Protecting online identity
Designing a proactive identity protection experience that reduces uncertainty and builds peace of mind
B2C cybersecurity product | B2B2C distribution partnerships | Service design | Proactive guidance design
Context. Consumer cybersecurity products at F-Secure Corporation
Business goal. Expand F-Secure’s security ecosystem by introducing a consumer-facing identity protection product
Scope. Design the end-to-end user experience for a new mobile app helping users monitor breach exposure and manage identity risks
My role. Led product experience design from concept to launch. Defined UX strategy and interaction design, collaborating closely with visual design, content, and engineering teams.
Outcome. Designed and launched F-Secure ID Protection from 0 to 1, a new mobile product that shifted identity protection from reactive alerts to proactive, guided security. Later integrated into F-Secure Total, reaching 30M+ users worldwide.
Problem area
As data breaches became more common, users knew their data could be exposed but lacked clarity about their actual risk or how to respond effectively.
Early interviews showed that despite taking protective measures, users remained unsure whether they were doing enough to stay safe.
The uncertainty did not stem from inaction, but from limited visibility and fragmented feedback. Without a structured overview of their exposure, users found it difficult to assess whether their efforts were sufficient.
Users weren’t lacking motivation to protect themselves; they lacked a clear understanding of their exposure and what actions would meaningfully reduce risk.
Building strategy
Based on the early learnings on the problem area, we held a Design Sprint to align with the stakeholders and clarify the direction for the product’s core experience.
We shaped an experience focused on appealing data breach visualization and actions users can take to eliminate further harm:
To support this, we translated this abstract need into measurable design principles focused on visibility, timing, and guided action. We defined three core goals:
User feedback gathered during the sprint helped us reframe the problem from detecting breaches to helping users understand and manage their exposure over time. Therefore, our primary user goal became:
Active email breach monitoring with visible reassurance
Timely notifications when user data is exposed
Immediate support through a password manager
Users also needed support in reducing risk proactively, shifting the product from alerts to guided prevention.
Rather than positioning ID Protection as a reactive breach checker, we reframed it as a proactive guidance layer within F-Secure’s broader security ecosystem.
Solution
Core Monitoring Experience
Designed an active monitoring dashboard grounded in user insights and benchmarking, surfacing breach exposure with clear severity signals and immediate remediation guidance.
Progressive Guidance Experience
Once the core monitoring experience was established, we expanded the guidance concept to support long-term security habits. Instead of overwhelming users with tasks, we designed a progressive experience that evolved with them, offering timely, structured support rather than a static to-do list.
Prioritized clarity by helping users focus on active risks while reducing cognitive overload from resolved issues.
Through user testing, we validated the progressive guidance concept and its impact on long-term engagement. Users expected actionable, proactive support that helped them feel safer and more in control of their digital identity.
Unified Security Experience
As F-Secure consolidated its offerings into a unified product, ID Protection became part of a broader security experience. Identity monitoring, virus protection, and safe browsing were surfaced cohesively, allowing users to understand their digital safety in one place rather than across fragmented tools.
This integration also evolved the guidance into contextual, non-intrusive support embedded across the experience, ensuring only high-priority risks demanded immediate attention.
Adoption
F-Secure ID Protection launched on iOS and Android across multiple markets.
The standalone app was later consolidated into F-Secure TOTAL, where the identity monitoring experience became a core feature within F-Secure's ecosystem of 30M+ users worldwide.
This extended identity monitoring across F-Secure’s unified security experience and through telecom distribution partnerships.
Shipped
the new F-Secure ID Protection product
Integrated
into F-Secure TOTAL
Scaled
for 30M+ users worldwide