Designing for inclusion in digital identity

The Client

A cross-government programme responsible for developing a secure digital identity platform to support access to public services.

The Challenge

Many people in the UK struggle to prove their identity online—especially those without a passport, driving licence, or fixed address. These aren’t edge cases: at national scale, even a 1% exclusion rate leaves hundreds of thousands of people locked out of essential services. The team needed to understand who was being excluded and design ways to make the service more inclusive—without compromising on trust, usability or security.

Our Approach

We worked as part of a multidisciplinary team to explore identity inclusion through user research and rapid experimentation. Starting with a discovery, we focused on groups with low digital confidence or limited access to formal ID. We tested attitudes toward alternative documents like birth certificates and explored mental models of identity verification.

From this, we identified five promising areas to prototype—ranging from banking data and benefits records to digital vouching. Each was tested in time-boxed experiments designed to quickly assess feasibility, comfort, and risk.

The Solution

We developed three high-potential solutions:

• Digital vouching – enabling someone trusted to verify your identity
• Security questions – using personal questions tied to known datausing personal questions tied to known data
• Joining up government data – creating more inclusive identity pathways

The Outcome

This work directly informed service design decisions and helped shape a more inclusive roadmap. It also supported proposals for legislative changes to unlock secure data-sharing—ensuring more people can access services online, while maintaining user consent and privacy at the core.