Sift's Network Visualizer was introduced to help customers identify connections and relationships between metadata in their customer networks, aiming to detect fraud rings and coordinated attacks. However, its early implementation lacked usability and clarity, leading to underutilization. I led a redesign that transformed it into a user-friendly investigative tool, enabling customers to uncover complex fraud patterns and strengthening Sift’s position in the market.
Context
Sift’s platform helps businesses identify and prevent fraud across digital customer journeys. The Network Visualizer was meant to show relationships between entities like users, devices, and payment methods. Despite its potential, the original version had a cluttered interface and unintuitive controls, which limited its usefulness.
Role and scope
As lead designer on this project, I conducted user research, collaborated with product and engineering, redesigned the interface, and introduced new capabilities like sticky attributes and shared attribute lists. I also ensured the visualizer integrated smoothly with the rest of Sift’s workflows.
Opportunity
The original visualizer was confusing and hard to navigate—users couldn’t easily interpret the data or take action. Yet the need was real: customers needed a way to spot shared signals across accounts to uncover coordinated fraud. This was a chance to rethink the experience and turn a lightly used feature into something customers would rely on.
Solution and impact
The redesign focused on investigative clarity. We made it easier to explore connections, added subtle interaction cues, and surfaced key insights directly in the graph view.
New features included:
Sticky attributes to highlight shared links across entities
Shared attribute lists for more focused investigation
Connection counts to show strength of relationships
Impact:
Increased usage of the visualizer among customers
Made it easier to identify fraud rings and suspicious patterns
Inspired broader interest in visual analysis tools across the platform
Conclusion
The project showed how thoughtful design can turn a neglected feature into something users value. It helped customers visualize fraud in a more intuitive way and reinforced Sift’s commitment to clarity, insight, and trust.
