🔑 How thinking outside the box led me to passwordless authentication

🚨 The problem

While implementing a password reset feature, I realized something: the process of resetting passwords was already secure and user-friendly. So why not take it a step further and remove passwords altogether?

Back then, passwordless login was rare, but I saw an opportunity to simplify authentication while improving security.

⚠️ The challenges

• Users often forget passwords, creating friction and support overhead.
• Email-based login links were uncommon in consumer applications at the time, and users weren’t familiar with it.
• Ensuring the security of login links was crucial—making them tamper-proof, preventing replay attacks, and avoiding token leakage were key challenges.

💡 The solution

I designed a passwordless authentication system where:

• A single-use, short-lived token is sent via email.
• Clicking the link authenticates the user instantly—no password needed.
• Tokens expire quickly, ensuring secure, time-limited access.

This method, now used by services like Wolt, Slack, and Medium, was relatively rare at the time.

📈 The impact

By eliminating passwords, we reduced authentication friction and improved security at the same time.

• Lowered support requests related to password resets.
• Increased user retention by making logins effortless.
• Reduced the risk of password-related breaches.

Even today, many companies struggle with balancing security and usability in authentication. The key isn’t always following mainstream trends—it’s about finding the right approach for your users. That’s what I help teams do.

🎓 The lesson learned

• Innovation in UX isn’t about following trends—it’s about finding solutions that truly fit the user's needs.
• This project wasn’t just about passwordless login—it was about questioning assumptions and discovering alternative patterns that reduce friction and improve usability. Whether it's authentication, navigation, or interaction design, the key is to rethink established conventions and find solutions that make user experiences smoother and more intuitive.