Latest / Customer Journey with Fexingo: Touchpoints, Mapping, and Multi-Channel Marketing / Why Journey Maps Miss the Password Reset Touchpoint
Transcript
- Lucas: So picture this — you've just signed up for a new mobile banking app. You're motivated, you've downloaded it, you've entered all your details. Then the app asks you to set a password, and you do, but two days later you open it again and you've completely blanked on what you typed. Luna: Happens to me every time. And then you hit 'forgot password' and the real journey begins. Lucas: Exactly. And that moment — the password reset — is almost never on anyone's journey map. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Welcome back to Customer Journey with Fexingo. Lucas: Today we're talking about the password reset as a touchpoint. It's one of those invisible moments that can make or break the customer relationship, but most marketers don't think about it until after the data shows a massive drop-off. Luna: And I've got a number for you. A 2025 study from a major retail bank — I won't name them, but you'd recognise the logo — found that twelve percent of new mobile app users abandoned the account setup process specifically at the password reset screen. Lucas: Twelve percent? That's huge. And think about the context — these are people who already decided to open an account. They've given the bank their Social Security number, their address, their initial deposit. Then a password reset kills the whole thing. Luna: Right. The bank's journey map showed a smooth flow from 'download' to 'first deposit'. But the password reset wasn't even on the map. It was treated as a backend system function, not a customer experience. Lucas: That's the blind spot. Journey maps tend to focus on the 'happy path' — the ideal customer flow. But the real world is full of side paths: forgotten passwords, payment failures, returns. And those side paths are often where the customer decides whether they trust you. Luna: So let's unpack this specific bank's problem. Their reset flow was classic: you click 'forgot password', they send an email with a link, you click the link, you create a new password. Simple, right? Lucas: But it's not simple. The email might land in spam. The link expires after an hour. The customer is on their phone, so switching between the app and the email app is clunky. And if they're already frustrated because they can't log in, any extra friction feels like a punishment. Luna: The bank's data showed that of the twelve percent who dropped off, nearly half never came back. They just abandoned the account. That's a direct hit to acquisition cost. Lucas: So what did they do? I'm guessing they didn't just accept the loss. Luna: They redesigned the flow. Instead of email, they switched to an sms based one-time code. The customer enters their phone number, gets a six-digit code, enters it, and they're in. Then they're prompted to set a new password later, in a less pressured moment. Lucas: And the result? Luna: Drop-off at the reset step dropped by sixty percent. Overall mobile account completion went up by about eight percent. Lucas: That's a huge win for a relatively small change. And it's a great example of why journey maps need to include authentication moments. Let's talk about why they usually don't. Luna: I think part of it is that password resets feel like a 'system' issue, not a 'marketing' issue. The IT team owns the login flow, marketing owns the journey map. They don't talk. Lucas: Right. And journey maps are often built by people who know the product really well. They've logged in a thousand times, so they forget how confusing it can be for a new user. It's the curse of knowledge. Luna: Plus, password resets are emotionally charged. The customer is already in a slightly negative state — they're locked out. If the reset process is clunky, that negative feeling gets amplified. And emotions are sticky. Lucas: Sticky in a bad way. Research from the Journal of Marketing Research a few years ago showed that a single frustrating authentication experience can reduce a customer's likelihood to recommend a service by about fifteen percentage points. That's huge. Luna: So what should a good journey map include around authentication? Let's break it down. Lucas: First, map the 'forgot' scenario as a separate path. Don't just draw an arrow from 'login' to 'home page'. Actually design the flow for what happens when someone doesn't remember their password. Luna: And test it on real people who have never seen the app before. Not internal testers. Not power users. People who might accidentally type their email wrong and then hit 'forgot password' and get stuck in a loop. Lucas: Second, consider the device context. Are people mostly on mobile? Then an email-based reset might be terrible because it forces an app switch. An SMS code or a biometric reset — like fingerprint or face ID — might be much smoother. Luna: Third, think about timing. If the reset happens during onboarding, the customer has very little invested. They might just walk away. If it happens after they've been a customer for a year, they're more likely to persist. But you still want to make it easy. Lucas: And fourth, measure the drop-off at every step of the reset flow. Where exactly are people giving up? Is it after the email is sent? After they click the link? When they're choosing a new password? That data is gold. Luna: I'd add a fifth: the emotional journey. Measure frustration, not just clicks. A survey or a simple sentiment question after the reset can tell you if you've damaged the relationship. Lucas: Good point. And that's really the core of today's argument: the password reset isn't just a technical process. It's a trust moment. Every time a customer has to jump through hoops to prove they are who they say they are, they're also judging whether you respect their time. Luna: And if you mess it up, they might decide that trust isn't worth rebuilding. That's a hard lesson for any marketer. Lucas: Yeah. And look, this is exactly the kind of conversation we try to have on this show — practical, specific, and grounded in real data. And I'll be honest: the reason we can keep doing this, without ads, without sponsors, is that a small group of listeners chip in each month. Luna: It's true. If you've ever gotten something useful out of these episodes — a new way to look at your own journey maps, or a concrete fix like the SMS reset — and you want to help us keep going, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: No pressure, seriously. But it's what funds the research, the recording, the editing. And we're grateful to everyone who already does. Luna: Alright, back to authentication. There's another angle I want to explore: what about passwordless systems? More and more apps are moving to magic links or biometrics. Does that kill the reset touchpoint altogether? Lucas: Not quite. Magic links have their own friction — they require email access, they expire, and if the user is on a different device, it gets messy. Biometrics are great but they fail sometimes, like after a phone restart or a software update. Then you need a fallback. Luna: So the reset flow never truly goes away. It just morphs. And that means it still needs to be on the map. Lucas: Exactly. Let's talk about a B2B example. I was talking to a SaaS company that sells project management software. Their journey map had a big gap around the 'forgot password' flow for team admins. Luna: What was the issue? Lucas: The admin resets their password, but then all the team members who were logged in on shared devices get kicked out. They have to log back in, but they don't know the new password. So there's a cascade of resets. The journey map had no provision for that. Luna: Wow. So one admin's password reset becomes a team-wide disruption. That's a pain point that could drive churn, especially in a competitive SaaS market. Lucas: Right. The fix was simple: when the admin resets, the system sends a notification to all team members saying 'your admin changed their password, but your login is unaffected.' Just a small communication change. Luna: That's a great example of how mapping the ripple effects of a touchpoint can uncover hidden issues. Lucas: So the takeaway for today: if your journey map doesn't include a node for 'password reset' — or any authentication recovery — you've got a blind spot. Go back and add it. Test it. Measure it. Fix it. Luna: And while you're at it, think about the emotions. A reset that takes thirty seconds feels like a minor hiccup. A reset that takes three minutes feels like a betrayal. Lucas: I love that framing. Because it's true — the customer is already in a vulnerable state. They can't access something they think they should be able to access. Your job is to make that recovery as fast and frictionless as possible. Luna: And if you do it well, you might even build a bit of goodwill. 'Wow, that was easy' is a phrase no one associates with password resets, but it's possible. Lucas: Maybe that's the benchmark. Next time you redesign a reset flow, ask yourself: could a customer ever say 'wow, that was easy'? If not, keep working. Luna: Alright, that's our show for today. Thanks for listening to Customer Journey with Fexingo. Lucas: We'll be back next week with another touchpoint you might be missing. Until then, keep mapping.