What makes users trust and connect with a product on a deeper level? Building authentic products requires understanding the psychological principles that foster genuine relationships between users and the experiences you create.
Adalo lets you build database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps — published to the App Store and Google Play — from a single no-code editor. With the right platform, you can focus on crafting products that exhibit the three essential traits of authenticity: competence, warmth, and consistency.
Most of us probably didn’t realize that, as designers, we were signing up for the job of creating personal relationship between people and the products or processes we’re designing. Now, while there hasn’t been a ton of psychological work done on what makes for a good relationship between a person and an anthropomorphized product, there has been a lot of work on how to build healthy relationships between two people. Even though our design is not a person, we can use these findings to create an authentic design.
Platforms like Adalo, a no-code app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play, empower designers to bring these relationship-building principles to life without needing to code. By making app development accessible, designers can focus on what truly matters: crafting authentic experiences that connect with users.
There are three traits your design must exhibit to make your users feel that your design is authentic. Master these, and you can count on your users to not only come back to you time and again to experience the latest work you have to offer, but you can also count on your users to espouse your awesomeness to all of their friends and family, making you an instant sensation.
Smart and Competent
Would you trust a surgeon to take care of that procedure for you if they weren’t very good at performing surgery? Of course not. People don’t trust someone they consider to be incompetent. This is why competence is key prerequisite to authenticity. In fact, Andrea Abele and Bogdan Wojciszke, professors of psychology, found that competence along with warmth (which will get into next) account for 80% of our impressions of other people. So, we must look for ways in our designs to demonstrate our competence to our heroes.
The first way to demonstrate competence is to get the basics right. Now, what the basic are, exactly, is entirely dependent on your field. Architects shouldn’t design buildings with three-foot tall doorways. Software developers shouldn’t create back buttons that actually take you forward a step. Restaurants should serve hot food hot and cold food cold. Sometimes the basics are so basic that it’s easy to overlook them. But that would be a mistake. Get something basic wrong, and your users will immediately call into question your competency as it relates to every single aspect of your design. What’s probably one minor mishap to you is more of a where-there’s-smoke-there’s-fire situation to them. So mind your p’s and q’s and make sure you’ve got your basics covered.
The devil, and the next place for you to demonstrate your competence, is in the details. So many designers lack the will or the resources to specifically craft each and every detail in their design. Instead, they revert to the default decision. Their details are crafted to be whatever’s cheap and easy. Great innovations meet a higher standard, though. Every detail of your design should serve the story you’re telling. Details that conflict with your story actually pull your user out of the experience. Because these stick out like a sore thumb and can’t be swept under the rug, every slapdash detail is a huge red flag, declaring to your users your lack of competence. Instead, take the time to carefully craft each detail of your design, show your users that you care about them enough to get every detail just right for them.
Warm
The second major factor that people use to evaluate others, according to Abele and Wojciszke's research, is warmth. We tend to like warm people more than people who are cold. Go figure. But this has important implications for our designs and how they reflect on us as designers. We need to make an effort to ensure that we and our designs take a warm posture towards our users.
The first key to being warm is to put on a jacket. (Sorry, we know that was a particularly bad pun, even for us. We’ve just been told that by our mothers so many times, it just sort of came out.) Let’s try that again. The first key to being warm is to be welcoming. (There we go.) Whether they’re returning for the umpteenth time or if it’s their very first experience with your design, you should be ecstatic that they’re there! Without them engaging with you, you wouldn’t be making anyone’s life better, and that is the point after all. So be excited to see your users. Literally welcome them. Tell them how happy you are to see them, how grateful you are to have them, and how you hope that their experience with you will be a positive one.
The second key to being warm is to demonstrate caring. Start by asking your users how they’re doing. Find a way to build a dialogue into your experience. Create moments for emotional check-ins with your users to make sure they’re happy and frustration-free. Even if things are going swimmingly, they’ll appreciate you asking them. Of course, sometimes you’ll check in and find that things aren’t going so hot after all. In these cases, it’s important to act. Don’t let their cries for help fall on deaf ears. A silent response from you is the quickest way to convince your users that you don’t care about them whatsoever. So be sure to do your best to rectify the situation whenever you find out that a users is having a problem with your experience.
The final key to warmth is honesty. Your users can tell when you’re being insincere. So don’t even try it. Explain to them where you’re coming from. Own up to it when you make a mistake. Share your reasoning behind a tough decision. Your users will appreciate your honesty. It will help them view you as a warm, authentic person.
Funny
Believe it or not, being funny actually helps establish authenticity, and it’s a great way to demonstrate both your smarts and your warmth. But we should be quick to note that not all types of humor are good for authenticity. Mean-spirited humor can have just the opposite effect; your users won’t trust that they won’t the be the butt of the joke the next time. Good-natured humor, though, shows a high degree of empathy. It highlights your ability to understand your heroes and their context enough to know what they will find funny and what they won’t.
Self-deprecating humor does a great job of creating authenticity. Self-deprecating humor, even a groan-inducing bad pun, is so effective, because it renders us vulnerable. It shows that we’re human, and that we’re well aware that we come with flaws. Showcasing this vulnerability actually invites others to empathize with you. They relate to you, because they, of course, recognize that they have flaws, too. Once they begin to think of you as being rather similar to themselves, they will begin to see you as authentic. So don’t be afraid to let your weird side out, to show a little whimsy.
Authenticity
The experience you create for your users must be authentic. Your users will treat their relationship with your design as they would a relationship with another person. Build that relationship by demonstrating your competence. Get all the basics right and make sure every detail enhances the overall story you’re creating. Exude warmth. Finally, take a chance and open yourself up with humor. Your users will like you all the better for it. Welcome your users and show them you care about them. Demonstrate these qualities in your design and your users will view your design as one built on authenticity.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I easily create authentic user experiences in my app without coding? | Yes, with Adalo's No Code App Builder, you can easily create authentic user experiences that connect with users. Adalo's intuitive interface lets you focus on designing warm, competent, and engaging interactions without worrying about the technical implementation, allowing you to craft every detail that demonstrates care for your users. |
| Why choose Adalo over other App Builder solutions? | Adalo is a no-code app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms. AI-assisted building and streamlined publishing enable launch to the Apple App Store and Google Play in days rather than months. This publishing capability is crucial because getting your app into the app stores is often the hardest part of launching a new app or business—it's the key to marketing and distribution that determines whether your authentic design actually reaches users. |
| What's the fastest way to build and publish an authentic user experience app to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store? | Adalo is the fastest way to build and publish an authentic user experience app to the Apple App Store and Google Play. With No Code App Builder's drag-and-drop interface and AI-assisted building, you can go from idea to published app in days rather than months. Adalo handles the complex App Store submission process, so you can focus on your app's features and user experience instead of wrestling with certificates, provisioning profiles, and store guidelines. |
| What are the key traits my app design needs to feel authentic to users? | Your app design must exhibit three key traits: competence (getting the basics right and perfecting every detail), warmth (being welcoming and demonstrating genuine care for users), and appropriate humor (showing your human side through good-natured, self-deprecating moments). These traits account for how users perceive and trust your design. |
| How can I demonstrate competence through my app design? | Demonstrate competence by getting the basics right first—ensure navigation works intuitively and core functions perform flawlessly. Then focus on the details, making sure every element serves your overall story rather than reverting to default or cheap solutions. One basic mistake can cause users to question your competency across your entire design. |
| How do I make my app feel warm and welcoming to users? | Create warmth by genuinely welcoming users whether they're new or returning, building in moments for emotional check-ins, and responding promptly when users encounter problems. Be honest and transparent about your decisions and mistakes. Users can sense insincerity, so authentic communication builds lasting trust. |
| Is humor appropriate in app design, and how should I use it? | Good-natured humor can actually strengthen authenticity by demonstrating empathy and making your design feel more human. Self-deprecating humor and playful moments show vulnerability that users relate to. However, avoid mean-spirited humor that might make users worry they'll be the target next time. |
