My Role: Sole UX/UI Designer
Services: UX, UI, IxD, User Research, Data Analytics
Platform: Native Mobile Application (iOS / Android)
Employer: PXL Vision AG
Timeline: 6 months, Okt - March 2019
30-second identification process – through radical clarity
The DAEGO app enables identity verification in under 30 seconds. Through targeted reduction of complexity, context-based user guidance, and real-time feedback, we increased task completion by 23% and reduced error abandonment by 56%. Fewer steps. More clarity. Measurable impact.
Core shift: From assumptions to truth – through user-centered design.
3 Min. Read
How we solved problems
Three challenges, three breakthroughs
Simple isn't always easy – and that's the problem.
We thought the task was simple. Users behaved differently. Tests showed that motor skills, cognitive understanding, and mental models were all challenged. So we went deeper. Studied how people approached the task. Then we brought the control system to where it is needed – manageable, context-based, targeted, without detours. No video tutorials nobody watches.
Instead, guidance in the moment. The result: +23% successful task completions. -56% error abandonment. Clarity beats complexity. Always.
Complexity isn't the problem. The wrong complexity is.
Users were overwhelmed. Not because the task was hard – but because we demanded too much of them. We applied Tesler's Law and asked: What must humans really do? And what can the system handle? The answer was clear: We dropped the ballast. Eliminated redundant information. Shifted problematic decisions from the user to the system.
Resulting in 36% faster task completion. Not through more features. Through less friction.
Errors happen. The question is: How do users get out?
Diverse error sources. Human, system, network. Unpredictable. We observed, analyzed, and recognized patterns. Then we built in real-time computer vision feedback – immediate, clear, solution-oriented. No cryptic error messages. No dead ends.
Instead, clear exits. Because the best error is one you can escape without drama.
What else are we working on
- Cluttered and misleading navigation of the App
- Development and interactions to scan security features like Hologram and Lenticulars
- Integration of NFC reader, including native OS restrictions and user guidance
- Development of the cross-application PXL design system (PXL website, Daego app and PWA, manual checker & annotation tool, and the Saas platform)
Final Designs
One System without questions
Before DEAGO Version 1.0
After DEAGO Version 2.4
Navigation
It provides easy navigation to review, edit, and create new identities and documents and provides accessibility to app settings and information.
Identification processes
At its core, the app performs multiple security checks on the selfie and the document to verify the user's identity. These checks integrate seamlessly into the identity verification flow.
Selfie verification
Document verification
Instant Computer Vision feedback and error handling
Instant computer vision feedback and contextual error feedback
Key Learnings
What this project taught me
Building design maturity from the ground up
Being the sole designer meant fighting for every design decision without the support of a process. Stakeholder education hurts more than pixel-pushing. What helped: proving value through quick wins, then scaling lightweight methods into lasting foundations.
Leading strategic change across systems
The pain wasn't technical – it was organizational resistance to change. Moving from native to PWA meant convincing skeptics while keeping users at the center. What worked: showing value early, iterating based on feedback.
Orchestrating cross-functional collaboration at scale
Timezone chaos, conflicting priorities, and tech-heavy stakeholders made alignment brutal. What saved me was over-documenting decisions, creating shared vocabulary, and turning async constraints into advantages through proactive communication on Slack and video walkthrough as rituals.
What still matters
Designing for errors is designing for humans
Our assumptions as designers are often far from users' reality.
Thank you for reading
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