iOS Privacy Suite · Case Study
Observer
I designed Observer from scratch — five everyday privacy guards in one calm app — then used the data to make protection something people actually understand.
I designed Observer from scratch — five everyday privacy guards in one calm app — then used the data to make protection something people actually understand.
The challenge
Ads track you, links phish you, public Wi-Fi leaks you, and your email shows up in breach after breach. The “solutions” are a graveyard of single-purpose tools — each technical, each alarmist, none of them talking to each other. Regular people don’t want five security apps; they want to feel watched-over by one they trust.
My brief: fold ad-blocking, link safety, Wi-Fi checks, leak monitoring and an AI assistant into a single calm suite — powerful underneath, effortless on top.
The suite
Strip ads and trackers across browsing.
Score any URL before you tap it.
Know if the network you’re on is safe.
Watch your email for new breaches.
Ask anything; get plain-English answers.
A single check across every guard.
Discovery
I don’t know what I even need
Fragmented tools meant choice paralysis. People couldn’t tell which of five apps actually protected them.
Is this link safe to open?
The most common real-world worry — and no everyday tool answered it in a way a normal person could read.
Security apps scare me
Red alarms and jargon created anxiety, not confidence. People wanted calm reassurance, not a threat report.
From 9 interviews, support-ticket analysis across the single-tool predecessors, and a teardown of 7 privacy / adblock apps.
Key decisions
I shipped it, watched where people got lost or scared, and redesigned those moments. Every call is mine — and each one moved a number.
Security software sells alarm. Observer sells the quiet feeling of being watched over.
Impact
Measured over the first 8 weeks via Amplitude and App Store Connect. Bundling the guards under one calm home — plus the AI assistant — was the biggest driver of both protection coverage and Premium conversion.
Reflection
Bundling helped, but I’d design a single “protection score” that rolls them into one number people can watch improve.
Users trusted it a little too much. I’d add visible boundaries on what it can and can’t verify.
Coral-on-coral looked beautiful but hurt contrast on dense screens. I’d push more neutral surface tones for data.
Design system
Palette
Typography — Plus Jakarta Sans
Key components
Every protection as one clear switch.
A single readable number, not a report.
Warm, friendly calls-to-action.