by Sarah Didcott
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We often think of UX in terms of its outputs; the wireframes, designs and workflows that are part of any digital project. Those are vitally important, of course, but what is their purpose? What is user experience really about? What is the underlying engine that drives it?
To answer that, we’re looking at an interesting pairing. The Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) revolutionised UX by grounding design in usability research and human-centred principles. Brené Brown is an author and speaker known for her work on vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy, and for her BRAVING framework for building trust.
There is a common thread between them: the belief that trust is essential to human interaction.
Jakob Nielsen, pioneer in the field of UX, is a true believer in the power of trust. According to Nielsen, “Trust is a long-term proposition that builds slowly as people use a site, get good results, and don’t feel let down or cheated.”
Brown similarly places a huge amount of value in trust, stating, “Trust is built in very small moments, which I call ‘sliding door’ moments. In any interaction, there is a possibility of connection or disconnection.”
But how exactly does Brown’s framework map onto the practice of UX? You’re going to have to trust me to explain.
Boundaries: Stop Being Needy
You know that person who overshares five minutes after meeting them? You’ve just exchanged names and suddenly you know every minute detail about their Crossfit schedule and crippling addiction to Love Island.
Don’t let your interface be that guy. Boundaries, Brené style, mean respecting limits. In UX, it’s about ditching the needy pop-ups demanding emails before users even know who you are. It’s clear opt-outs, obvious ‘close’ buttons, and not screaming for attention with notifications.
NNG calls it ‘User Control and Freedom’; the belief that users should initiate and guide actions rather than feeling pushed, trapped, or coerced.
Respecting boundaries tells customers you value them, not just their data, and sets realistic expectations from the very beginning. By ensuring your messaging clearly reflects what your business offers, you manage user expectations proactively. This kind of digital etiquette and transparency creates a huge amount of goodwill with your users.
Reliability: Keep Your Promises
Do you have friends who swear they’ll be there, then ghost you? Yep. Admit it, you resent it.
That’s your interface when it’s unreliable. Buttons that work one day and snooze the next. Links leading nowhere. Brown says reliability is doing what you say you’ll do. NNG calls it ‘Consistency and Standards’.
It’s the “Save” icon that always looks and behaves the same across screens. It’s the style guides that ensure typography, spacing, and feedback cues are coherent.
Consistency stabilises meaning. A reliable interface feels steady, predictable and dependable; anything less feels like sand in the gears.
Accountability: Own Your Mistakes
Look, things break. Software glitches. It happens. Accountability is about how you handle it. Do you throw up a cryptic error code or blame the user for it?
“Oops! Our bad. Here’s what happened and here’s how to get back on track,” is a better response. How you respond to mistakes shows character.
This is NNG’s “Help Users Recognise, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors” heuristic.
Accountable UX turns a moment of frustration into a display of competence and care.
Vault: Don’t Gossip
The Vault is sacred. Users hand over their data, including personal details, browsing habits and strange purchasing history, trusting you won’t blab. Breaching this, through dodgy sharing or leaky security, isn’t just bad PR; it’s a kind of betrayal.
Jakob Nielsen is clear about the impact of not being clear with users in an interview during the Building Trust on the Web Summit: “Users do have this general fear and general notion that, ‘I’m just going to go away if I don’t understand.’”
Clear privacy policies (in actual human language), transparent data usage, robust security; treat user data like a secret, not a commodity to be auctioned off.
Integrity: Be Principled
Integrity is choosing courage over comfort, right over easy. In UX, it means ditching ‘dark patterns’, those sneaky designs that trick users into signing up, signing away, or buying stuff they didn’t want. It means designing accessibly, not just because it’s the law, but because it’s the right thing to do.
Good design is honest. Dieter Rams, legendary designer, believes that good design does not try to “make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.”
Does your marketing match the actual experience users have on your site? If not, users notice. Integrity is ensuring that what you say you do and what you actually do align.
Non-Judgment: Design for Humans
Your users aren’t dumb..They’re just busy, distracted, and maybe new to what you’re offering. Non-judgmental UX meets them where they are. It offers clear help (‘Help and Documentation’), avoids jargon, and doesn’t make people feel like idiots for clicking the wrong thing.
Think helpful tips, forgiving search functions, and interfaces that feel intuitive. Nobody wants to feel stupid, and they’ll just click away if they do.
Generosity: Assume The Best
Generosity assumes the best. Maybe the user didn’t mean to type “shooos” when searching for shoes. It offers autocorrect and makes sure before it deletes their entire account because of an accidental click.
Generous UX conforms to NNG’s Error Prevention heuristic by confirming user intent, anticipating needs, forgiving minor fumbles, and generally making the user’s life easier.
Trust is the Ultimate Interface
So, yes, keep optimising those flows. But always remember you’re building a relationship. By consciously weaving BRAVING into your user experience, you move beyond mere function. You start building trust.
In a world drowning in noise, trust isn’t just nice to have, it’s your most powerful competitive advantage.
TL;DR: BRAVING Applied to UX
Boundaries = Respect user autonomy
Reliability = Functional consistency builds trust
Accountability = Own errors with transparency
Vault = Data privacy is sacred
Integrity = Say what you mean, design without deceit
Non-Judgment = Design for real human behaviour
Generosity = Anticipate needs, prevent frustration
We often think of UX in terms of its outputs; the wireframes, designs and workflows that are part of any digital project. Those are vitally important, of course, but what is their purpose? What is user experience really about? What is the underlying engine that drives it?
To answer that, we’re looking at an interesting pairing. The Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) revolutionised UX by grounding design in usability research and human-centred principles. Brené Brown is an author and speaker known for her work on vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy, and for her BRAVING framework for building trust.
There is a common thread between them: the belief that trust is essential to human interaction.
Jakob Nielsen, pioneer in the field of UX, is a true believer in the power of trust. According to Nielsen, “Trust is a long-term proposition that builds slowly as people use a site, get good results, and don’t feel let down or cheated.”
Brown similarly places a huge amount of value in trust, stating, “Trust is built in very small moments, which I call ‘sliding door’ moments. In any interaction, there is a possibility of connection or disconnection.”
But how exactly does Brown’s framework map onto the practice of UX? You’re going to have to trust me to explain.
Boundaries: Stop Being Needy
You know that person who overshares five minutes after meeting them? You’ve just exchanged names and suddenly you know every minute detail about their Crossfit schedule and crippling addiction to Love Island.
Don’t let your interface be that guy. Boundaries, Brené style, mean respecting limits. In UX, it’s about ditching the needy pop-ups demanding emails before users even know who you are. It’s clear opt-outs, obvious ‘close’ buttons, and not screaming for attention with notifications.
NNG calls it ‘User Control and Freedom’; the belief that users should initiate and guide actions rather than feeling pushed, trapped, or coerced.
Respecting boundaries tells customers you value them, not just their data, and sets realistic expectations from the very beginning. By ensuring your messaging clearly reflects what your business offers, you manage user expectations proactively. This kind of digital etiquette and transparency creates a huge amount of goodwill with your users.
Reliability: Keep Your Promises
Do you have friends who swear they’ll be there, then ghost you? Yep. Admit it, you resent it.
That’s your interface when it’s unreliable. Buttons that work one day and snooze the next. Links leading nowhere. Brown says reliability is doing what you say you’ll do. NNG calls it ‘Consistency and Standards’.
It’s the “Save” icon that always looks and behaves the same across screens. It’s the style guides that ensure typography, spacing, and feedback cues are coherent.
Consistency stabilises meaning. A reliable interface feels steady, predictable and dependable; anything less feels like sand in the gears.
Accountability: Own Your Mistakes
Look, things break. Software glitches. It happens. Accountability is about how you handle it. Do you throw up a cryptic error code or blame the user for it?
“Oops! Our bad. Here’s what happened and here’s how to get back on track,” is a better response. How you respond to mistakes shows character.
This is NNG’s “Help Users Recognise, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors” heuristic.
Accountable UX turns a moment of frustration into a display of competence and care.
Vault: Don’t Gossip
The Vault is sacred. Users hand over their data, including personal details, browsing habits and strange purchasing history, trusting you won’t blab. Breaching this, through dodgy sharing or leaky security, isn’t just bad PR; it’s a kind of betrayal.
Jakob Nielsen is clear about the impact of not being clear with users in an interview during the Building Trust on the Web Summit: “Users do have this general fear and general notion that, ‘I’m just going to go away if I don’t understand.’”
Clear privacy policies (in actual human language), transparent data usage, robust security; treat user data like a secret, not a commodity to be auctioned off.
Integrity: Be Principled
Integrity is choosing courage over comfort, right over easy. In UX, it means ditching ‘dark patterns’, those sneaky designs that trick users into signing up, signing away, or buying stuff they didn’t want. It means designing accessibly, not just because it’s the law, but because it’s the right thing to do.
Good design is honest. Dieter Rams, legendary designer, believes that good design does not try to “make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.”
Does your marketing match the actual experience users have on your site? If not, users notice. Integrity is ensuring that what you say you do and what you actually do align.
Non-Judgment: Design for Humans
Your users aren’t dumb..They’re just busy, distracted, and maybe new to what you’re offering. Non-judgmental UX meets them where they are. It offers clear help (‘Help and Documentation’), avoids jargon, and doesn’t make people feel like idiots for clicking the wrong thing.
Think helpful tips, forgiving search functions, and interfaces that feel intuitive. Nobody wants to feel stupid, and they’ll just click away if they do.
Generosity: Assume The Best
Generosity assumes the best. Maybe the user didn’t mean to type “shooos” when searching for shoes. It offers autocorrect and makes sure before it deletes their entire account because of an accidental click.
Generous UX conforms to NNG’s Error Prevention heuristic by confirming user intent, anticipating needs, forgiving minor fumbles, and generally making the user’s life easier.
Trust is the Ultimate Interface
So, yes, keep optimising those flows. But always remember you’re building a relationship. By consciously weaving BRAVING into your user experience, you move beyond mere function. You start building trust.
In a world drowning in noise, trust isn’t just nice to have, it’s your most powerful competitive advantage.
TL;DR: BRAVING Applied to UX
Boundaries = Respect user autonomy
Reliability = Functional consistency builds trust
Accountability = Own errors with transparency
Vault = Data privacy is sacred
Integrity = Say what you mean, design without deceit
Non-Judgment = Design for real human behaviour
Generosity = Anticipate needs, prevent frustration
We often think of UX in terms of its outputs; the wireframes, designs and workflows that are part of any digital project. Those are vitally important, of course, but what is their purpose? What is user experience really about? What is the underlying engine that drives it?
To answer that, we’re looking at an interesting pairing. The Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) revolutionised UX by grounding design in usability research and human-centred principles. Brené Brown is an author and speaker known for her work on vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy, and for her BRAVING framework for building trust.
There is a common thread between them: the belief that trust is essential to human interaction.
Jakob Nielsen, pioneer in the field of UX, is a true believer in the power of trust. According to Nielsen, “Trust is a long-term proposition that builds slowly as people use a site, get good results, and don’t feel let down or cheated.”
Brown similarly places a huge amount of value in trust, stating, “Trust is built in very small moments, which I call ‘sliding door’ moments. In any interaction, there is a possibility of connection or disconnection.”
But how exactly does Brown’s framework map onto the practice of UX? You’re going to have to trust me to explain.
Boundaries: Stop Being Needy
You know that person who overshares five minutes after meeting them? You’ve just exchanged names and suddenly you know every minute detail about their Crossfit schedule and crippling addiction to Love Island.
Don’t let your interface be that guy. Boundaries, Brené style, mean respecting limits. In UX, it’s about ditching the needy pop-ups demanding emails before users even know who you are. It’s clear opt-outs, obvious ‘close’ buttons, and not screaming for attention with notifications.
NNG calls it ‘User Control and Freedom’; the belief that users should initiate and guide actions rather than feeling pushed, trapped, or coerced.
Respecting boundaries tells customers you value them, not just their data, and sets realistic expectations from the very beginning. By ensuring your messaging clearly reflects what your business offers, you manage user expectations proactively. This kind of digital etiquette and transparency creates a huge amount of goodwill with your users.
Reliability: Keep Your Promises
Do you have friends who swear they’ll be there, then ghost you? Yep. Admit it, you resent it.
That’s your interface when it’s unreliable. Buttons that work one day and snooze the next. Links leading nowhere. Brown says reliability is doing what you say you’ll do. NNG calls it ‘Consistency and Standards’.
It’s the “Save” icon that always looks and behaves the same across screens. It’s the style guides that ensure typography, spacing, and feedback cues are coherent.
Consistency stabilises meaning. A reliable interface feels steady, predictable and dependable; anything less feels like sand in the gears.
Accountability: Own Your Mistakes
Look, things break. Software glitches. It happens. Accountability is about how you handle it. Do you throw up a cryptic error code or blame the user for it?
“Oops! Our bad. Here’s what happened and here’s how to get back on track,” is a better response. How you respond to mistakes shows character.
This is NNG’s “Help Users Recognise, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors” heuristic.
Accountable UX turns a moment of frustration into a display of competence and care.
Vault: Don’t Gossip
The Vault is sacred. Users hand over their data, including personal details, browsing habits and strange purchasing history, trusting you won’t blab. Breaching this, through dodgy sharing or leaky security, isn’t just bad PR; it’s a kind of betrayal.
Jakob Nielsen is clear about the impact of not being clear with users in an interview during the Building Trust on the Web Summit: “Users do have this general fear and general notion that, ‘I’m just going to go away if I don’t understand.’”
Clear privacy policies (in actual human language), transparent data usage, robust security; treat user data like a secret, not a commodity to be auctioned off.
Integrity: Be Principled
Integrity is choosing courage over comfort, right over easy. In UX, it means ditching ‘dark patterns’, those sneaky designs that trick users into signing up, signing away, or buying stuff they didn’t want. It means designing accessibly, not just because it’s the law, but because it’s the right thing to do.
Good design is honest. Dieter Rams, legendary designer, believes that good design does not try to “make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.”
Does your marketing match the actual experience users have on your site? If not, users notice. Integrity is ensuring that what you say you do and what you actually do align.
Non-Judgment: Design for Humans
Your users aren’t dumb..They’re just busy, distracted, and maybe new to what you’re offering. Non-judgmental UX meets them where they are. It offers clear help (‘Help and Documentation’), avoids jargon, and doesn’t make people feel like idiots for clicking the wrong thing.
Think helpful tips, forgiving search functions, and interfaces that feel intuitive. Nobody wants to feel stupid, and they’ll just click away if they do.
Generosity: Assume The Best
Generosity assumes the best. Maybe the user didn’t mean to type “shooos” when searching for shoes. It offers autocorrect and makes sure before it deletes their entire account because of an accidental click.
Generous UX conforms to NNG’s Error Prevention heuristic by confirming user intent, anticipating needs, forgiving minor fumbles, and generally making the user’s life easier.
Trust is the Ultimate Interface
So, yes, keep optimising those flows. But always remember you’re building a relationship. By consciously weaving BRAVING into your user experience, you move beyond mere function. You start building trust.
In a world drowning in noise, trust isn’t just nice to have, it’s your most powerful competitive advantage.
TL;DR: BRAVING Applied to UX
Boundaries = Respect user autonomy
Reliability = Functional consistency builds trust
Accountability = Own errors with transparency
Vault = Data privacy is sacred
Integrity = Say what you mean, design without deceit
Non-Judgment = Design for real human behaviour
Generosity = Anticipate needs, prevent frustration
About the Author: Sarah Didcott
