How Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — ‘Safety’ plays an important role in product design
It was time to buy a new phone
Almost two years back when it was time for me to change my mobile to a new one the market offered me a wide range of variety both in aspects of specs and price. It left me almost confused about which one to choose from. But I was clear on which one I should never buy. There was one particular mobile phone brand and its line of phones that made me feel ‘oh nooo, not this😨.
If you haven’t guessed what brand of phone, well it's none other than Redmi. If you don’t remember the reason behind them then I need to take you back 2 years in time.
If you are a tech geek or someone who has bought a mobile phone two or three years back there was a lot of news on the internet regarding the heating issues on Redmi phones that concerned a lot of users. Some mobile phones were even blasted due to overheating. This was a major concern for me as well when I was deciding which mobile phone to buy.
The main reason that I was concerned with the Redmi phone is its safety. After all, life is more important than mobile phones😅. Safety became the primary criterion for me when I was deciding my next mobile. The rest came later (Specs, price, etc)
Safety matters while buying cars
This also correlates with the reason why people look for cars that has a high safety rating when buying them. Even the government of India has made airbags to be mandatory for all passenger cars concerning user safety. Maybe this move by the government might psychologically nudge more users to buy cars given the move by the government gives them a cushion of assured safety.
Safety matters everywhere
Safety needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs come second after the basic physiological needs (air, water, food, shelter). That’s why it's playing an important role in decision-making for customers while buying new products.
Addressing user safety is not just important in physical products but also plays a major role in digital products that we in our use day-to-day lives.
Addressing User safety in Digital Products
Safety in eCommerce
One quick and simple example that we all have seen in most of the eCommerce platforms is in the checkout screen. Users have a lot of doubts in their minds when they give out their personal information (card details in this case). Thus they include words that ensure safety and trust with the users to make them complete their purchase without any second doubt.
How Whatsapp addresses safety
Whatsapp is a major messaging app that always falls under the radar for ensuring user safety & privacy. They have imposed the information that their messages are end to end encrypted in every new chat a user starts to make it clear to the users that WhatsApp doesn’t read user messages.
In fact, they did an ad based on privacy to tell its users that their conversations are safe with them.
But what makes me wonder is that, if they don’t read WhatsApp messages how come they could throw ads on Instagram and Facebook related to my conversations that I have with my friends on Whatsapp.
Even telegram ensures safety
Telegram assures its users of the safety of their mobile numbers by clearly who else can see their mobile numbers. Alo gives them the freedom to control the visibility settings and lets the users decide how they want it to be. This lets users feel safe to use telegram.
My Fav is Figma
Figma assures your file safety in a cool and fun way when you try to save a file. This gives the confidence that the users don’t have to worry about their files getting lost without saving.
Takeaway
Addressing safety is a primary thing that user needs. If your product fails at assuring safety then users are either gonna hate your product or will never buy from you again. Thus its crucial to address user safety in your product in whatever means possible to bring out a better user experience.
Just recently it struck my mind how companies ensure employee safety. Yeah, one way is by providing an Insurance policy to you or your family. By far the most important benefit that an employer provides their employees, which even has been confirmed through a Glassdoor survey.
Interesting to find how a fundamental and basic human need i.e. Safety, plays a major role even in Digital Product Design.
If you have seen such measures for ensuring user safety in any products please mention them in the comments below.
Have a Great Day, Bye :)
