Named product features let people who do not know each other transact: verified identity, two-way reviews and reputation, guarantees, insurance, escrow or background checks.
How Designed for Trust works
A transaction between strangers carries risk that stops most people from trying it. Features that make the other party's behavior visible, or that insure against the downside, turn a risky exchange into an ordinary one.
How companies won with Designed for Trust
From the win chains in Strategy Canon case studies: what the winner did, and what its rival did at the same step.
vs. HomeAway · 2008-16
Airbnb
Payment, two-way reviews and a guarantee inside the booking
What it did
Guests paid through the site (2008); $50,000 Host Guarantee (Aug 2011)
HomeAway
Travelers booked and paid owners directly; online payment optional at 2.5% (2011-12)
Which strangers transact through the product, which trust features were named and dated, and what evidence shows those features enabled transactions?
Who names it
Author
What they call it / where it appears
Joe Gebbia +
Design for trust; reputation systems
Note. Applies only where the product mediates a transaction or interaction between strangers; most B2B software is not applicable. Trust in a brand or vendor belongs to Go-to-Market.