THIS EXPERIENCE CAUSED A SIGNIFICANT DROP-OFF USER RETENTION AND SATISFACTION.

• The current flow had too many steps, confusing states (errors, timeouts), and inconsistency between web/mobile versions.
• Users faced multiple roadblocks: forgotten passwords, MFA delays, or unclear error messaging.
• Business needed reliable login success rates and lower drop-offs at authentication to improve retention.

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MY ROLE:
I acted as the Product/UX Designer for this initiative. I collaborated with product owners, security engineers, and devs to understand constraints and user needs. I led the design of new login/user recovery flows, prototyping, validating with internal users, and creating interface specs for both mobile and web.

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1. Audit & Benchmarking
   
   
   • Reviewed current login screens, error states, and web vs mobile inconsistencies.
     
   • Benchmarked competitor login flows (banks, fintechs) to see best practices in MFA, recovery, and error messaging.
     
     
2. Stakeholder & User Feedback
   
   
   • Interviewed product, security, and support teams to gather pain points (e.g. frequent lockouts, support tickets).
     
   • Conducted internal usability tests with employees simulating real users, focusing on error flows and recovery steps.
     
     
3. Synthesis & Ideation
   
   
   • Mapped out edge cases: wrong password, expired sessions, 2FA issues.
     
   • Designed low-fi wireframes for streamlined login, visible feedback, and clearer error messaging.
     
   • Iterated with security engineers to ensure compliance.
     
     
4. Prototyping & Validation
   
   
   • Built clickable prototypes (mobile + web) and tested with internal users.
     
   • Collected feedback, refined labeling, flow order, error states, and fallback paths (e.g. “forgot password”).
     
   • Finalized designs and documented states, transitions, and components for developers.

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1. Mapped the full current-state user journeys (CJM) for different user types across devices.
2. Facilitated cross-functional ideation sessions (with marketing, product, dev, and QA) to generate and prioritize solutions.
3. Developed three alternative login flows, prototyped them, and validated both through user testing and security reviews.
4. Selected and refined the hybrid solution that balanced usability, security, and technical feasibility.
5. Created a mobile-first design approach while ensuring desktop consistency.
6. Delivered detailed handoff documentation to development teams covering flows, edge cases, and migration scenarios.

The redesigned login experience emphasizes clarity, trust, and streamlined fallback.

• Progressive disclosure: user only sees necessary steps (e.g. skip MFA if device trusted).
  
• Better error & state messaging: clear copy + inline hints.
  
• Consistent states across platforms: unified behavior on web & mobile to reduce confusion.
  
• Safe fallback paths: intuitive recovery flows (email, SMS, security questions).
  
  

Component reuse: login, input, error, and feedback components built into a small auth design module.

• +30% improvement in login success rate (internal tests).
  
• –20% fewer support tickets tied to login / recovery issues.
  
• Positive feedback from internal testers: 85% rated the new flow “easier / more trustworthy."
• The auth module components were reused for future features (onboarding, profile access).

REFLECTIONS: 

This project reminded me that login flows — often considered “boring infrastructure” — are critical user gateways. Small friction, unclear messages, or abrupt errors can break trust and retention. Moving forward, I’d release staged A/B tests for error messaging variants and further collect analytics on drop-off points to fine-tune flow performance.