Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Virgin Media (2019-2020)
The Background & The Challenge:
Virgin Media customer accounts were compromised too frequently so the decision was made to add two-factor authentication. The challenge was to make sign-up and use of this as painless as possible for users.
Understanding the problem
I took over from another UX designer who had come up with some initial journeys based on technical and security requirements, as well as industry best practices. My first step was to understand the requirements in detail; there were approximately 300 must-haves!
To do this I worked with the Business Analyst and Product Owner to understand the requirements and identify inconsistencies, gaps and areas needing further clarification. These were then workshopped with relevant stakeholders and the requirements updated.
In addition to this, I audited all of the existing UX work and established which areas had some UX work already done, and which had not been started. Once this was done, I looked at standards across the industry focusing on leading tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and LinkedIn.
Challenge 1
From the review of requirements, it quickly became apparent that the project was much larger than had been expected. There were multiple journeys that crossed multiple platforms, with multiple authentication methods as well as a large number of edge-case scenarios.
I worked closely with the project team to replan the project, dividing it into multiple manageable deliverables. This allowed the dev team to work on some areas while others were being polished by the UI and copy teams while others were still in the UX phase. I also justified additional time for user research based on the greater complexity and size of the project. In addition to this, I introduced naming conventions both for the files and individual artboards.
On reflection, one additional step I should have made at this point was to reduce fidelity and move back from wireframes into user journey documents. This would have saved time in identifying all of the edge case scenarios.
Building out the journeys
As the user journeys and wireframes were built out, I worked with the BA to ensure all of the requirements were met, using the naming convention mentioned earlier to match pages to requirements.
We carried out frequent user testing (over a dozen rounds in total). This was remote and unmoderated due to limitations caused by covid-19. The test plans were written by me and then sense checked by a Lead User Researcher.
Challenge 2
The user research identified a number of usability challenges within the process. Some of which could be easily fixed and retested in the next test cycle, others were much greater issues, that were caused by some of the must-have requirements.
Once the severity of these was identified I worked with the PO and BA to make the case to senior stakeholders with the design and product teams who could help us put pressure on the security team to adjust some requirements based on our findings. This was by and large successful and some very substantial usability issues were mitigated.
Getting it over the line
Throughout the process, we had run show and tells for the relevant parties on the project. Once we were confident with a section of the project from a UX, UI and copy perspective, we would run a final sign off workshop where all of the work was presented in detail and any final questions were ironed out.
Throughout the development process, I had regular check-ins with the various dev teams to ensure the quality of the deliverable and resolve any challenges that occurred in this phase of the project.
While the dev phase was in progress I helped to write dev test scripts and was involved in briefing the test team to ensure the QA phase of the project ran as smoothly as possible.
The numbers
7 Project Deliveries
16 Rounds of User Testing
1000 screens wireframed
40+ walkthroughs
400 requirements met
100+ usability issues resolved