Simplifying User Experience Through SAWO
Tags: ux, security, authentication, sawo
Published: 2021-05-06 12:44:25

Hi  
I'm Siddharth from [SAWO Labs](https://sawolabs.com/)

- Authenticating users before they access your product is critical and a good authentication mechanism can reduce the chances of fraud. At the same time, it mustn't be a complicated and frustrating experience for your users, as such an experience is sure to take them away from your product. In todays competitive world, that's definitely something you can't afford!

- So, you need to authenticate users through a simplified user experience. Is that even possible, given the many cyberattacks and data thefts happening around us? Lets explore.

<b>Eliminate Passwords</b>

- The first step to simplifying user experience is to eliminate passwords because lets face it, passwords are truly a pain!

- First off, your users have to come up with complex passwords that in most cases are hard to remember.

- Do you know that 21% of users forget passwords after two weeks and another 25% forget at least one password a day?

- Well, when they forget, you lose, because the money that they intended to spend on your service is not spent and you lose that revenue! It also increases vulnerabilities as people tend to recycle passwords, and you'll eventually have to pay the consequences of a cyberattack and the resultant data loss.

- Due to these reasons, it makes sense to eliminate passwords completely.

- But then, what's the alternative? How do you authenticate users?

<b>Knowledge-based Authentication</b>

- One option that was considered was the knowledge-based authentication where a secret question was asked at the time of sign-up. During future sign-ins, this question was posed and the right answer would authenticate you.

- Though this seemed like the perfect reality, unfortunately, it was not the best option because all the answers to these secret questions were available somewhere on the Internet. Typically, think of social media or the dark web.

- This meant that cybercriminals could easily find the answers to questions like What's your maiden name, Name of your pet, Your elementary, and so on. If you decided to give a whacky answer to those questions, you may forget it, just like the passwords!

- So, this knowledge-based authentication was also ruled out as a secure means for authentication.

<b>Try Multi-factor Authentication</b>

- Multi-Factor Authentication, or MFA in short, is often seen as an alternative to passwords. In this process, when a person enters the username, a one-time-password with a time limit for expiry is sent to the associated mobile number or email ID and the user has to enter the password to be able to log in.

- While this may seem like a great alternative, in reality, it is just a complicated process that can lead to a bad user experience. Further, the vulnerability is high given that the device can be stolen or the messages sent via SMS can be intercepted.

- So, this is not the most perfect alternative for passwords. Does this mean you're stuck between just these three options where all of it can frustrate users with their complicated user experience?

- Not at all.

- Welcome to the world of passwordless authentication.

<b>Passwordless Authentication</b>

- The rapid strides made over the last few years in biometrics has made passwordless authentication a reality. Imagine how convenient it would be when a system automatically detects that it's you with your fingerprint or retina! No more passwords, no devices, no remembering anything.

- Yes, that's the future. More companies are turning to biometrics for authentication because it simplifies user experience profoundly. Again, many options have opened up with biometric authentication, so choose the one that best fits your needs.

<b>SAWO</b>

- [SAWO Labs](https://sawolabs.com/), a startup company has been simplifying user experience when it comes to authentication.

- With this service, all that you have to do is enter the email ID or phone number associated with that website or application. No passwords or OTPs are required at all.

- Isn't that a big relief? But how does SAWO authenticate the user?

- SAWO uses your phone's lock password as a biometric authenticator to verify your identity and accordingly, authenticates you. It's that simple! When a user visits the sign-up page, he or she enters the associated email ID or phone number.

- SAWO verifies this information with the phone lock password as the biometric indicator, and automatically, gives access to the application. No other information or process is required.

- Some of the advantages of SAWO are:
  - It greatly simplifies the user experience
  - No more passwords or OTPs, which is sure to come as a big relief to your users
  - Takes less than 0.06 seconds for the entire authentication process.
  - It's an extremely safe and secure way to authenticate.


<b>Support & queries</b>  
You can join our [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/TpnCfMUE5P) Community and interact with other developers and can ask for any support you require.

In case of any other query, feel free to reach out to us at community.sawolabs@gmail.com