System Design
Product strategy
Systems thinking
LAUNCHING AN ENQUIRY IN THE FUNDAMENTS OF BUILDING TRUST ACRROSS PRODUCTS, BRANDS, AND COMMUNITY
Overview
The idea of cultivating trust using design always intrigued me, until I had the chance to pursue this direction during a systemic enquiry course
Over the course of three months put efforts to understand the building blocks of trust in human experience. What causes it? What kind of factors influence trust? What is the impact of high trust in society? What can be repercussions of low trust? We started with questions and more questions and slowly started discovering the answers that we needed.
brand colors of
Fortune 100 Companies
(2020)
Shades of blue making the majority of the fortune companies
Red being the second most used colored by brands. Like Coca Cola and Target
Shades of green and orange both make up around 4 percent of the companies each.
Black and Darker shades of grey are used as complimentary shades and as a primary color in a very few companies
Shades of yellow make the smallest percentage of the fortune 100 compannies
60%
21%
04%
04%
04%
02%
See a pattern? This can be a conincindence but color blue seems to be the go to color for a majority of the companies within the fortune 100 list. In color theory, the blue spectrum represents a lot of qualities that can lead to increased trust, like safety or stability!
I was curious to understand the relationship of color, trust and the biggest companies in the world. So I mapped the brand color of all the Fortune 100 companies (2020) to try and find any emerging patters
Calmness
Stability
Stability
Confidence
Trust
Sensitivity
Wisdom
Creativity
Imagination
Fantasy
Spiritual
Mindfulness
Does this mean having BLUE as your brand color would guarantee success? Probably not! :)
But it can have an effect on how your customers/users perceive your business. We have all heard a little bit about the color theory and if that teaches us anything, it is that our brain reacts to different colors differently
Primary research- understanding general perception of trust
02
We sent out a user survey to understand how people perceive trust and how they would react.
Sample Size
53 People
Exploring trust in different sectors
We researched the effect of trust in different areas to uncover common and repetitive patterns across different areas.
1. Media
2. Healthcare
3. Politics
4. Business
5. Brands
6. Spaces
7. Technology
Summarizing trust in tangible factors (Our Insights)
03
Understanding Stranger- Danger bias
After an eternity full of
CAFFIENE, LATE NIGHTS
AND WHITE BOARDING
We could define trust in 5 main categories
Understanding Mistrust
We scraped through the internet to understand different biases and psychological factors that play a role in building and harming our trust. As humans, we are wired to not trust anything new immediately, this led us to studying the stranger danges bias and mistrust
Impact mapping
To study the affect of trust in different sectors we mapped the impact of trust in each sector while also keeping in mind the factors that can increase trust in those areas.
We dedicated two full days to come with 100 ideas across different sectors. The ideas were then mapped based on the impact they can have on the society
Ideate, Ideate, and Ideate
04
"Several key factors for building trust are common across different sectors and industries. These factors are crucial for establishing and maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders. Out of all the trust-building elements, I chose to focus on the two most frequently mentioned and tangible factors, as they consistently demonstrate their importance and applicability across various contexts."
Solution 1 - Creating a trust building design framework
05
Transparency
Safety
Transparency is crucial in building trust in design because it fosters open communication and honesty between the designer and the user. When users understand how and why design decisions are made, it demystifies the process, reduces uncertainties, and establishes credibility. This openness reassures users that their needs and concerns are being prioritized, leading to a stronger, more trusting relationship.
A sense of safety is vital in building trust in design because it ensures that users feel secure and confident while interacting with a product or service. When users know their data is protected, their privacy is respected, and they can navigate without fear of errors or harm, they are more likely to trust and engage with the design. This sense of security fosters a positive user experience and strengthens the overall trust relationship.`
The T factor - Design Framework
A framework that can help businesses identify potential areas for improving their user's trust in the business.
The 3 step design methodology can help find the right direction for building trust in any service. We further broke down the two factors into smaller categories to make it as tangible as possible.
This could be done by deep diving into the two tangible factors "transparency" and "Sense of safety".
Community spaces represent a significant opportunity to build trust among people. Increased trust in public spaces can directly impact local business revenue, enhance satisfaction and safety, and foster more trustworthy societal values overall.
06
Solution 2 - Creating trust in cummunity spaces
A furniture concept that promotes social interaction can be one of the many effective ways to foster a sense of trust in community spaces.
Shivansh.
Shivansh Verma 2025