Designing for Trust in Web3: Lessons from the User Research Field

Transcript

[Music] in the speakers as well. Yes, lovely. Thank you. Good to hear that there are some World of Warcraft fans out there. I'm a gamer myself. But today, we're not going to talk about um World of Warcraft, unfortunately. We're going to talk about uh trust in web 3 in all of its messy forms from design signals to risk management and gut level caution. Uh this isn't a rule book or a checklist so you don't have to tick through all of the boxes.

Think about it more like a field guide that is imperfect, iterative but full of lessons from the UX research. So I am Sasha Tanas Luca. I am a designer and a researcher. Uh I've been in web 3 since 2018 and currently I am with thesis the studio behind Acre TBTC threshold network and currently trying to make Bitcoin supernormal through MEO. And here this is real footage of me channeling the user's voice because user research is sorcery in black magic, right?

So why trust matters? Oxford defines trust as a firm belief in the reliability of truth or ability of someone or something. But in web 3 that someone or something is often a protocol, a smart contract, an anonymous team, a UI that could move your Bitcoin on another chain. And this isn't about UI patterns, design patterns. It's about fear. Fear of loss, fear of scams, fear of never getting your funds back. And you, the builder, the designer, the researcher, the founder, you are at the other end of that trust cliff. So you

don't have to trust me and take my word. I didn't invent the story. I have uncovered it. So for the past four years, me and my team have been sitting face tof face, screen to screen with 150 people, DeFi buffs, crypto bros, whatever you want to call them, newbies, pros, founders, everyone. And it wasn't about TVL. It wasn't about APY. It wasn't about decentralization. It was about trust over and over and over again. Trust earned, broken, rebuilt and doubted.

So you can mine Bitcoin, you can stake ETH, but trust has to be earned. Trust is the hardest earned currency in web 3. So yes, web 3 is trustless by architecture, but it still depends on trust by experience. With Bitcoin and Ether, I'm thinking multiple times before doing anything with it. And Bitcoin and Ethereum users have an emotional relationship with their assets. Losing Bitcoin is a significant fear. Trust is deeply personal for and for them you have to understand that Bitcoin and Ether is just like their pension fund their safe bet against the world and uh that's why they are the

trust final boss. So let's talk about visual and UX trust signals. If it was built hasty and it looks bad, I won't feel comfortable to put my money in it. It's definitely a scam. Now, this is both hilarious and completely serious. So, first impressions matter. As a user, when I first land on a DeFi or a web 3 protocols website, I want to quickly get a sense of whether it looks legit so I can avoid wasting time or exposing myself to a scam. Um, and when someone says that, what they actually say is, "I don't know what your protocol does, but I've se seen enough rugs not

to be scammed again." And that's the thing. We taught our users in Web 3 to trust their gut. And users make snap decisions based on design polish and visual clarity before learning of the mechanism underneath. So, uh, in order to tackle this, prioritize clean, calm, and consistent visuals. Treat visual polish as a core trust signal. Not a nice to have. Avoid dark patterns like oversized API banners, uh, or meme token language, and use ample white space, minimal copy, and frictionless micro interactions. So here are some very good

examples of uh good uh clean design and prioritization of clarity over complexity done by Zapper and Llama Swap. And let's start talking about trust to transparency and verifiability proof of reserves. Having onchain verifiable proof of reserves that would be one thing for me. This is convincing me. And I love this quote because it's so rational. It's actually the opposite of the earlier gut check. It's a user saying, "I don't want hype. I want evidence." And real proof builds real confidence. So as a user, when I'm

considering putting funds into a protocol, I want to see audits, proof of reserves, and real onchain data so I can feel confident that my money is isn't going to go poof. So users don't want to believe you, they want to verify you. Audits, onchain proofs, GitHub repos, and smart contract trans transparency are key. Missing links are red flags. So add the view on ether scan link or other block explorers. Add that link to the audit reports you paid so much. add the real time dashboard integrations. We have so

many good protocols who do that. Uh contract transparency via GitHub or Explorer and also add your DA treasury breakdowns. And here we have very good examples from Mezo and uh Lido. They have their public audits and public onchain metrics easily accessible. And also another good example from TBTC. Their bridge has a live minting flow with verifiable checkpoints. So you can check whatever you want to do. Um so let's go to social proof and community endorsement. Something that is super important in web 3.

Most of the projects I use are recommended by someone I trust. How many of yourselves recognize into this quote? me as well. So that's because web 3 doesn't have a onboarding. It actually has a whisper network who builds squad goals and trust is actually social. And as a user, when I'm looking into a new crypto product, I want to hear about it from people I trust. So I can skip the sketchy stuff and go straight to what works.

Users rely on social proximity, not just marketing. Most discover and adopt protocols through trusted recommendation from friends, influencers or shared dows. There is no app store, no trust pilot, just Telegram groups, Discord friends, Twitter followers. So built for social referral pathways. Um display TVL number of wallets and other adoption proofing steps in in web 3. TVL is basically social proofing. uh make it easy to see who else uses the product.

use community anchored language not just corpo and have conference presence uh an evangelist talk and talk directly to to the people make yourself known and again some very good um examples as web 3 social proofing through TVL we have a here with clear TVL and other accessible uh protocol history and also TBTC and uh we have here a very good example of staking reputation, the impeccable reputation of Sasal by promoting Cello.

So yeah, um let's talk about protocol team and reputation. Has there been any exploit? Has there been a hack? Is the team good? Did they had other successful products to prove they're trustworthy? What's their pedigree? These questions aren't optional. They're actually instinctual. So, who's behind this? As a user, when I'm putting my Bitcoin or funds at risk, I want to know who's behind the protocol so I can trust that they're accountable before I commit any serious funds. So, users evaluate teams and projects based

on past performance, incident transparency, and recovery behavior. An anonymous or silent team signals risk and unfortunately anonymity for users it's actually a red flag unless you have already earned their trust in time. So highlight team experience track record and show response to past issues. Use public change logs transparency reports and postmortems. Postmortems. I need to say again, postmortems. And avoid hiding behind vague or overly anonymous branding. Showcase your investors or other teams who have

associated with you. And display protocols that are integrated with you, gaining validation and trust by association. And these are some examples from thesis and threshold network. They are showcasing everyone from their team. and you can check all their GitHub repos. I don't know whatever other links they are feeling comfortable to share with uh the world. Um so let's talk about emotional trust behavior. This is a pattern that I have only found in web 3 so far. Uh and it's like this. I usually start with a small amount so that I can see how things work out. If anything goes wrong, I do not lose a

lot. So start small then scale. As a user when I try a protocol for the first time I want to use a small amount of funds so I can test the waters without risking much. And users don't call this a trans test transaction. They call it more like let's see how it works. And users are actually intentionally limiting exposure during first use. sending small test transactions to probe safety. And this isn't fear, it's strategy. So help them by uh supporting low stakes testing paths. Allow them to access test net easily. Give them

simulations, sandboxes. Uh make test net token tabs easily accessible. Surface confirmation and recap screens before commit. Provide contextual reassurance. display what are the steps and numbers of transactions before they pull the trigger. Allow lowrisk onboarding experiences and show clear boundaries between risk levels. And here's a good example from Mezo. They are uh making test net very accessible and are have different testnet token taps. Um also here an example on how to provide an easy way out and uh providing

contextual reassurance done by TBTC. And let's go and start talking about risk perception and fear. Bridging experience is usually scary. You have to sit in front of the computer and pray that nothing wrong will happen to your funds. Not clunky, not experimental, scary. So transparency beats hype. And as a user, when I'm using a bridge or staking my Bitcoin, I want to be warned about risks and technical steps so I don't lose funds due to unclear flows or

unexpected outcomes. And ambiguity breeds fear. Bridges, swaps, and L2s introduce high perceived risk. If something feels unclear or unttrackable, users assume it's unsafe, even if it's technically secure. So this is the level of emotional gravity we're dealing with. These aren't UX complaints. These are trauma responses. So how do we counter that? Well, it's very useful if we show transaction status clearly with live feedback. We clarify what chain, what contract, what step. We avoid loading states or ambiguous outcomes. We set

clear expectations and give truthful time estimates. I know some of the bridges are unhappy about it, but we have to say it's eight hours. Um, be upfront about the risks and explain reward mechanisms clearly. And also avoid over promising copies. anything that sounds too good to be true. So, here's a lengthy but useful uh clear transaction receipt from Mezo Borrow. Uh we also have another um example on upfrontness on risks also from Mezobaro.

And let's move to learning research and education. Um, I read everything before doing anything. Even if it will take me hours, I like to do my due diligence. This quote is surprisingly common in web 3. So, make it understandable. As a user, when I'm deciding whether to use a new protocol, I want to read the documentation that makes me makes sense and I want it be written in plain language. So I don't feel like I need to be a dev to understand it. I want help and tool tips.

So give this armor to your user. Users conduct deep research before committing assets and poor documentation, complex complex jargon or missing context actively repel trust. Good content is not just design, it's also UX writing. So, don't make them feel dumb because you're failing uh just because you're doing a very poor job at explaining what you're doing. Respect their curiosity. Offer layered educational content. Use in context tool tips, models, and links inside the UI. Write for real humans, not only solidity devs. Embed product education within the UI and build on

boarding with step-by-step confidence boosts and use progressive disclosure and hold your user's hand. You won't regret it. And these are two good examples of uh lowering the cognitive load and making things very accessible in terms of educational materials from Zerion and Pawn Finance. And also um Messo users documentation is doing a really good job at making uh and writing documentation in a very supernormal way.

So let's talk about trust as a journey. Trust is not a single moment. It's an emotional arc. It's from landing to your website to that tiny test transaction, the shrug um to advocacy. Trust builds quietly and breaks loudly. Your product lives or dies in these five moments. So you have to remember there is this discovery.

Is this real or is it a scam? Research. Can I verify this myself and understand it? First use. Let's test with maybe $1, maybe 10 USDC, whatever. Uh continued use. Okay. Is this thing actually stable? And then advocacy. Should I share this with my friends? So in web 3, everything we build exists in this tension between risk and reward. We say decentralized, but we ask our users to trust our smart contracts. And that's fine if we design with empathy, not just with cleverness. Trust isn't built through branding, but through

behavior. It's built through the way your DAP handles errors, the way your copy explains what's happening. in whether or not someone feels safe to hand you their Bitcoin. And don't just build for functionality, build for fear, for doubt, for caution, for people who've lost money and are trying not to lose it again. In web 3, trust isn't a side quest. It's the actual product. Thank you.

[Applause] Oh, by the way, if you scan this QR code, you will get the slice deck, so you don't have to take photos. Thank you. I think we have one minute of questions. I can take one question. No questions. I love that. It means I've done a excellent job. Thank you everyone.