Each popular 2FA method in modern digital products, including SMS OTP verification, TOTP authenticator apps, and biometrics have different user flows for configuration, verification, and recovery; however, each 2FA flow has a standard pattern that users are usually familiar with.
2FA user flows should use the highest possible security to protect the user account, but also should be simple, transparent, and painless for users to help them adapt to 2FA as a general security requirement. It’s a good designer’s responsibility to optimally balance security and usability with a better UX flow design in the popular 2FA method integration:
2FA configuration and verification processes have standard user flow patterns that your digital product design can adopt to improve both security and convenience:
SMS 2FA flow involves registering a 2FA phone number and proving the user’s identity through a 4 or 6-digit OTP:
The configuration user flow uses the following standard flow pattern by registering a 2FA phone number:
The SMS OTP verification flow is almost the same as the configuration setup, but the phone number is automatically fetched from the product backend:
TOTP authenticator app 2FA flow helps the user configure and use a preferred authenticator app for authentication:
An authenticator app and the product backend need a shared secret to enable TOTP verification, so the user has to register your product in a user-preferred authenticator app by scanning a QR code or entering the secret code manually:
The user has to enter the current TOTP by looking at the authenticator app for verification:
Biometric verification flows help users configure and use fingerprint or facial recognition for authentication:
The configuration flow is instant if the user has already configured the biometric setup. Otherwise, the user has to go through an OS-dependent configuration flow:
Verification flow checks the user’s identity with biometric verification:
Once configured, 2FA authentication can fail, or the user can lose access to it, too, so handling these scenarios in a user-friendly, effective, and secure way is crucial:
| Factor | Do | Don’t |
|---|---|---|
| OTP entry design | Autofocus and autosubmit. Mask or use a separate input per digit. Enable pasting | Make it too small. Use plain text inputs |
| Fallback methods | Offer a clear, direct recovery path | Make it complicated with generic or verbose intructions |
| 2FA methods selection | Let users choose several preferred 2FA methods | Force the user to adapt to only one |
| Skipping 2FA | Support skipping 2FA securely for convenience on trusted devices, etc. | Overwhelm users with 2FA or mindlessly skip 2FA (creates security loopholes) |
| Security education | Use concise 2FA security benefits. Provide links for learning more | Use technical or cyber security jargons |
3 is recommended
2 is safest and also convenient
Depends on the device. If the user is on a desktop computer, showing the QR is recommended. If the user is on mobile, show the secret code instead, so the user can copy-paste it to the authenticator app
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