Product inclusion strategies for low digital trust users

Building Trust, Not Just Features: A Product Mandate for Africa’s Informal Economy. #WeeklyInsights As product managers that building for farmers, traders and last-mile users in Africa, we often get obsessed with making things users love. But in these markets, building trust is more fundamental. The truth is many users in the informal sector, like a chili farmer like Christiana in Sogakope or an aggregator like Kudus in Northern Ghana, don’t care how “delightful” your UI is if they’re unsure: • If they’ll get paid on time. • If the weather alert is accurate. • If their data will be safe from misuse. • If the promised fertilizer will arrive before planting season. In markets where formal institutions have failed and digital literacy is uneven, product trust is the entire value proposition. You are not just designing a tool. You are designing belief in a system that often hasn’t earned it yet. So what does it take to build software users trust? This framework by @Rich Diviney is incredibly helpful — the 4 elements of trust: 1. Competency – Are you capable of delivering what you say? 2. Consistency – Do you show up the same way every time? 3. Reliability – Can users count on you, especially when things go wrong? 4. Integrity – Do you honor your word, even when it’s inconvenient? These aren’t just philosophical ideals, they’re design and product management mandates. At Complete Farmer, this is how we build trust with our users: 1. Competency: Investing in research to develop crop cultivation protocols for farmers to ensure they meet international buyer demands requires lots agronomic competency and data. 2. Consistency: We learned to publish input delivery schedules publicly in community WhatsApp groups (not just in the app) because consistency builds trust in informal ecosystems. 3. Reliability: We realized showing weather forecasts wasn’t enough. We added local-language voice alerts because some farmers couldn’t read the app but still needed to trust when to plant. 4. Integrity: When a logistics delay happened, we didn’t spin it. We owned the error and called each lead farmer. Integrity meant more than shipping. For product managers in Africa, this is our challenge: Don’t just chase “delight.” Build trust through transparency, humility, and usefulness. That’s what unlocks adoption. That’s what scales. Because in the informal sector, trust is the bridge between intention and impact. Let’s build it. Thanks to Maya Horgan Famodu for inspiring this insight by introducing this framework to the Complete Farmer team today in our team meeting. #ProductManagement #TrustByDesign #Agritech #LastMileInnovation #startups #CompleteFarmer #TechForGood #UserResearch #DigitalInclusion #ProductStrategy #TechinAfrica

I recently shopped at a roadside vendor and paid ₹60 via Paytm. Before I could speak for him to check, his Soundbox confirmed the transaction. He didn’t even look at his phone and just gave a nod. That nod wasn’t about trusting me. It was about trusting the product that had no screen. Paytm's Soundbox & PhonePe's SmartSpeaker is arguably one of 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗽𝘀 toward making tech accessible for the least digitally fluent. That’s when India’s shopkeepers truly became digital-first. Not when UPI launched or when QR codes showed up on every counter. And why this moment matters more than it looks from a PM's perspective: 🚀𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 Early UPI users hesitated and were unsure if the payment went through. The Soundbox made confirmation instant and human. 🚀𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲-𝘁𝗼-𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 Most small vendors, especially older ones aren’t fluent with screens or apps. But they understood the Soundbox immediately. .🚀𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗻 The Soundbox completed the fintech loop. Until then, apps made life easier for payers. After it, receivers (shopkeepers, drivers, vendors) were included too. That’s when millions were pulled closer to fintech. What’s another real-world product that impacted adoption without needing a screen? Drop it below. #ID8 #Fintech #Paytm #PhonePe #ProductThinking #UXDesign #IndiaStack #DesignForTrust #InclusionByDesign #Soundbox #ProductTeardown #DigitalPayments

Thanks to numerous initiatives, significant investments have been made in digital public infrastructure. Yet, adoption remains a major unresolved issue. The challenge is no longer just about access—it’s about trust, usability and relevance. the following 5 key reasons sum up why digital platforms fail to engage users in Bharat: 1️⃣ Lack of true inclusion – Most digital services fail to accommodate users with low digital literacy, regional language preferences or intermittent connectivity. 2️⃣ Absence of trust – Users hesitate to engage with platforms that demand personal data without clear safeguards, lack human validation or feel misaligned with their needs. 3️⃣ Complex navigation – If an interface is difficult to use, people drop off. Many platforms are not designed for voice-based inputs, visual guidance or intuitive error handling. 4️⃣ Lack of adaptability – Digital solutions that fail to evolve with changing user behavior and local realities become obsolete. 5️⃣ Missing human support – Digital adoption isn’t just about technology—it requires on-ground capacity building, trusted intermediaries and grassroots integration to ensure sustained usage. To address these challenges, we (Treemouse) developed MAARG, a structured framework that offers practical strategies for designing inclusive, trust-driven digital solutions: 🔹 M – Multidimensional Inclusion – Design for low-literacy users, multilingual needs and hybrid online-offline experiences. 🔹 A – Assured Trust – Simplify privacy policies, ensure user control and leverage trusted community figures to build confidence. 🔹 A – Adept Usability – Create intuitive, error-friendly interfaces with visual navigation and user-friendly workflows. 🔹 R – Responsive Adaptation – Continuously refine platforms based on real-world feedback and evolving user needs. 🔹 G – Grassroots Collaboration – Work with local communities, train digital ambassadors and integrate digital solutions into existing user behaviors. If we are serious about digital inclusion, we must move beyond access and rethink adoption from the ground up. Technology alone won’t solve the problem—human-centered design will. Would love to hear from you—what challenges have you faced in designing for Bharat, and what solutions have worked for you? #DigitalInclusion #TechForBharat #HumanCenteredDesign #DigitalAdoption #UserExperience #MAARGFramework