04 · Process
We tested trust before we picked a mechanism.
To validate trust in the new flow, I designed a comparative qualitative study. Asking someone whether they trust a digital checkbox isn't enough — they had to live it against their own previous experience. So the sample was customers who already held a loan, but had signed for it on paper. That gave us a direct physical-vs-digital comparison with the same person as the reference point for both worlds.
The session was structured as a journey, not a survey: the person's full path from being asked for authorization to receiving the answer. And it ran on real navigation through the prototype — the user had to find and read the push notification and capture the verification code as they would in real life. The process wasn't described to them; they navigated it.
Type of research
Moderated comparative journey, qualitative, run on a navigable prototype — including the simulated push notification and a working code-capture field.
Figma prototypeSample
Customers who had already taken out a loan, signed on paper.
They were the only ones who could give us the real contrast between “before” and “after”.
Authorization request
Push notification received
Opening the message
Capturing the code
Confirmation
I decided the comparison had to be physical-vs-digital with the same user profile, rather than testing the new flow in isolation — so the finding wasn't “did they like it?” but “is it better than what they already knew?”
I also decided the prototype had to include the simulated push and the working code capture, because an authentication flow isn't understood from static screens — it needed the full navigation narrated, including the moment outside the app.
What the research told us.
Users already understood the purpose, recognized the change as an improvement over signing on paper, and tied it to previous trust experiences with other banking products.
I know this is asked so they can validate my identity with the bureau.
— User with a previous loanBefore, they handed me this to sign. Now just checking a box is way faster.
— User with a previous loanI recognize it because credit cards ask me for the same thing.
— User with a previous loanThen came the channel decision.
The first hypothesis was email, because it was the cheapest. But not everyone keeps an active inbox — it broke the promise of immediacy.
Cheapest option, but not every user has an active account. It broke the promise of an immediate answer.
SMS
Could take up to 5 minutes to arrive, pushing people to request resends and creating a loop on the server.
Higher cost per message, but consistent delivery — and a place people already check every day.