Smartphone Lock Screen Redesign: Choose a User Problem and Prove the Impact with Metrics

You are the product manager responsible for the screen people see when they wake a locked smartphone. Propose changes that would make that experience better for users, and lay out the metrics you would use to show that your redesign is the right call. ```hint List what people do in a few seconds People wake their phones many times a day, usually for only a few seconds, and the lock screen also has to keep the phone secure. Write down the jobs it does in those moments, such as checking the time and notifications, getting into the phone and acting without unlocking, then look for the job that fails one group of users most often. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Do we own the phone's operating system, so the lock screen itself can change, or are we an app maker limited to what platforms allow there, such as widgets, notifications and wallpaper? - Which platform is in scope: Android, iOS or both? They allow very different amounts of lock screen customization. - What should the improvement achieve: a better everyday experience, more use of our own services from the lock screen, or stronger security and privacy? - Is there a target group of users, or should I choose one? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A stated goal for the lock screen and a chosen user segment, with the reason for that choice. - Pain points across the lock screen's jobs: glancing at information, triaging notifications, acting quickly, unlocking and keeping content private. - A prioritized design that makes the trade-off between convenience and security explicit. - Metrics that justify the design: a primary measure tied to the chosen problem, supporting signals, guardrails such as battery use, accidental actions and privacy exposure, and an experiment that proves the effect. - Risks such as notification overload, content shown to bystanders and platform limits. ### Follow-up Questions - Your design lets people do more without unlocking. How do you decide which actions are safe to allow on a locked phone? - In your experiment, lock screen interactions go up and unlocks per day go down. Is that a good result, and how would you know? - How would the design change for an older user or someone with low vision?