services you provide. Similarly, having links from other organizations can make a business appear more established and credible.
These four factors of trustworthiness have remained stable for decades.
Keep these user expectations and trustworthiness factors in mind when you design to convince users that you’re credible and an organization that they can trust.
Reference: https://www.nngroup.com/videos/4-trustworthiness-factors/
