Recently, I was on the receiving end of an unwelcome email from my water supplier, saying they’d been hacked and a lot of customer data had been stolen.
They went on to say that this data tended to be bought for identity theft and used, amongst other things to successfully bypass background credit checks for large purchases.
Certainly, it wasn’t the sort of news I wanted, stoking a little fear and uncertainty in me. But what could I, as a customer do, to protect myself as a result?
Well, what was also interesting was that, in the email, the water company highlighted that, due to the breach, they’d arranged for all customers to have free access to Experian’s CreditLock product, including a link and a coupon code in the email.
At first, given the content of the email, I was a little unsure whether this was a phishing attempt, but it turned out to be authentic.
What is CreditLock?
Experian are in the business of performing credit checks for consumers, and allowing them to monitor a history of these checks along with a credit score based on their personal financial activity.
CreditLock is in some senses quite a simple product, allowing you to turn on and off whether credit checks can be done on your account.
But this simplicity was a key part of why it worked so well, behaviourally.
So what's going on, behaviourally?
The trigger and emotional context that led me here were the warning email, along with the fear, uncertainty and realisation that I no longer in control of my data.
From a behavioural perspective, CreditLock understands this, providing me with a simple way to feel a sense of autonomy and certainty once again. And the concept of salience - surfacing information that affects our decisions - runs right through the experience.
Here, we can see that the main interaction is a massive toggle with a padlock in it. One simple click turns the toggle green and locks the padlock.
I’m then told that my Experian Credit Report is locked, along with a popup congratulating me for “being better protected from identity fraud”.
Further forms of salience came through in an email reaffirming the CreditLock being on. Interestingly, I also got a similar email every time I turned it on or off.
This combination of salience and certainty immediately made me feel more calm, and in honest, nicely satisfied.
And this feeling can go beyond the present moment, where we can provide further value by reminding people of their past actions.
In Experian's case, 3 weeks after I turned the lock on, I got a reminder email reassuring me that I was still locked.
This simple follow-up email deepened my sense of safety given the hack.
Small actions, big effect...
On a behavioural level, it felt good to be able to take action to reclaim my sense of control of an uncertain and stressful event. However, that my actions did nothing whatsoever to undo the data hack didn’t seem to have much affect on my mood.
It’s worth pointing out that the water company outsourced my actions to an external authority. It was wise to do so. The process worked, not despite how simple it was, but because of how salient Experian made it to feel safe once again.
In the digital age, the concept of a data leak and the uncertainty that surrounds it is hard to conceptualise psychologically, because of its scale and ambiguous impact.
The rise of digital 'control experiences'
However, this means that there’s even more value in designing experiences that provide a relatable and satisfying sense of control and closure. Locks, switches, large feedback loops all help us to feel safe once again.
We’ll see a growth of these ‘control experiences’ in the coming years as, inevitably our growing number of online identities are threatened and we’re forced to take action.
In times of uncertainty, even a little control goes a long way to making us feel safe once more.
Safety
Avoiding Danger
If you can see it, you can feel it
How Experian uses salience to create a sense of safety during a time of panic with its CreditLock feature
Recently, I was on the receiving end of an unwelcome email from my water supplier, saying they’d been hacked and a lot of customer data had been stolen.
They went on to say that this data tended to be bought for identity theft and used, amongst other things to successfully bypass background credit checks for large purchases.
Certainly, it wasn’t the sort of news I wanted, stoking a little fear and uncertainty in me. But what could I, as a customer do, to protect myself as a result?
Well, what was also interesting was that, in the email, the water company highlighted that, due to the breach, they’d arranged for all customers to have free access to Experian’s CreditLock product, including a link and a coupon code in the email.
At first, given the content of the email, I was a little unsure whether this was a phishing attempt, but it turned out to be authentic.
What is CreditLock?
Experian are in the business of performing credit checks for consumers, and allowing them to monitor a history of these checks along with a credit score based on their personal financial activity.
CreditLock is in some senses quite a simple product, allowing you to turn on and off whether credit checks can be done on your account.
But this simplicity was a key part of why it worked so well, behaviourally.
So what's going on, behaviourally?
The trigger and emotional context that led me here were the warning email, along with the fear, uncertainty and realisation that I no longer in control of my data.
From a behavioural perspective, CreditLock understands this, providing me with a simple way to feel a sense of autonomy and certainty once again. And the concept of salience - surfacing information that affects our decisions - runs right through the experience.
Here, we can see that the main interaction is a massive toggle with a padlock in it. One simple click turns the toggle green and locks the padlock.
I’m then told that my Experian Credit Report is locked, along with a popup congratulating me for “being better protected from identity fraud”.
Further forms of salience came through in an email reaffirming the CreditLock being on. Interestingly, I also got a similar email every time I turned it on or off.
This combination of salience and certainty immediately made me feel more calm, and in honest, nicely satisfied.
And this feeling can go beyond the present moment, where we can provide further value by reminding people of their past actions.
In Experian's case, 3 weeks after I turned the lock on, I got a reminder email reassuring me that I was still locked.
This simple follow-up email deepened my sense of safety given the hack.
Small actions, big effect...
On a behavioural level, it felt good to be able to take action to reclaim my sense of control of an uncertain and stressful event. However, that my actions did nothing whatsoever to undo the data hack didn’t seem to have much affect on my mood.
It’s worth pointing out that the water company outsourced my actions to an external authority. It was wise to do so. The process worked, not despite how simple it was, but because of how salient Experian made it to feel safe once again.
In the digital age, the concept of a data leak and the uncertainty that surrounds it is hard to conceptualise psychologically, because of its scale and ambiguous impact.
The rise of digital 'control experiences'
However, this means that there’s even more value in designing experiences that provide a relatable and satisfying sense of control and closure. Locks, switches, large feedback loops all help us to feel safe once again.
We’ll see a growth of these ‘control experiences’ in the coming years as, inevitably our growing number of online identities are threatened and we’re forced to take action.
In times of uncertainty, even a little control goes a long way to making us feel safe once more.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows y
ou to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
How to customize formatting for each rich text
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
Safety
Avoiding Danger
If you can see it, you can feel it
How Experian uses salience to create a sense of safety during a time of panic with its CreditLock feature
Recently, I was on the receiving end of an unwelcome email from my water supplier, saying they’d been hacked and a lot of customer data had been stolen.
They went on to say that this data tended to be bought for identity theft and used, amongst other things to successfully bypass background credit checks for large purchases.
Certainly, it wasn’t the sort of news I wanted, stoking a little fear and uncertainty in me. But what could I, as a customer do, to protect myself as a result?
Well, what was also interesting was that, in the email, the water company highlighted that, due to the breach, they’d arranged for all customers to have free access to Experian’s CreditLock product, including a link and a coupon code in the email.
At first, given the content of the email, I was a little unsure whether this was a phishing attempt, but it turned out to be authentic.
What is CreditLock?
Experian are in the business of performing credit checks for consumers, and allowing them to monitor a history of these checks along with a credit score based on their personal financial activity.
CreditLock is in some senses quite a simple product, allowing you to turn on and off whether credit checks can be done on your account.
But this simplicity was a key part of why it worked so well, behaviourally.
So what's going on, behaviourally?
The trigger and emotional context that led me here were the warning email, along with the fear, uncertainty and realisation that I no longer in control of my data.
From a behavioural perspective, CreditLock understands this, providing me with a simple way to feel a sense of autonomy and certainty once again. And the concept of salience - surfacing information that affects our decisions - runs right through the experience.
Here, we can see that the main interaction is a massive toggle with a padlock in it. One simple click turns the toggle green and locks the padlock.
I’m then told that my Experian Credit Report is locked, along with a popup congratulating me for “being better protected from identity fraud”.
Further forms of salience came through in an email reaffirming the CreditLock being on. Interestingly, I also got a similar email every time I turned it on or off.
This combination of salience and certainty immediately made me feel more calm, and in honest, nicely satisfied.
And this feeling can go beyond the present moment, where we can provide further value by reminding people of their past actions.
In Experian's case, 3 weeks after I turned the lock on, I got a reminder email reassuring me that I was still locked.
This simple follow-up email deepened my sense of safety given the hack.
Small actions, big effect...
On a behavioural level, it felt good to be able to take action to reclaim my sense of control of an uncertain and stressful event. However, that my actions did nothing whatsoever to undo the data hack didn’t seem to have much affect on my mood.
It’s worth pointing out that the water company outsourced my actions to an external authority. It was wise to do so. The process worked, not despite how simple it was, but because of how salient Experian made it to feel safe once again.
In the digital age, the concept of a data leak and the uncertainty that surrounds it is hard to conceptualise psychologically, because of its scale and ambiguous impact.
The rise of digital 'control experiences'
However, this means that there’s even more value in designing experiences that provide a relatable and satisfying sense of control and closure. Locks, switches, large feedback loops all help us to feel safe once again.
We’ll see a growth of these ‘control experiences’ in the coming years as, inevitably our growing number of online identities are threatened and we’re forced to take action.
In times of uncertainty, even a little control goes a long way to making us feel safe once more.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows y
ou to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
How to customize formatting for each rich text
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
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