Designing the parts people have to trust

Most product design optimizes for a feeling: this is easy, this is delightful, this is worth another minute of your time. Trust work is different. Nobody finishes verifying their identity and thinks what a lovely experience. They think okay, I believe you now. Absence of doubt is the whole win.

I’ve spent five years on the parts of a fundraising product people have to trust — moving real money to real schools and teams. A few things that changed how I design once the stakes stopped being engagement and started being money.

Clarity beats reassurance

The instinct under pressure is to add comfort: friendly copy, soft illustrations, a reassuring tone. It usually backfires. When someone is about to be paid, they don’t want warmth — they want to know exactly what happens next and when. Say the date. Show the amount. Name the account. Confidence comes from specificity, not from tone.

Errors are the product

For a delightful feature, the error state is an edge case. For a payout, the error state is the experience — it’s the moment trust is actually tested. I spend more time on the failed-transfer screen than the happy path, because that’s where people decide whether to come back.

The craft here is quieter. No one screenshots it. But it’s the work I’m proudest of.