Trust is a funny thing in design. Have you ever scrolled through a website and thought that consistent spacing and clear hierarchy really increased my confidence in this organisation?
But I bet you absolutely notice when those things aren’t there… when a page suddenly looks different from the one you just left, the language or the font change halfway through a journey or a button takes you somewhere that unexpectedly has a different web address.
You might not consciously call any of that a trust problem. You just hesitate a bit, wonder whether you’re in the right place, whether you’ve missed something or whether it’s safe to carry on.
That’s why consistency, simplicity and accessibility matter so much. They’re not the most glamorous parts of design, but they’re often the things quietly holding the whole experience together.
Familiarity does more work than we realise
Consistency isn’t only about using the same layout or putting buttons in the same place. Colours, typography, shapes, photography, tone of voice, icons and even the way information is structured all become part of a brand’s visual language. Designers might call them brand codes or distinctive brand assets. Most of your customers won’t call them anything. They’ll just know, almost instantly, that something feels familiar.
Think of McDonald’s golden arches or Cadbury purple. Neither brand needs to introduce itself from scratch every time it appears. Recognition is already doing some of the work.
The same principle applies to financial services, even if the assets aren’t quite as famous (except maybe the L&G umbrella). When your customer moves from an email to the website, or app to the website, the experience should feel seamless. Inconsistency creates a tiny doubt, and tiny moments of doubt add up.
Simplicity and consistency… not what you think
Simplicity isn’t minimalism. Consistency doesn’t mean making everything identical.
It’s not about removing everything until you’re left with a lot of white space and one beautifully styled button. It’s about deciding what matters and making that easier to find, understand and use.
Nor is it about making everything look and feel the same. Done well, it makes an experience feel joined up and dependable rather than repetitive.
Accessibility is the experience
Accessibility still gets treated too often as something to check at the end.
Is the colour contrast high enough? Can the site be used with a keyboard? Have the images got alternative text? Fine, tick the box and move on.
But if somebody can’t read the text, understand the labels or complete the task, accessibility isn’t a technical issue sitting somewhere at the edge of the project.
It’s their entire experience.
And it’s not only relevant to people with permanent disabilities. You might just be on your phone in bright sunlight. Clear type, meaningful labels, sensible contrast, captions, logical navigation and properly sized buttons help everyone.
The opposite sends a signal too. A tiny font, an inaccessible PDF or an error message nobody understands removes confidence as much as it creates irritation.
Trust is built in the details
None of this means every experience needs to feel dull, safe or predictable. Distinctive design still matters. Personality matters. Creativity matters.
And when consistency, simplicity and accessibility work together, they remove uncertainty without drawing attention to themselves.
Trust doesn’t appear because a website looks expensive or because the brand describes itself as trustworthy.
It builds through lots of small, well-considered decisions and design has a very important role to play in that.
Jack Bulut, Head of Design & Delivery
