Credential Recovery Flow

Crafting user-friendly error states for a critical access recovery flow

I developed targeted, solution-oriented error states to help more users recover their user ID or reset password in Online Banking and the app.

Problem

When users forgot their user ID or password in Online Banking or the Mobile app, the completion rate for the current flow was less than half. Plus, clients who needed to recover their user ID were required to call to recover it from the care center.

Our team helped redesign the credential recovery process so more clients could self-service.

Process

To craft informed recommendations and develop the flow, our team:

Met regularly with product teams, a business system analyst, and development teams to present wireframes and refine designs
Partnered with development to understand technical constraints and security requirements
Received regular feedback in accessibility checkpoints
Workshopped as a design team to solidify unified solutions

Considerations & Constraints

New Complex Architecture

Redesigned versions of the architecture contained many different scenarios
Accounted for different security checkpoints in an effort to allow the user to continue to self-service and catch bad actors

New Errors

Current errors were verbose and met a different set of required information

Self-Service Functionality

New flow allows user to recover their user ID through self-service methods
Instead of having to call the care center to verify their identity

Content Contributions

Providing Clear Instructions

To create a secure, more autonomous credential recovery flow, the user journey was far from a one-size-fits-all approach.

The architecture was thoughtfully constructed with security checkpoints and considerations. Understanding it was the key to crafting content that helped users navigate. No matter where in the journey.

I led an initiative to illustrate the scenarios and failure points. These user flows provided the context I needed to understand the level of empathy and explanation I should include in instructional content.

Designed Clear Errors

I refined and honed over 30 errors to align with evolving security standards and account for authentication validations.

Plus, I honed existing errors to the latest design system and content standards. I focused on streamlining the content to make it more solution-oriented and lowering reading levels to reduce cognitive load.

Before

After

Results

Increased completion rate by 35%
Reduced average completion time by 75%
Decreased care center volume to recover user IDs

I adapted the UI and wording for privacy purposes, while maintaining the core messaging strategy.