How strategic communication can be used to build trust through transparency?

Project Type

Design Strategy / Idea Generation / UX Research / User research, Interviews and Analysis

March 2020

Prior1 GmbH

Prior1 wants to focus on and promote the sustainability factor in the IT industries. Companies are going beyond their basic reputation management goals to saving energy, thinking green, producing, and finding ways to maintain it by motivating their employees to actively participate in the process. Setting a new kind of standard for the IT segment where the sole focus would be on Sustainability. It gives an advantage to a company like Prior1 if they become the pioneer in this field. The central message for Prior1 is "Good for the environment, good for employees, good for our customers".

The goal of this project is to get experience creating a hypothesis, gathering feedback to validate or invalidate the hypothesis, iterating upon the feedback received and coming out with a unique strategy that suits Prior1 to achieve their desired result.

Initially, before beginning the design process I went on to define few objectives or problem statements that would be redefined in the later stages.

The first challenge is to convey that Prior1 is not like any other company and they are truly working on environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Keeping in mind that it's very important the strategy doesn't look flimsy or designed in a superficial way. It should truly bring out the company's visions.

Prior1's goal is not only to gain from revenue but also to motivate other players in the market in the same sector to turn sustainable for the better good.

How might we present Prior1's investment towards environmental, social and economic sustainability to the users?

The interview was unstructured and focused on gathering essential information and understanding user experiences:

About their favourite brands

The reason for liking these brands

Their relationship with them

What made them choose these brands

Based on the interviews, some topics came up more than once while talking to the users. The matter of trust. The questions were later taken up to a personal level, where participants were asked about trust and how a company can build it with their users.

After thorough literary research, many people relate to companies and organisations differently. Many people were biased about their judgements, so it took a while to clear the bias and get concrete answers.

user #1 “to build trust, a company needs to be upfront with goals and expectations.” ‍ user #2 “people look up to celebrities when they think of companies… hence having a face to a brand really matters.”

user #3 “advertisements mainly use emotional involvement to reach more people. People connect more when they are emotionally involved.” ‍ user #4 “we look for similarity when we buy new products, seeing commonality as a positive and trustworthy sign. It also makes them think the new product may be better than the existing one.”

Redefining the problem statement based on user research!

How might we help Prior1 build consumer trust?

Competitiveness - the sense that users are part of a company working for society's betterment makes them like their brands more than all the other players in the market.

Goodwill - it matters to the users that their favourite brands take moral responsibility and actions towards issues that matter.

When companies use direct communication about their needs and want, users can understand and reciprocate likewise. This eliminates any misunderstandings from the process.

Consumers are smart enough to differentiate an advertisement from self-praising. How a company presents itself to an audience speaks a lot about its brands.

Communication is the backbone of a company. Being open, active and spontaneous about communicating the company's views and plans is essential.

Seeking feedback or advice from users can be profitable for the company. This makes both the company and users emotionally invested and connected.

After careful user research and interviews, I discovered the following pain points

Alot of companies call themselves a lot of things, but what's to say that there are no hidden agendas behind these claims.

How can users trust a company if they are not transparent?

There needs to be a presentation of information when users seek sustainability reports.

How might we help Prior1 develop trust among users using transparency?

Based on a brief competitor analysis of various companies with sustainability stances. I found companies that are big on their investments towards ecological sustainability.

I started iterating the strategy based on the key insights and pain points derived from the user research. I read many literature reviews about trust and transparency and created a mindmap to simplify the process.

People have different sources to trust brands and services. Sources such as :

friends and family 93%

review sites 91%

news and information websites, 76%

printed newspaper/magazine articles 73%

Product/company website 70%

blogs/vlogs 65%

Social media platforms 51%

Advertising 38%

This data is derived from marketingcharts.com, based on a survey of 7,753 connected consumers. Source

For Prior1 to reach the audience and build trust, Prior1 needs to have a social presence, like having a company face, because people trust what they can relate to and identify with. The aim is not just to gain user support but also to retain and nourish that relationship for a long period of time.

# It will help the company be transparent with its customers about their motives and visions #

# Makes the company more trustworthy among all the players in the market #

# It gives way for people to interact with someone within the company #

# It will provide the company with more than just a logo but an identity #

How can strategic communication be used to build trust through transparency? Sustainable practices are essential to ensure prior1 continues to thrive long-term. The concept of sustainability provides perspective on the relationship between prior1 and its users. To recognise Prior1's effort towards sustainability, the company needs to build organisational trust and transparency.

I learned how to conduct detailed user interviews and analyze them to formulate solutions. I mainly focus on problem statements. I have been fortunate enough to witness the entire design process first-hand - and as a result, I now understand what each step entails. In addition, I attained a deep understanding of the design thinking process, which derives from looking at all aspects from different angles. Most importantly, I learned how to identify opportunities in the design thinking process for improvement and development that can be implemented.