Fintech Security Authenticator
The cryptography was fine. The words on screen were not — 73% of people told us they didn't understand what we wanted from them, and 68% left angry feedback. That's not an edge case; that's the product.
Case study
Overview
Financial institutions depend on authenticator apps to bridge high-assurance security with everyday tasks. This project focused on the human layer: turning opaque permission and verification flows into language people could act on under stress — without diluting compliance requirements or engineering constraints.
The problem
Security that confused everyone
of users couldn't understand the verification prompts
left angry or confused feedback after authentication
Confusing language
Technical jargon in prompts obscured what action was required.
Time pressure failures
Countdown timers increased panic and errors instead of clarity.
Recovery dead ends
No clear retry path after failures left users stuck and distrustful.
Research
Understanding the users
Users
Persona
“I just want to approve the payment and move on. I shouldn't need to decode a message to verify my own transaction.”
User flow
Streamlined authentication path
Highlighted steps had the highest drop-off before the redesign.
Design system
Color palette
#4A90D9
#1A1A2E
#2ECC71
#E74C3C
#F5F5F7
Typography scale
Delivery
Final screens
The redesigned experience
Every screen was rewritten in plain language. Prompts tell users exactly what's happening and what to do — no jargon, no ambiguity.
Outcomes
Impact
Measurable improvement