Question 3: “is trusted” value should be a binary or scalar? (or presented as binary but manipulated as scalar?)

Answer: I prefer scalar under the hood. But too many options can overwhelm the user, so in my proof of concept, I offer a binary option, where “trust” is recorded as a score of 100, and “don’t trust” is recorded as a score of 0. When the time is right, the user can be presented either with multiple options (trust none: 0, trust some: 50, or trust completely: 100) or a scrollbar. This is an example of what I mean when I say that DESIGN and an understanding of PRODUCT are so vitally important for making web of trust take off and fly. Gotta know when to keep options hidden and when / how to unveil them.