When people trust something, it makes them feel safe. But how do you
support users when it’s getting harder to tell what’s real online?
I work on a service which helps people to pay for things, and users’ trust
has steadily declined as online scams have become more convincing.
Scams can affect anyone
Scammers work like designers, they iterate based on what works. They
impersonate government services, like offering tax refunds, often at
times when people expect them. And now they can use AI to attempt to
impersonate someone’s voice, face or a government website with
worrying accuracy.
Last year, three quarters of British adults said they had encountered a
scam of some kind. In our user research, we’ve heard participants say it
feels like scams are ruining the internet.
I was the victim of impersonation fraud. Someone phoned me pretending
to be from my bank. They knew my debit card number and where I lived.
I design digital payment services and think about scams regularly, yet I
believed them. When I panicked and stalled, they became intimidating.
I didn’t share any information, but they still managed to take money. I felt
undignified and ashamed calling my bank to explain.
Why losing trust is a problem
Being scammed can make you stop trusting yourself, your device, and
the internet. We see this in how people behave when paying for things.
Some people:
- stop mid-task to check if something is real
- phone in a panic to confirm a payment has gone through
- abandon a journey if something unexpected happens
- avoid paying online altogether
A badly designed form can provoke these feelings quickly and
unexpectedly.
It’s not just about paying for things. Many people feel like the internet is
too risky to use for everyday tasks like online banking, food shopping, or
using online medical bookings. For some people, a bad experience can
tip them into a period of digital exclusion.
Three ways of designing for people who’ve lost trust
Designing for safety, not speed
Paying for something can be deeply emotional. We’ve seen evidence
from user research that it triggers stress, anxiety and confusion. This is
especially true for people who have experienced scams and financial
trauma before.
I’ve been learning about trauma informed design, from designers
including Rachel Edwards and Jane McFadyen. I’m not an expert, but
it’s helped me think differently about how people experience services.
The body’s nervous system affects how we process information when
we feel unsafe, and it might take longer to do things. For victims of
online fraud, this could mean designing ways that:
- allow them to take things slowly
- provide reassurance
- explain what’s happening
- offer offline options
For example, in one digital journey, we ask users to enter personal
information including their National Insurance number. We introduced a
new screen at the start of this section to explain why we need it and how
it will be used.
Even though the journey was longer, it helped people feel more
confident. It increased transparency at a point where users needed a
pause to sense check things.
We can get hung up on how long a service takes to use, but a slightly
longer journey can feel more reassuring for users, and help reduce the
feeling of urgency that fraudsters try to create.
Making things clear and transparent
I’ve also found that people want to know what’s happening, as it
happens. Presenting information in ‘real time’, such as the status of an
action, helps to build trust. This reduces uncertainty and stops most
people from needing to call up.
Behind the scenes, it can be complex to do this. I’ve needed to work
closely with Business Analysts and developers to decide how to display
clear, logic-based content that’s easy to understand.
AI is part of the solution
Even though AI can enable scams, it can also help to prevent them.
Some banking apps can help you spot a scam while it’s happening. If
you open your app during a call, it may show a message saying “You’re
not on a call with us.” If someone claims to be your bank and you see
this message, it’s a scam.
AI is used widely by bank fraud detection teams to detect criminal
activity. It can look at hundreds of data points instantly to check if
anything looks suspicious.
As we look to advance these processes across government services,
designers and security specialists need to work together so that design
thinking is at the heart.
What are you doing to help rebuild trust?
Fraud is constantly evolving, and designing for people who’ve lost trust
is now a core part of our work.
I am lucky to be part of a community of practice in HMRC where we
share findings between us, as a closed, trusted group. I’d love to hear
from other designers working in similar ways.
- How does low trust change the way people use your service?
- What are you doing to help rebuild trust?
It’s our job to prevent scams from ruining the internet.
If you work in government you can join the #trauma-informed-design
channel on UK Government Digital Slack. The community runs regular
online meetups to share and learn.You can find more information about fraud and staying safe from scams
on the UK government Stop! Think Fraud site.
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