The transition from a digital smart card to a digital wallet is significant. What prompted this shift in focus, and what benefits does it offer to users? The shift from smart cards to digital wallets marks a powerful milestone for Digidentity and digital identity management. Marco, Head of Product Management, underlines the dedication to crafting a solution that meets the user’s needs, ‘’The shift from digital smart cards to digital wallets is the consequence of a natural evolution in technology, aligning with a long-term vision. The transition reflects a move from a two-factor authentication method, mainly utilised for approving remote logins, to a versatile tool for interacting with local devices. This transformation is propelled by the widespread use of mobile phones. These devices have become extensions of ourselves, carrying our data everywhere, ensuring it is accessible only to us. Digital wallets integrate seamlessly into this mobile-centric lifestyle, enhancing convenience and security.’’
Lex Postma, our Head Product Designer, continues, ‘’We know most users don't know what a smart card is, and they shouldn’t need to know. By moving these to the background, we can simply ask for a PIN code, and you are logged in to your digital wallet. This is a more common pattern that you also see in your banking app, where you enter your PIN to get in.’’ The transition might merely be a change in technology, but it is a profound shift in how users interact with their digital identities.
Can you share some insights into the initial goals and ideas behind the creation of the Digidentity Wallet? Lex sheds light on what has brought this shift in focus, ‘’For me the goal was a simplified user experience while giving the app more meaning. Previously it only showed static smart card and you only interacted with push notifications to the app. Now we have really made the app more standalone, making the wallet with cards front and centre. We noticed many people would download the app, use it once and then delete it. It had no value to them. But you don’t do that with your banking app, right? With this release, we want to give the Digidentity app more value.’’ The transition from smart card to digital wallet is a transition steeped in enhancing customer experience and delivering more value.
"I’m proud of how we have pushed our tech-heavy app in a more user centric direction, going beyond simple lists of data to a really fluent stack of cards.’’ - Lex
Could you walk us through the thought process and challenges encountered during the rebranding and redesign process? ‘’There are two significant drivers that have guided this process: regulations and user feedback.’’, Marco explains. ‘’Regulations have set the foundation for the wallet's security and compliance features. However, over time, user suggestions, opinions, and concerns have been carefully listened to and integrated into the wallet's design and functionalities. This iterative approach has resulted in a more intuitive and efficient user interface, addressing users' specific needs and pain points’’.
‘’At the beginning, many people did not understand what a wallet was. We were pioneers in this field, our solution was complex and therefore we needed to deal with the challenge to help users understand. To overcome these challenges, we focused on simple explanations, helping users at every step, making our system super secure, and mixing new ideas with things people already knew. This way, we managed to give our brand a fresh look and make things easy for users, even though the path was a bit complicated.’’, Marco elaborates even further.
Can you share any specific instances where user feedback directly led to changes in the wallet’s design or functionality? Monica, our Product Owner, emphasizes the importance of user feedback, ‘’Our designer conducted several UX testing focus groups with end users and their feedback was influencing the evolution of the Digidentity Wallet. For example, there were occasions when some users could not find a way out to be able to move from one account to another. This is how the “switch” icon became part of the new interface, so that, intuitively the end user will tap on that icon to switch from one account to another.’’
