SENTINEL SAFEGUARD
Building a Journey That Earns Trust and Drives Customer Conversion
Sentinel SafeGuard was meant to be an easy sell—antivirus software conveniently pre-loaded onto brand-new laptops. The problem? Most people didn’t want it. Over half of users disliked or distrusted Sentinel, annoyed by constant pop-ups, unclear value, and aggressive attempts to convert trial users into paying customers.
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Our challenges were straightforward but difficult: shift the perception of Sentinel SafeGuard while boosting conversions to subscription from 3% to 5%. To do this, we couldn’t just redesign screens; we had to fundamentally rethink the entire customer experience.
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Impact: By designing a connected, trust-first customer journey, we helped Sentinel improve perceptions, reduce early uninstalls, and create more natural moments for people to convert to paid subscriptions.
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For confidentiality, the company name in this case study has been changed to 'Sentinel.'
Role
Senior Designer (UX)
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Duration
18 weeks​
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Team
Agency
2 Senior Designer peers (1 UX and 1 Visual Design), Creative Director, Project Manager
Deliverables
Customer journey
Visual design for key screens
Page frameworks for ancillary pages
Purchase & checkout UX
Design concept deck / presentation
This feels like an annoying sibling
That’s how users described Sentinel SafeGuard before we redesigned it. Instead of feeling quietly protected, people felt pestered. Pop-ups interrupted them. Notifications barked instructions. SafeGuard wasn't earning trust — it was demanding attention.
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Our work started with a simple question:
“What if this acted less like it was following you around the house... and more like someone who had your back?”
— Team pondering
We had to see the whole journey, not just the transaction
When we began working with Sentinel SafeGuard, their team was focused almost entirely on a single moment: when a user would (hopefully) pull out their credit card and subscribe. But customers don’t make decisions in isolation. They form opinions long before they ever reach a purchase screen.
We mapped the entire customer journey—from Day 1 discovery through usage, trial expiration, and beyond Day 60. This gave us a clear, shared view of where users might feel lost, annoyed, or confused—and a framework to design a better, more consistent experience across every touchpoint.​​
Shifting away from the transactional to the experiential. This holistic view clarified where users felt friction, confusion, or frustration.
The principles that guided our work
To guide our decisions, we focused on a few simple design principles: show up consistently, build trust slowly, and stay out of the user’s way.
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Don’t make users work — Let them effortlessly experience value.
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Connect on a personal level — Demonstrate understanding and respect.
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Ask rather than tell — Give users choices rather than demands.
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Consistency at every touchpoint — (an omnipresent principle) Build familiarity and confidence through predictable interactions.
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​This flow shows how these principles came to life across time and touchpoints:​
The following sections are a snapshot of how we applied these ideas week by week, across the customer journey.
JOURNEY WEEK 1: DISCOVERY
Making a great first impression
Users were often confused or frustrated when Sentinel SafeGuard unexpectedly appeared on their new laptops. We redesigned the discovery moment to clearly introduce SafeGuard, transparently communicate its value, and gently prompt (never push) users toward engagement. By immediately clarifying SafeGuard’s purpose and benefits, we removed initial distrust and set a tone of respect from day one.
Our new welcome email gave users confidence right away with clear value and transparency. Other touchpoints included discovery moments in the SafeGuard application, through Scout, and in the OS.
JOURNEY WEEKS 2-3: USAGE
Demonstrating value without demanding attention
Many antivirus products interrupt users to prove their worth. We took the opposite approach — letting SafeGuard's value show up quietly and consistently across Scout and the app itself. Whether through helpful status updates or a calming, "your computer is safe" message inside the app, users stayed informed without ever feeling pressured to act.
We designed interactions—like subtle notifications from our chatbot "Scout" and transparent security scans—to demonstrate value without demanding attention or disrupting tasks.
Inside the app, users could see exactly how SafeGuard had been protecting them—without needing to click, configure, or investigate. Other touchpoints included usage and laptop security/safety reports via email.
JOURNEY WEEKS 4-5: TRIAL EXPIRING
Proving worth when it counts
Many antivirus trials end abruptly, leaving users annoyed and unprotected. Instead, we proactively demonstrated SafeGuard’s value by showing users exactly how we’d protected them over the trial, even after expiration. By clearly summarizing our impact—blocked threats, secure files, safer browsing—we turned the trial expiry into a compelling case for conversion.
Personalized security summaries like in this email clearly communicated SafeGuard’s value, increasing user motivation to subscribe. Other touchpoints included reports within Scout and the SafeGuard application.
JOURNEY WEEKS 6-11: EXTENDED TRIAL & BEYOND
Converting skeptics through patience and generosity
Our extended trial offered continued lightweight protection even after expiration, without intrusive demands. By respecting user autonomy and generously providing ongoing protection, we gently encouraged conversion and significantly improved perceptions of Sentinel SafeGuard.
Extended trial interactions in the SafeGuard app prioritized respect and generosity, building trust and increasing conversions. Other touchpoints included email.
The impact: building trust that converts
While our agency engagement ended before results went live (a typical handoff model), the impact of our work was clear: we transformed Sentinel SafeGuard from a frustrating, interruptive product into a trusted, supportive presence across the customer journey.
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By removing aggressive, transactional tactics, we created space for users to become customers on their own terms.
In their place, we designed simple, respectful interactions that built confidence over time and strengthened SafeGuard’s relationship with its users.
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This wasn’t just a redesign of screens — it was a redesign of how SafeGuard showed up in people’s lives.
What I learned about designing for distrusting users
This project reinforced a truth I come back to often: customer conversion happens when you’ve earned trust, not when you demand attention.
"When people feel in control and unpressured, they’re more likely to say yes."
— Team conversation
Mapping the full customer journey early created clarity not just for our team, but for our client — shifting their mindset from transactions to relationships. And designing for trust meant showing up consistently, removing friction, and respecting the user’s choices every step of the way.​
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