False Positives & Trust

What are false positives? Does you spam filter ever put a email that you wanted in your junk mail folder? When you spam filter does this, it is called a false positive. A program that generates false positives will cause a user to loose trust in a product. It is a clear and present mistake that stays in the users mind and erodes the viability of an app from doing a particular job.

This action violates the "Holy Grail" of usability:

• the desire to recommend a product to a friend
• trust of a user to stay with a product, a brand, or a routine
• buy-in of a product
• the promise of consistency

False positives directly violate the trust of a product. Cindi Farmer, a good colleague and friend, said it perfectly on how to earn trust:

Trust really is gold.

Trust can never be taken lightly. It cannot be given, it must be earned. False positives is the fastest way to violate this trust.