Should you use passkey security or convenience messaging?

Which factors determine whether security vs. convenience messaging is more effective in prompting users to set up passkeys?#

When deciding whether security vs. convenience messaging is more effective for prompting users to set up passkeys, organizations should consider several critical factors, including user demographics, context, and user motivations.

Key Factors Influencing Messaging Effectiveness#

1. User Demographics and Persona#

• Professional or Security-Conscious Users: Professionals in fields such as finance, healthcare, or cybersecurity typically respond better to security-focused messaging ("Protect your account from phishing" or "Phishing-resistant logins").
• General or Mainstream Users: Average consumers and less technical users often prioritize convenience-focused messaging ("Skip typing your password" or "Sign in faster without passwords").

2. Contextual User Experience#

• Immediate Context: Messaging effectiveness often varies depending on when and how it's presented. For instance, prompts shown right after login (when users are sensitive to login delays) perform better with convenience messaging.
• Repeated or Secondary Prompts: If initial convenience messaging doesn't resonate, a follow-up security-oriented message might better capture user attention.

3. Device Type and Environment#

• Mobile Devices: Convenience-focused messaging typically performs better due to intuitive biometric interactions ("Sign in quickly with Face ID or fingerprint").
• Desktop Environments: Users may prefer explicit security assurances due to heightened concerns over traditional desktop security threats.

4. Industry-Specific Sensitivity#

Highly regulated or security-sensitive industries (banking, government, insurance) benefit significantly from emphasizing security advantages, reinforcing compliance and security messaging.

Recommended Best Practices#

• Conduct continuous A/B testing with both messaging types across different user segments, tracking the passkey acceptance rates.
• Analyze analytics data to determine which messaging yields higher enrollment within each specific demographic or user scenario.
• Adapt your strategy dynamically based on real-time feedback rather than static assumptions about your audience.

By thoughtfully balancing and testing security vs. convenience messaging, organizations can significantly optimize user engagement and passkey adoption rates, aligning the right message with the right audience at the right time.

Read the full article#

About Corbado

Corbado is the Authentication Intelligence Platform for CIAM teams running consumer authentication at scale. We help you see what IDP logs and generic analytics tools can't: where passkeys, passwords, OTP, social login and fallback journeys succeed, stall or fail, which devices and browsers create friction, and when an OS update silently breaks login. Two products: Corbado Observe layers process mining and observability across authentication journeys. Corbado Connect adds managed passkeys with analytics built in alongside your IDP. VicRoads runs passkeys for 5M+ users with Corbado (+80% passkey activation). Talk to a Passkey Expert →