A joint study with Studio Archetype/Sapient and Cheskin Added Value, January 1999
In 1999, at the height of the dotcom boom, Cheskin and Studio Archetype/Sapient collaborated on a study to understand the fundamental design principals of establishing and building trust in online environments. Our hypothesis was that digital trust would become a crucial element of success for any company conducting online transactions.
This landmark study identified six fundamental factors that communicate trustworthiness in a digital environment:
- Brand: the importance of a company’s reputation in the choice to do business with them.
- Navigation: the ease of finding what the user seeks.
- Fulfillment: the process the user experiences from the initial visit throughout the transaction.
- Presentation: ways in which the appearance and behavior of the site communicate meaningful information.
- Technology: ways in which the site functions.
- Seals of Approval: symbols that represent the companies that specialize in assuring the safety of online sites.
These factors are the defining elements of the model created by Cheskin and Studio Archetype/Sapient for the benefit of any company hoping to improve their digital trustworthiness.
For more details, including identification of 28 specific “building blocks” or steps a firm can take to build online trust, download the complete report.