Common mistakes in tech trust evaluation

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐔𝐒 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬: Convenience sounds like a win… But in reality—control builds the trust that scales. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 👇 We were working on improving product adoption for a US-based platform. Most founders would instinctively look at cutting down clicks and removing steps in the onboarding journey. Faster = Better, right? That’s what we thought too—until real usage patterns showed us something very different. Instead of shortening the journey, we tried something counterintuitive: -We added more decision points -Let the user customize their flow -Gave options to manually choose settings instead of setting defaults And guess what? Conversion rates went up. Engagement improved. And most importantly—user trust deepened. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝: You can design a sleek 2-click journey…  …but if the user doesn’t feel in control, they hesitate. Especially in the US market, where data privacy and digital autonomy are hot-button issues—transparency and control win. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞: → People often disable auto-fill just to manually type things in.  → They skip quick recommendations to do their own comparisons.  → Features that auto-execute without explicit confirmation? Often uninstalled. 💡 Why? It’s not inefficiency. It’s digital self-preservation. It’s a mindset of: “Don’t decide for me. Let me drive.” And I’ve seen this mistake firsthand: One client rolled out a smart automation feature that quietly activated behind the scenes. Instead of delighting users, it alienated 15–20% of their base. Because the perception was: "You took control without asking." On the other hand, platforms that use clear confirmation prompts (“Are you sure?”, “Review before submitting”, toggles, etc.)—those build long-term trust. That’s the real game. Here’s what I now recommend to every tech founder building for the US market: -Don’t just optimize for frictionless onboarding. -Optimize for visible control. -Add micro-trust signals like “No hidden fees,” “You can edit this later,” and clear toggles. -Let the user feel in charge at every key point. Because trust isn’t built by speed. It’s built by respecting the user’s right to decide. If you’re a tech founder or product owner: Stop assuming speed is everything. Start building systems that say, “You’re in control.” That’s what creates adoption that sticks. What’s your experience with this? Would love to hear in the comments. 👇 #ProductDesign #UserExperience #TrustByDesign #TechForUSMarket #DigitalAutonomy #businesscoach #coachishleenkaur Linkedin News LinkedIn News India LinkedIN for small businesses

This weekend, as part of a catch-up, I was scrolling through some of the latest research papers - and had an aha moment about something critical. Tech accelerates outcomes, yet trust determines its success. Looking at the latest McKinsey data, I am not surprised but still concerned: 92% of enterprises plan to scale their AI investments, yet only 1% report full workflow integration. ONLY ONE PERCENT https://lnkd.in/g-T_WTHe After 2 decades in tech leadership, and more recently in the AI space, I’ve observed this is where most organizations falter: – They overestimate model accuracy  – They undervalue human oversight  – They treat trust & safety as an afterthought Companies winning the AI race aren’t necessarily the ones with the most advanced models. They’re the ones mastering the tech-trust equation by: 1: Designing for explainability from day one – because black-box decision-making undermines stakeholder confidence. 2: Implementing governance that strengthens human-AI collaboration rather than diminishing it. 3: Investing in continuous talent development so teams understand not just implementation, but course-correction. My conversations with enterprise CIOs majorly surround around how this gap between AI ambition and execution continues to widen. But the companies closing it will define the next generation of market leaders. What’s your experience? Are you seeing similar patterns? #AI #tech-trust

Tech leaders fail the same way Again and again I’ve seen it 100+ times And it’s always these 7 mistakes: 1. Choosing tools over people ↳ Assuming tech is needed first ↳ The need is different. People ignore the tools → Fix: Ask your team first. Then select tech if needed. 2. Changing things without context ↳ Drop system changes in without warning ↳ Teams push back or check out → Fix: Explain changes in plain words. Create support. 3. Ignoring past problems ↳ Build new features fast ↳ Old bugs keep adding. Never go away → Fix: Address old problems before adding new work 4. Complicating the work ↳ Add too many steps ↳ Planning never ends → Fix: Start small. Deliver fast. Contain rework. 5. Not asking the users ↳ Building based on assumptions and guesses ↳ Missing the real issues and needs → Fix: Talk to users every week. Just listen. 6. Trusting vendors promises ↳ Believe the pitch without diligence ↳ Getting half the value. Or none. → Fix: Always check references, dig in. Ask for proof. 7. Delaying security and risk ↳ Treating it like an extra requirement ↳ Paying for it later → Fix: Address security, risk, compliance throughout. Good tech leadership is simple But simple is not easy. It takes discipline What mistake would you add to this list? Drop it below 👇 ↓ Save this to help your team avoid these traps ♻️ Repost to share and help tech leaders on your team ➕ Adi Agrawal posts on Leadership, Business, Careers