LifeLock Mobile Onboarding

Create a seamless onboarding experience that bridges the gap between purchase and product usage, driving feature activation and positively impacting retention.

Impact:
3.7 - 4.6% boost in the 1st month post-purchase retention
> 2x Feature activation rate

My Role

Lead Designer

Duration

8 Months

Responsibility

User Research, Product Design, Hi-fi Mockups, Prototypes

Platform

iOS, Android

What does LifeLock do?
LifeLock is the #1 most recognized brand in identity theft protection. We detect and alert you possible threats, making it easy to help protect user against identity theft, financial fraud, and more. If users think their identity may have been stolen, we work to fix it.

With so much of your personal information online, it's dangerously easy for someone to steal your identity.

Did you know?

There's a victim of identity theft in the U.S. every 3 seconds.*

63M

More than 63M Americans have been affected by identity theft.*

$29B

Over $29B were stolen from identity theft victims in 2022.**

*Based on an online survey of 5,004 adults in the U.S. conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Gen™ (formerly NortonLifeLock), January 2023.
**Based on an online survey of 505 U.S. adults who experienced ID theft in 2022, conducted for Gen™ by The Harris Poll, January 2023.

Who are our users?

Group

Adults aged 40 plus, often with families or financial responsibilities.

Behavior

Historically were web-first, but are increasingly turning to mobile.

Motivations

Concerns around fraud, credit and protection.

Core needs

Minimize financial loss, damage to credit, increase confidence and safety.

Problems
LifeLock launched our in-app purchase flow in 2023, we enabled users to buy directly through the app store instead of the traditional web eStore. It accommodates the growing mobile-first behavior and also opens opportunities to attract younger users. However...

High Early Churn Post Purchase

Many users drop off early, saying they don’t see enough value to justify the cost. For high SKU members, first-month retention is 6.5% lower than second-month retention, and for low SKU members, the gap is about 12%.

“I am paying LifeLock a lot, what did I get exactly?"

Low Engagement

Key features are often underutilized. Users often don’t fully grasp the benefits or see setup as too time-consuming, which lowers perceived value and weakens long-term engagement.

“What does it do? It‘s hard to understand how to use it."
Why onboarding?
Because it’s the best opportunity to help new users understand how LifeLock protects them, before doubt or drop-off sets in. It is the first meaningful interaction post-purchase, I can build trust early, and sets the tone for confidence. It's also the best chance to retain new user and improve feature adoption.

Based on that, I summarized the our user goals and business goals.
User Journey
I started to map out the user journey to align with the goals I defined, the general idea here is to visually guiding them through the auto-activated features to give an immediate sense of progress, and leverage existing data to minimize any re-entry effort during activation.
‍
I've divided the onboarding journey into a few stages, beginning from purchase to auto activate, ID verification, which is a process they need to do for credit monitoring, following the initial steps, the activation journey will adapt based on the user’s SKU:
  • For higher-tier SKUs, we’ll encourage users to activate key features like credit lock, utilizing accounts info extracted from their credit report to prompt them to setup financial transaction monitoring. Once completed, we celebrate their successful setup to welcome them.
  • For lower-tier SKUs, we’ll initiate a dark web monitoring scan using the data provided, reinforcing the value by highlighting any historical breach happened before. 

Click image to enlarge and view in detail

Design iterations

1.0

Purchase

User Goals - Understand plan benefits

The effort begins even before onboarding. Medallia survey feedback revealed that users find the current purchase experience difficult for effectively comparing plans. This design was created prior to my transition to the Identity team.

Current Problems

PREVIOUS OVERALL FLOW

PLAN SELECTION SCREEN EXAMPLE

PAIN POINTS

  • Users must scroll to the bottom to view the price;
  • Switching between monthly and annual billing requires an additional tap;
  • Hard for user to compare features because they can’t easily see what each option includes;

Iterations

I conducted user testing on this version and gathered valuable insights to guide further iterations.

TESTED DESIGN

TESTING LEARNINGS

User appreciated the new layout for displaying annual and monthly prices together;

User liked the side-by-side comparison view and found it easy to understand the three purchase plans.

However, not all the tested user noticed the entry;

Some users didn’t realize they need to tap to expand each feature;

Some user are unsure if green dots mean available and red dots mean unavailable;

Revised Solution

I applied the insights from the research to develop the following design. These screens are currently being implemented within our In-Product Messaging framework, enabling easy A/B testing for future content adjustments.

REVISED DESIGN

DESIGN RATIONALE

Add a "Compare" button to open a contextual bottom sheet, allowing users to easily view a side-by-side comparison of the three plans;

User found the revised green check marks and red “x” are easier to understand;

Participants understand they can expand each feature to learn more;

PURCHASE FLOW DEMO

2.0

Auto-activation

User Goals -  Quickly see the product value

Current Problems

No Post-purchase Guidance

After purchase, users are currently dropped directly into the dashboard.

Without clear guidance, many users remain unaware of key protections and daily updates unless they discover them on their own.

Low Feature Activation

Financial Transaction' activation rate is only 13%, impacts members' protection and monitoring capabilities.
‍
Activation processes can be tedious and time-consuming, affecting member satisfaction and NPS.

Revised Solution

I worked with the PM to identify three core features—Insurance, Restoration, and Dark Web Monitoring—that are included across all of our SKUs. My goal was to auto-activate as many of these features as possible and visually communicate the activation process so users feel protected and empowered right away. I collaborated closely with our illustrator to brainstorm ideas, ultimately deciding to use consistent characters throughout the onboarding journey to create a cohesive and engaging experience.

User testing participants found this made them feel good that the app was protecting them immediately.

AUTO-ACTIVATION FLOW DEMO

Action Optional

There are also a couple of optional actions user need to take. I redesigned these screens and gave it more fresh and consistent look, clearly indicated the value and impact about why user can get a better protection from it. User testing participants liked how LifeLock showed them the benefits of turning on notifications and Face ID/Biometric Setup.  

BEFORE

AFTER

3.0

ID Verification

User Goals - Understand how their personal info will be utilized

After auto-activation, we need user to provide some personal information to verify their identity. Even for a trusted product like LifeLock, users expect transparency about how their information will be used. More importantly, they want clear communication about the benefits they will gain by providing it.

User testing participants appreciated the added blue widgets, as they clearly explained how LifeLock would use their information and reassured them it would not impact their credit score. They did not have any issue providing authorization afterwards.

NAME

ADDRESS

SSN

FCRA

VERIFICATION FLOW

CELEBRATE SUCCESS

4.0

Manual Activation

User Goals - Minimize effort required

After use pass the ID verification process, the activation journey will adapt based on the user’s SKU.

High Sku Flow

For higher-tier SKUs, we’ll encourage users to activate key features like credit lock, utilizing accounts information extracted from their credit report to prompt them to setup financial transaction monitoring.

Credit Screen Iteration

Since we automatically pull credit information when users first join LifeLock, I present their credit score immediately to highlight our value and encourage them to enable the credit lock feature. However, feedback from user testing was not as positive as anticipated. Below is an overview of my iteration process, detailing how I addressed the insights gathered from user testing.

TESTING LEARNINGS

Participants were confused when their credit score and locks were shown simultaneously;

User doesn’t understand what is payday loan lock and would like to know more about its benefits. 

Some users were wondering why it’s only TransUnion not all 3 bureaus;

Not all the tested users noticed the reminder regarding unlock;

TESTED VERSION

REVISED DESIGN

DESIGN RATIONALE

Added a transitional message to inform users that their score was located first;

Reduced the number of locks displayed, emphasizing credit locks to increase feature awareness during onboarding;

Moved the reminder message up to clarify scenarios requiring unlock;

Explained the other two bureaus within tooltip-triggered bottom sheets for additional context and understanding;

Transaction Monitoring Activation Design

After users activate the lock feature, I explain that we found their accounts from their credit report and encourage them to add accounts for monitoring financial activities. This approach minimizes the need for additional manual input.

PROPOSED DESIGN

DESIGN RATIONALE

  • Minimized the need for additional manual input;
  • User understood that these accounts were found via their credit report;

Low Sku Flow

For all of our new users, we currently send historical dark web monitoring alerts after user purchase to indicate any historical breaches, but except alerts, we haven’t visually communicated this process to users. For those users who has lower sku, they don’t have credit locks and transaction monitoring, I believe onboarding is a great opportunity to introduce Dark Web Monitoring feature, reinforcing our value from the start.

  • Visually highlight our Dark Web Monitoring scan results directly, so users immediately see their historical exposure details after the scan;
  • Reinforces our value and helps users understand the immediate impact of their protection;

WITH RESULTS

NO RESULTS

5.0

Welcome

User Goals - Feel reassured

I collaborated closely with the illustrator to ensure the user journey was thoughtfully carried through. We designed a celebratory moment at the end of onboarding to mark users' successful setup and warmly welcome them to the LifeLock family.

WELCOME SCREEN

HIGH SKU E2E EXPERIENCE DEMO

edge cases
Except the happy flow, several edge case scenarios also need careful planning:
  • If a user fails ID verification, we initiate the Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) process.
  • If they fail three times, we offer a plan without credit monitoring.
  • If no exposures are found within the common categories defined with the PM, we display an alternate results screen.
  • If there is delay in fetching user’s credit data, user will be taken to the dashboard first, then reengage when the data is ready. 

SCENARIO 1

SCENARIO 2

SCENARIO 3

SCENARIO 4

celebrate success
We launched this onboarding experience on June 27th, 2024, and have been actively monitoring its performance since then. In the first three months post-launch, we are seeing strong success with our new onboarding flow.

Credit Lock
Activation Rate

45.4%
Successfully turned on

Among the user who turned on locks, only 5% user decided to unlock during onboarding. 

Transaction Monitoring
Activation Rate

29.7%
More than doubled from 13%

71.6% of users entered the flow, and 29.7% of them connected at least one financial account.

1st Month Post Purchase
Retention Rate

3.7% -4.6%
Increase

Increase from 73.1% to 76.8% for high sku members, increase from 72.8% to 77.4% for low sku members.
Continue the Success
The post launch data shows that users who have gone through this flow are engaging, and performing the tasks that we want them to engage with. As part of the expansion plan, we now opened credit experience to eligible dormant user to encourage re-engagement. 

Building on the onboarding work, I redesigned the mobile dashboard, launched in May, 2025, to better support ongoing feature discovery and activation. As the most visited touchpoint, each feature entry was transformed from a static tile into a dynamic module—clearly reflecting different status, from zero state to active monitoring, reinforcing value at a glance and driving deeper engagement across the app.

BEFORE

AFTER

LifeLock Credit Insights
LifeLock Alert Feature RevampNorton OEM Conversionabout meResume