UX and Psychology: Why Users Don’t Trust an App

If a stranger approached you, introduced themselves, and immediately started asking for information about you, including very personal details such as your credit card number, would you provide it?

Probably not. Yet many applications follow exactly this pattern. The user downloads the app, perhaps not even fully convinced that it’s exactly what they’re looking for, and is immediately bombarded with requests:

• Create an account
• Enter a payment method
• Enable notifications
• Allow access to location or camera

This, along with many other factors, is one of the reasons why a user may feel distrust toward an app and consequently choose to abandon it. Let’s take a look at the patterns that drive users away and how to balance the needs of the application with those of the user.

Registration and permissions first

One of the most common scenarios is requiring users to register before they can use the app.

From a technical standpoint, this makes sense: we need to know who our user is before allowing them to perform any action, so we can associate their actions with a user ID.

But from the user’s perspective, being asked to register before even trying the application, and possibly also to share sensitive data such as their contact list or geolocation, can feel intrusive.

How to balance these needs

Where possible, to better meet the user halfway, it’s always best to let them explore and try the platform by providing as little data as possible.

Let’s take the example of a platform where location is used only to find the nearest physical store. The request for location access can be postponed: first, users are allowed to browse the catalog, and only when they show interest in checking whether an item is available in-store are they asked to grant permission.

Of course, it’s not always possible to delay the moment when data is requested. In these cases, it’s important to explain to users why certain permissions are needed, in order to reduce their understandable anxiety.

The app doesn’t work as expected

Another characteristic of apps that users don’t trust is when they promise more than they deliver. The scenario is familiar:

• Ads are polished
• Branding on social media is appealing
• The landing page presents the product as the cure-all for every problem
• Store screenshots look promising

But if these qualities are not reflected in the product, despite a satisfactory number of downloads, the product will be used very little or even uninstalled immediately.

It’s not uncommon to come across apps that offer features different from those promised, or that in videos seemed to perform actions almost instantly, which in reality turn into endless waiting times.

Honesty pays off: show your product for what it is

Put yourself in the user’s shoes: is it worse to download an app you expected to be amazing that turns out to be, at best, decent, or to download an app that didn’t seem to promise much at first, but maybe hides a few pleasant surprises?

The gap between expectations and reality is interpreted as a signal of unreliability. On the other hand, it’s also obvious that a newly launched app, perhaps developed with a limited budget, is unlikely to be exceptional.

To earn users’ trust, however, it’s always better to promise less and show users exactly what they will find on the platform, nothing more and nothing less.

Apps that appear unprofessional

There are some signals, often underestimated, that contribute to making an application seem unprofessional. Some of these include:

• Low-quality images
• Very slow loading times
• Frequent errors
• Poor translations

For users who are not familiar with the application, these signals are strong indicators for forming an opinion about the product’s reliability. Even if the app is actually secure, a poorly designed interface can make it appear untrustworthy.

In psychology, this transfer of a negative characteristic (such as low-resolution images) to other aspects of the product, like security, is well known and studied and is called the halo effect.

This cognitive bias does not apply only to products, but also to people and brands more broadly: for example, it is believed that the success of the iPod helped drive Apple’s even greater success, as the positive qualities associated with a single product were also reflected onto other Apple products, such as the Mac.

Less is more

In this case as well, it’s clear that an app with little history behind it is unlikely to appear perfect from the very beginning. For this reason, early versions should focus on what truly matters.

In practical terms, this can mean developing fewer features, but paying close attention to detail:

• Carefully crafted, high-quality images
• Solid performance
• Accurate translations: better one fewer language, but done well

After all, there’s always time to add new features, but it’s much harder to regain users’ trust once it’s been lost.

Advertising and dark patterns: the black hole of trust

As a user, there’s nothing worse than a product made impossible to use due to excessive advertising, perhaps in the form of hard-to-close pop-ups or banners that cover the content.

But that’s not all. Some apps introduce actual dark patterns, meaning “deceptive design patterns,” designed to make users perform a desired action against their will.

The Italian Data Protection Authority discusses this in detail: users are pushed to share more data than necessary, using methods that confuse them and encourage them not to read all the clauses, or they may encounter intentional obstacles when they try to delete their account or cancel a subscription.

Knowing them to avoid them

It’s difficult to introduce a dark pattern by mistake, but sometimes a founder, acting in good faith, may not realize they are hindering the user in a perfectly legitimate action. Here are some methods that should absolutely be avoided:

To earn users’ trust, it’s always best to be transparent and make every step explicit. If an offer is not actually limited in availability or time, claiming that it is will not increase its appeal and may ultimately backfire, damaging your credibility.

Don’t trust strangers

We’re taught this from a young age: don’t trust strangers. And for users encountering your app for the first time, that’s exactly what you are, a stranger. So a careful user will do everything they can to understand who you are:

• They’ll read reviews
• They’ll search for you on Google
• They’ll check your app’s landing page

But if your online presence is almost nonexistent, there are no reference points for those trying to understand who they’re dealing with. And this, as we’ve likely experienced ourselves when buying products online, is often a deterrent, especially when a purchase is involved.

Take care of your online presence

How do you build a solid online presence? First of all, with well-designed landing pages and active social channels. This allows anyone searching for you to see that you actually exist and are not a scam, especially if you have older content to show.

Another suggestion is to ask your active users to leave reviews. If the early adopters try and appreciate the app, those who come later will already have a level of reassurance about your product.

If you also have an online product that is struggling to grow, this article may have helped you identify some of the potential issues. If instead you think the problem might be something else but can’t quite pinpoint it, we may be able to help. Get in touch through our contact form or visit our “Scale your MVP” page.