The identity theft protection market has become more competitive over recent years. To keep up with the latest cyber threats and design trend, we decided to run a design sprint to overhaul the experience on LifeLock.com—start with homepage.
Product Design Lead
LifeLock is an identity theft protection service that protects customers' identities by monitoring their credit, bank accounts, Social Security Numbers, and other personal information and alerts them of any suspicious activity. LifeLock also helps restore customers' identities if they become victims of identity theft.
As the product design lead of LifeLock agile squad, I worked with our UX research team and conducted a simple UX analysis on current LifeLock homepage combined with user interviews prior to design sprint. Here's what we learned:
❌ Page performance
Instead of giving users room to explore, we put everything on homepage. This compromises site speed performance and SEO. The lengthy legal disclaimers increase friction when users make purchase decisions.
❌ Outdated design
The design has not been updated for 2+ years. A few users pointed out that compared to other competitors, LifeLock homepage looks outdated. That makes them wonder if the tech of LifeLock product is able to protect their identities.
❌ Hero module
Homepage is only the introduction of who we are and what we provide. Having all purchase guarantees on the hero module shows desperation and gives the impression of low confidence.
❌ Reimbursement
4 our of 6 participants expressed Million Dollar Protection is a nice-to-have. It is however not as crucial and relatable.
"It doesn't really relate to me because I don't have 3 million dollars."—User A
❌ Product dashboard
The product dashboard is also a nice-to-have but doesn't affect users' purchase decisions. We can potentially present it in a simple graphic to decrease page length.
❌ Comparison chart
The comparison chart is long with lengthy legal disclaimers. Users expressed that they had difficulties comparing features of each product side by side.
✔️ Statistics
Users are intrigued with and alerted by the statistics. 5 out of 6 participants were surprised how often identity theft happens.
✔️ How it works
It is crucial to explain the benefits of LifeLock service and how the product works. Users appreciate the content but think using user-friendly language would help them understand the features more clearly.
✔️ Awards & reviews
Awards and positive reviews increase credibility. However, users also find negative reviews helpful.
"I would purposely search and read negative reviews because I want to make sure I'm making the right decision."—User B
In addition to UX analysis and user interviews, we also conducted a brief, mobile only competitor research. We found the top 6 competitors in identity theft protection market, and compared them with LifeLock. Here's what they're doing better:
✔️ Page performance
In average, the page lengths are significantly shorter. Our competitors only present essential information on homepage and give users room to explore. The legal disclaimers are condensed which helps reduce page length and friction.
✔️ Trendy design
The designs are modern and trendy. There are more engaging interactions and visual interests that serve purposes and grab users' attention.
✔️ User-friendly language
The product features and how they work are easier for users to comprehend. No jargon.
✔️ Simple plans
The product plans are simpler. Users are less likely to face decision paralysis when making purchase decisions.
"The big idea with the Design Sprint is to build and test a prototype in just five days. You'll take a small team, clear the schedule for a week, and rapidly progress from problem to tested solution using a proven step-by-step checklist." We went through an action-packed five-day design sprint solving a complex problem into a simple solution.
At day one of the design sprint, we identified our target audience, personas, where they came from and how they heard about LifeLock. These are all valuable information when it comes to design direction. With enough context, we can bridge a frictionless purchase flow when they land on LifeLock homepage.
We also drilled down to the messaging of LifeLock products and figured out what is important to our customers when it comes to their identities and identity theft protection product needs.
Outcomes reiterate the “end state” customers strive for and what we should be solving for. We use this lens to intentionally design the best experience for our customers. “Peace of mind” is the ultimate end state.
On the second and third day of the design sprint, each of us brought inspiration, samples, and ideas to the table. As a team, we consolidated the samples and voted for the most suitable design inspirations that could potentially elevate the site experience. Based on those examples, we then brainstormed and constructed story boards and wireframes.
The goal is to implement a mobile-first content design approach on the homepage and minimize content noise. We anticipate a significant improvement in the clarity and accessibility of LifeLock's identity theft protection service value proposition. By guiding users through a streamlined content flow to captivate their interest, we expect to enhance their understanding, trust, and curiosity towards the service.
On the fourth day of the design sprint, we started rapid prototyping based on the wireframes and all the data we've collected. We want to investigate if implementing a mobile-first content design approach on the homepage and creating a streamlined content flow can improve the clarity, accessibility, and user engagement with LifeLock's Identity theft protection service.
On last day of the design sprint, we conducted moderated user testing with six users via zoom.
Here are our key findings:
Content is an upside down triangle; the importance of good funnel flow in the content.
As product design lead, I created LifeLock design system in Figma to streamline the design and dev process. The system thinking for scale is essential when building a frictionless product. It was meticulous work but definitely helps create development efficiency, UI consistency, and future scalability. Below is a few samples of the LifeLock design system.
Throughout the week, the team identified further opportunities that fell outside the learning objectives for the design sprint. We’ve listed some of the topics and challenges that could be investigated with further research.
The design sprint was a huge success. Based on user testing feedback, we made another round of iteration post design sprint. We were able to lift mobile conversion rate by 62% (from 2.7% to 4.3%), which far exceeded our original goal. We also reduced 42% of page length by providing essential quality content, and optimized our site speed by 15%. It was a valuable experience to work cross-functionally with so many talents. 10 out of 10 would do it again!
