Designing for People Who Don’t Trust Technology

By Iyabode Atoyebi

One of the greatest user-center digital product development is that users always want innovation. In reality, especially in markets like Nigeria, what many users want first is reassurance.

As a product designer working in fintech, I’ve learned that user trust is not a bonus feature, it’s the foundation. And when you’re designing for people who have good reason to be skeptical, people who’ve lost money through mobile scams, or whose first digital experience ended in confusion, the job is no longer just about usability. It becomes a matter of psychological safety.

The Fear Is Real

In many urban tech circles, we take digital literacy and confidence for granted. But in many parts of Nigeria, a user’s first brush with digital finance is filled with fear:

• “Will they steal my BVN?”
• “If I send money, how do I know it arrived?”
• “What if I make a mistake I can’t undo?

When you’ve spent most of your life using cash or relying on human intermediaries, a screen full of buttons and PINs doesn’t always feel empowering. Sometimes, it feels like risk.

Design as Reassurance

So what does it mean to design for people who don’t trust technology?

It means clarity is more important than cleverness.
It means microcopy matters more than microinteractions.
It means designing every screen to say: “You’re in control.”

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Feedback after every action; so users know their input was received.
Simple, honest language; no technical jargon, just real words.
Visual cues for safety; padlocks, green ticks, progress bars.
Undo options or review screens that let users feel in charge.

These are small design decisions that carry a big emotional weight.

Designing for Shame-Free Exploration

Another barrier many users face is the fear of doing it wrong. So we must design interfaces that feel welcoming, error-tolerant, and forgiving, especially for first-time users or users with lower literacy levels.

Onboarding experiences should be slow and supportive, not rushed. Forms should offer guidance. Help buttons shouldn’t be hidden at the bottom of the page. And we should always ask ourselves: What if this were someone’s first experience with technology? Would they feel safe?

The Trust Is in the Details

It’s not just about one trust screen or a security badge. Trust is built in the details:

A clean, uncluttered interface shows care.
Consistent behavior builds familiarity.
A prompt that explains a delay says, “We see you.”
You can’t “ship trust” as a feature. You build it through every design decision.

Designing for trust is not a nice to have in Nigeria’s digital landscape, it is an ethical obligation. When we build products for people who don’t trust tech and do it well, we do more than improve usability. We restore confidence, expand access, and include those who have been left out for far too long.

In a country where digital trust is fragile, the role of designers is to be translators, protectors, and bridge-builders. And that, to me, is some of the most important design work of our time.

Iyabode Atoyebi is a product designer and digital inclusion advocate. Her work focuses on designing secure, user-centered financial tools that foster trust in underserved communities across Nigeria.