User experience and product design is more than just creating a usable interface or desirable product. It’s about negotiating and understanding how your offerings need to comply with regulations. Ensuring compliance with (often) multinational regulations is not just a job for the legal team, it’s something you need to attend to as well. At my recent job at AdRoll my team had to deal with compliance issues in marketing and advertising and was a key focus of how we support marketing motion.
When you see acronyms like SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and GDPR, your head might spin. But don’t worry! Here’s how great design can be used to support compliance needs whatever the industry you work in.
Acronyms, defined
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, a US law focused on protecting sensitive health information and simplifying healthcare administration. It sets national standards for the privacy and security of health information, particularly electronically transmitted data.
GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation, is a European Union law focused on data privacy and protection for individuals within the EU and EEA. It establishes a framework for how personal data can be collected, used, and stored, giving individuals greater control over their information. The GDPR applies to all organizations that handle the personal data of individuals within the EU, regardless of where the organization is located
ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an information security management system (ISMS).
SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) is an auditing procedure developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It assesses a service organization’s controls relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of customer data.
PCI DSS stands for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a set of security standards designed to protect cardholder data and reduce payment card fraud by establishing minimum requirements for protecting credit and debit card information.
Best practices regarding compliance
Keep these best practices in mind when designing customer experiences:
Enhanced Data Security: A well-designed UI can guide users through secure data entry and management processes, providing context and guidance and reducing the risk of breaches and ensuring data integrity. If health information is requested, HIPAA requires heightened security.
Simplified Consent: Regulations like GDPR requires explicit consent. Good design can simplify consent, making it easy for users to understand and provide their agreement, ensuring compliance.
Improved Accessibility: Compliance with HIPAA and other regulations often requires data is easily accessible to all authorized users. This means information an functionality needs to be usable to individuals with visual acuity issues or motor skill difficulties.
Clear Privacy Notices: GDPR and other regulations require clear communication about data usage. Tell users how and why information is being requested and how it is stored. Effective design ensures privacy policies and notices are easily understandable, fostering trust and transparency.
Content Strategy: How you frame compliance regulations and governance is incredibly important. Understanding your users and using the right “tone of voice” allows you to reduce issues and confusion. Talk to users the way they want to be spoken to, and don’t use jargon.
Hopefully this is helpful, and never forget how important compliance is to any product and company’s offerings.