FIDO Alliance releases guidelines for optimising UX with FIDO Security Keys
The FIDO Alliance has released new user experience (UX) guidelines to help accelerate deployment and adoption of multi-factor authentication (MFA) with FIDO security keys.
FIDO security keys small, portable high-security devices that connect to a phone or computer via USB, Bluetooth or NFC are considered by many to be the gold standard for multi-factor authentication. Simply touching this device during sign-in protects accounts from a targeted attack 100% of the time. Many services, including Twitter and Facebook, now offer the option to enable FIDO security keys for mobile and desktop access.
The aim of the FIDO Security Key UX Guidelines is to help online service providers design a better, more consistent user experience for the consumer security key audience and ultimately maximise adoption. The document provides UX guidelines for all major steps of a consumers journey with FIDO security keys: awareness; consideration; enrolment; management; and authentication.
"Having reached widespread support for FIDO Authentication across the web, the FIDO Alliance is increasingly focused on ways to grow and ultimately reach mass adoption," says Andrew Shikiar, executive director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance.
"One of our primary areas of focus towards this objective is making FIDO more usable and accessible," he says.
"We have established a FIDO UX Task Force consisting of UX experts from around the globe to conduct research and provide guidance on how to optimise user journeys as users enrol in, and subsequently sign in, with FIDO in various use cases," Shikiar says.
"Today's guidelines follow our first set of UX guidelines focused on the desktop authenticator user experience, with more to follow," he says.
"I strongly encourage service providers to leverage these best practices when rolling out FIDO Authentication."
The guidelines were created by the FIDO Alliance UX Task Force in partnership with usability research firm Blink UX. They conducted formal research of FIDO user journeys and actively engaged with FIDO Alliance stakeholders to establish these FIDO security key UX best practices.
The guidelines were developed following multiple sessions of moderated and unmoderated consumer research conducted by Blink UX, in collaboration with FIDO UX Task Force members.
The FIDO Alliance is an open industry association was formed in July 2012 whose stated mission is to develop and promote authentication standards that "help reduce the world's over-reliance on passwords.
The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance aims to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies, and remedy the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. By harnessing the collective expertise of hundreds of leading technology, consumer services and government organisations, the FIDO Alliance is enabling simpler and stronger online experiences and more secure online identities and devices.
The FIDO Alliance creates and publishes specifications, executes rigorous certification programs and educates consumers in order to build confidence and trust in FIDO Certified products and services.
