What can researchers learn from con artists?

Building trust and rapport are key as we invite others to share, yet we must remain vigilant and combat confirmation bias

Photo by Yuri Catalano from Pexels

Trust, empathy, relationship building, and information gathering are all part of a good user research session. They’re also the cornerstones of a good con. As I watched Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art, a documentary on Netflix about the largest art fraud in American history, I was struck by the parallels between user researchers and con artists. While their goals and outcomes are very different, they rely on similar skill sets.

Building trust and rapport is essential to honest conversations

Good con artists identify and study their victims, learning who they are, what motivates them, and what they want. Con artists need to build an emotional foundation, based on empathy and rapport, in order to gain their targets’ confidence. Once this trust is established, the target is more likely to open up and freely share their honest thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Similarity and familiarity are powerful psychological tools that can influence how we view and interact with others — making us feel more trusting, comfortable, and positive towards…