Designing for trust, turning impact into reality.

Trust is fragile, and for impact ventures, it's everything. Users arrive sceptical. Regulators demand proof. Investors want traction that works commercially, not just morally. And you're trying to hold mission and market together without sacrificing either.

So how do you prove your product creates real change while building something people actually want to use?

Through design.

Design is the infrastructure of trust. It turns claims into experiences users can verify for themselves, makes behaviour change feel natural instead of forced, and creates products people return to. That repetition is how impact scales and how ventures sustain themselves financially.

But the stakes have never been higher. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 61% of people worldwide hold grievances against businesses, governments, and the wealthy, driven by the belief that the system favours the rich while ordinary people are left behind. Businesses are the most trusted institution at 62%, which still barely clears half. When people feel the world is rigged, they view every claim with suspicion. Including yours.

Regulators are responding to this collapse in trust. The EU's Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, set to be enforced in September 2026, found that 53% of environmental claims were vague, misleading, or unfounded, with another 40% completely unsubstantiated. Generic terms like "eco-friendly" will be banned unless backed by verified evidence. The directive admits what the data already shows: trust in impact claims has collapsed, so the law is stepping in to demand proof.

If users don't trust what you say, and regulators won't let you say it without evidence, design becomes how you prove it.

ECGT Directive

Empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and through better information.

Learn what it means for your business

From reporting to building.

For too long, impact has been something companies report, not something they build. By 2017, 85% of Fortune 500 companies were reporting their environmental and social impact, according to Jason Rissman, former Climate Advisor at IDEO, in a 2020 reflection on the mainstreaming of social innovation. But reporting and creating are not the same. The rise of corporate social responsibility has normalised the language of purpose, yet too often it remains performative. Design is where that gap becomes visible: if your product experience contradicts your stated values, users will notice.

In climate tech, this shift is especially visible. An emissions tracker that shows 'you saved 5kg of CO2 this week' is abstract. But one that says 'choosing the train over driving saved the equivalent of 12 meals' connects to something tangible. The design challenge isn't generating more data, it's translating it into choices people recognise and can act on. The design challenge here isn't generating more data, it's translating abstract metrics into something people recognise and can act on. When impact feels personal, it becomes reality in shifting behaviours.

Three shifts social innovation you can't ignore.

Ecosystems over heroes. Co-creation over delivery. Connection over burnout. IDEO maps what needs to change for impact to scale.

Read the full article

This isn't about choosing between mission and market. They're interdependent. A product that creates real impact but frustrates users won't get adopted. A product that feels great to use but doesn't deliver tangible change won't survive the scrutiny impact ventures face. Design keeps both in balance. It ensures your mission is visible in every interaction, that your product is easy enough to use that people actually stick with it, and that the impact you claim is something users experience, not just something they read about.

For impact founders, proving your product works while building something commercially viable is the challenge. Design is what makes both possible.

Impact happens through action.

Real impact lives in action. Design enables that change by reducing friction, making the right choice the easy choice, and giving users agency to see their own progress. A product that shifts behaviour doesn't lecture or guilt. It makes the desired action feel natural, even rewarding. When users can see their choices reflected to them, when they understand cause and effect without needing to decode it, they're more likely to act again. And again. That repetition is where impact scales.

This matters commercially too. Products that require constant willpower don't retain users. Products that feel effortless do. When behaviour change is designed well, adoption follows naturally, and sustained adoption is what allows impact ventures to grow without burning through capital or goodwill.

Products people love are products that last.

Users decide whether to trust your product within seconds of opening it. A smooth onboarding flow signals care and competence. A clunky one suggests you haven't thought things through. Design communicates before words do. Every interaction tells users whether you respect their time, understand their needs, and deserve their attention.

Clear navigation, helpful micro-copy, and intuitive flows all demonstrate you've considered the experience from the user's perspective. Users arrive with questions, and your product should answer them before they're asked.

A beautifully animated interaction means nothing if someone can't figure out how to complete a task. At the end of the day, trust grows when the product does what it promises, when it does, and in a way that feels considered rather than careless. That consistency turns first-time users into repeat users, and repeat users into advocates.

Why we Design.

Being design-led means thinking before we create. It means balancing creativity with curiosity, building with purpose, and ensuring every decision serves the people who'll use what we make.

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Holding a balance.

Impact ventures don't get the luxury of choosing between mission and market. They need both, simultaneously, under constant scrutiny, with limited resources and no room for missteps. That's the reality… and it's why so many well-intentioned products fail to gain traction, not because the mission was wrong, but because the user experience wasn't good enough.

Design doesn't just make products usable. It makes impact provable. When the experience reflects the mission, users trust you enough to try, engage enough to stay, and advocate enough to spread. That's how impact scales.

We've worked with founders navigating this tension before. We understand what it takes to prove impact through experience, not just claims. To build products people trust enough to use, and use enough to sustain. If you're building something that matters and need a partner who understands the stakes, let's talk.