Striking the right balance between user security and user convenience when it comes to identity management is a major challenge. That's because this balance is the key to a good user experience (UX). And its role is becoming increasingly important in the competitive environment. Prices or products are no longer as important. UX is what really counts. If it's not up to scratch, customers will simply move to the competition. Those who want to realise an exceptional UX for their identity management should look at human-centric identity. And identity orchestration can help them do this. But what exactly are human-centric identity and identity orchestration? We answer this question in our latest blog post.
All of us are increasingly reliant on digital functions. And the experiences we make in this context at different points along the user journey are decisive for us – and for providers. Will we purchase from their online shop again? Will we use their restaurant's order app again? Will we actually complete an order? Those of us who feel that the identification process puts the security of our own data at risk or that the process is too complex or tiresome will not become 'repeat offenders`.
Incidentally, a good digital UX is not only important to users who are customers. Secure log-in processes are also an important issue for companies. Although employees are unlikely to jump ship and move to another company simply because of the identification processes used to offer a poor user experience, their productivity and commitment will suffer nonetheless.
Human-centric identity for a better UX
To ensure that login or online transaction processes strike the right balance between balance security and usability to achieve a good UX, it's worth looking at the human-centric identity approach. In this context, the user identity focuses on the person and their needs. The way in which users interact with the respective applications is 'personalised', and the identification processes are made as easy – yet also as secure – as possible.
Incidentally, the concept of human-centred design is based on a similar approach. In this case, the greatest importance is placed on designing interactive systems that are equally user-friendly and helpful – or secure in the case of identity management. The focus here is on users – along with their needs and expectations. These are taken into due account: from the idea through to the design and development stages – all the way to the solution's implementation.
Advantages of identity orchestration
Therefore, adhering to the human-centric identity approach and offering a successful UX at all points of the user journey with their identity management is an important goal for companies these days. Such a task isn't straightforward by any means – because identities are not easy to orchestrate.
This is where identity orchestration comes into play. This concept is based on a flexible integration framework that can be adapted quickly and easily to new challenges and simplifies the work of developers and integration engineers. It allows companies to dynamically set up and maintain – across the entire identity life cycle – an identity and access management solution that covers all points of the user journey.
A logical identity structure serves as a basis. It ensures that identities, configurations and access policies for users can be rolled out consistently across different locations and identity systems. This flexibility is not only on-premises but is also possible in the cloud.
At the same time, identity orchestration enables the use of automated workflows for different application cases, such as authentication or authorisation. The advantage of identity orchestration is that changes to existing processes can be implemented more quickly.
It's also worth noting that the area of identity management is subject to regular new requirements and regulations, which require policy changes for fraud detection or authentication, for example. Identity orchestration also scores highly in this regard. That's because new technologies such as passwordless authentication – which not only offer greater security for users but also improve the UX – are installed more easily and with greater flexibility.
What's more, identity orchestration simplifies processes that are designed to meet the self-service expectations of today's users and therefore support a good UX. Ultimately, should the need arise, users want to be able to recover their account, reset their password or manage their own devices for multi-factor authentication quickly and without having to contact support.
Identity orchestration in identity management systems
Modern identity and access management systems give employees and customers secure and convenient access to digital offers because they focus primarily on the identity orchestration of the user journey. They use the unique added value of orchestration – this visualising and mapping of all identity services throughout the user journey. Nor does this require complex development work – unlike the conventional identity and authentication solutions that rely on defined programming and are still widely used. Instead, the latest identity and access management systems can be implemented on a no-code or low-code basis. Therefore, identity orchestration not only enables companies to use multiple identity technologies. It also allows them to accelerate and streamline the integration of adaptations and changes. The consistent identity structure also guarantees a comprehensive overview throughout the process.
