Rethinking Digital Identity:
From concept to launch at a Fortune 500 Company
Recruited to Avast in Prague, I represented the developer experience, drove internal adoption of our credentialing APIs, and removed roadblocks to ensure fast delivery. As a result, we delivered our APIs 6 months ahead of schedule and our platform became the backbone of Avast’s entire digital wallet experience.
The challenge
Avast acquired two promising startups to build a product line based on next-generation data management and Self-Sovereign Identity. They needed to quickly form teams, define the most promising opportunities, and act rapidly while still supporting their existing enterprise clients.
My role
I led the definition of the initial protocols and developer portal and wrote the first user stories for the mobile app authentication flow to unblock a new team. My role quickly expanded from leading one small team to managing the priorities for about 50 developers and 3 designers. I had to ensure that our system could scale for a Fortune 100 company, conduct market research, and make sure our platform worked smoothly with three other internal teams. I saw the project through from the initial kickoff to launch.
The Opportunity
Avast needed to develop verifiable credentials APIs and a user-friendly developer portal to enhance their security offerings. The goal of this project was to provide developers with tools to integrate robust identity verification into their apps, tackling the growing threats of online fraud and identity theft.
Guided Product Strategy Through Market Research
We conducted interviews with 15 companies representative of our target clients to gather insights. I synthesized findings and gave recommendations to senior leadership, which guided our initial direction. Further market research helped define specific age range categories based on existing products.
We identified that many companies desire access to user data without the responsibility of storing it themselves. There was a growing need for identity verification (IDV) and age checking solutions, particularly due to increasing EU regulations on age-restricted goods.
Business Model
I developed a freemium model to drive adoption, leveraging a strategic partnership that provided unlimited IDV checks for a fixed price. This advantageous contract allowed us to offer competitive pricing while maintaining profitability.
Implemented Industry-Leading Interoperability Solutions
After extensive research and stakeholder discussions, I recommended adopting a JWT-VC data model with SD-JWT securing specification and OIDC4VC exchange model. This approach ensured our platform could seamlessly interact with other major players in the decentralized identity space. This decision, along with strategic vendor partnerships, paved the way for broader adoption despite some initial pushback. We also kept the door open to explore additional protocols post-MVP.
User Testing
We conducted extensive user interviews and usability testing with developers to understand their needs and pain points. These insights guided our API design and portal layout, helping us create intuitive, developer-friendly solutions that met real-world requirements.
Drove Product Development with Customer Feedback
Drawing on similar experience from my time at Evernym, I regularly engaged with existing clients to support their integrations and solve any issues. These conversations provided crucial insights into what users liked, where they struggled, and what they wanted to see improved. This feedback directly influenced the development of our new product, ensuring we built something that truly met user needs.
Refined our MVP through Developer Testing
To validate our MVP before public release, I organized testing sessions with four in-house developers of varying levels of expertise. This internal feedback was crucial in assessing functionality and user-friendliness, directly informing our next iteration and release strategy.
The Build
Our team developed RESTful APIs for issuing and verifying credentials, along with comprehensive documentation and SDKs. We also created a user-friendly developer portal with a streamlined onboarding and configuration process.
Streamlined Design with Rapid Prototyping
We developed a series of rapid prototypes, starting with low-fidelity wireframes and progressing to interactive mockups. These prototypes helped us visualize the developer portal interface and API integration process. This approach let us iterate quickly based on internal feedback, refining the user experience before committing to full development.
Built a Scalable, Event-Driven Architecture
We designed a powerful platform for managing digital credentials that is both scalable and flexible by using a microservices approach and event-driven architecture. The system comprised issuance and verification APIs, external APIs for third-party integrations, and a mobile application serving as a digital wallet. We incorporated IDV checks through Onfido’s services. The front-end portal made it easy for developers to onboard, configure age checks, and download API keys. This setup allowed different parts of the system to scale independently while keeping everything fast and responsive.
Collaborated Across Teams for Massive Scale
Meeting our goals for this project demanded extensive collaboration across teams. It was my job to negotiate with other product managers to prioritize our needs within their busy backlogs. Together, we architected the system to handle massive scale—comparable to Mircosoft’s user base—by employing distributed systems, caching strategies, and optimized database queries. The development process spanned multiple sprints, covering API development, mobile wallet implementation, front-end portal creation, and integration with IDV services, all while maintaining our focus on security, performance, and developer experience.
Led QA Testing for Reliable, Secure APIs
I led the quality assurance testing for the Verifiable Credentials APIs and developer portal. My focus was on identifying and resolving any issues early, which was critical for maintaining high standards and reliability.
Launch
We rolled out the APIs and developer portal in phases, starting with a closed beta for select partners. This approach allowed us to gather feedback and refine the offering before the public launch, which was supported by targeted outreach to developer communities and tech media.
Delivered a Developer-Friendly Final Product
The final product consisted of robust APIs and an intuitive developer portal that facilitated secure, verifiable credentials management. Throughout the process, our team prioritized user-friendly design and clear, comprehensive features that catered to developers' needs. We delivered a product that easily allowed them to integrate and leverage our solutions.
Results
This laid the groundwork for our partnership with Accenture to streamline the recruitment process by allowing HR teams to verify candidate qualifications quickly and securely. By leveraging digital credentials, we minimized data collection and empowered candidates with verifiable credentials they can reuse across different platforms. This innovation enhances both employer confidence in hiring decisions and candidate prospects in competitive job markets, setting a new standard for digital trust and verification in HR practices.
Eliminated Scope Creep to Deliver SaaS Offering Early
This project involved extensive, complicated collaboration. Despite working across three different companies and six time zones, our team was able to come together, put aside any differences, and get to work. We got our delivery system down to a science. We built entirely new systems using Excel, JIRA, Google, Slack, and Productboard to track each project. We obsessively focused on our goals, eliminated scope creep, and managed to deliver an end-to-end SaaS offering ahead of the deadline.