How to look more legitimate

Our design expectations get higher every single day. And for better or worse, we associate trust with design.When we see something beautifully-designed, we are automatically more inclined to trust it. When we see something poorly-designed, we are inclined to NOT trust it.

Most people are creatures of habit and comfort. We don't want to take unnecessary risks, which may involve time, effort, or even ridicule from other people.The safest choice is usually to stick with the status quo.But as a creator, we are constantly trying to compel people to take some sort of action – which means we are inviting them to take risk.... See more

I could write an entire blog post on this point alone. In fact, I did earlier this year! I truly believe that obsessing over design is one of the two most common traits I see among successful creators.

Legitimacy is the alignment between the promises you make and the value you deliver.

In a world of near-infinite choice, we don't look for reasons why we SHOULD trust someone...we take the shorter route.We look for reasons why we SHOULDN'T trust someone so that we can rule them out quickly and move on.We start our evaluation with one question: "Is this person legitimate?" And then we actively look for reasons to believe that you're... See more