How adjusting keypad placement can strengthen PIN security
An alternate solution to randomizing the digits on a keypad while improving the user experience.
I stumbled upon this post on Threads where a user shared a similar screenshot to the above, apparently from a Hyundai application. And it, of course, looks really strange when the digits are not in the usual position. The reason–is most likely to avoid any left smudge from being recognised as a pattern, hence a risk of someone figuring out the PIN.
The drawback? Users rely on muscle memory, and this will fail with this implementation, creating unnecessary friction for the user to enter the PIN.
What if we randomly moved the keypad instead of moving the digits?
What if the screen looked like this after just three PIN entries with really smudged fingers? Can you guess my PIN? The reason the smudge marks are spread out is that the keypad's position moved between each entry.
Since the keypad moved between each entry, any smudge mark will be in different positions. The larger the area we allow the keypad to move in (like in the example or, ultimately, the whole of the screen), the harder to see a pattern.
Adding one more layer of security
Not revealing if we expect four, five or six digits would add one more level of security. And even with four digits, you don’t know in which order they were entered. What do you think?
