The useful question is what changes for users, developers or buyers, and whether the announcement stays industry context or becomes something people can actually use.

Geordie McClelland, Head of Digital Strategy at Delve, describes his role as identifying intersections between business opportunities and user needs within digital product design. Delve, a multidisciplinary firm with over 55 years of experience, integrates physical and digital design to create products that meet evolving customer expectations. McClelland emphasizes collaboration between digital and industrial design specialists to ensure solutions address real customer challenges effectively.

McClelland’s career began with a focus on creating tools that positively impact users, driven by empathy rather than technical training. He highlights the importance of understanding people’s consistent needs amid rapidly changing technology. In digital design, he prioritizes user testing and iterative refinement to ensure products are intuitive and secure, acknowledging that users often bypass cumbersome security measures, which can introduce risks.

Security in product design requires balancing regulatory requirements with user experience. McClelland notes that excessive security can disrupt workflows, leading users to seek workarounds that undermine safety. He advocates for user testing to identify the right security thresholds, ensuring solutions are both effective and user-friendly. The goal is to integrate security seamlessly into workflows without compromising usability.

McClelland stresses the need to design experiences around human behavior, including inertia and limited threat assessment. He explains that user-centered design involves co-creation, where testing reveals opportunities to improve interactions. By slowing users at critical decision points, such as multifactor authentication, designers can help them recognize potential security threats like phishing attempts, balancing acceleration and deceleration in the user journey.