Product design · UX research · AI product

Scamwise Scam Detection Tool

Next-gen cybersecurity start-up Savi Security partnered with The Holding Co. to design their brand and the product experience for their first product: a completely free scam detection tool that helps older adults and caregivers identify if something is a scam in seconds. Featured by KTLA, the Today Show, and NPR.

Role & team Project lead and lead UX designer, partnering closely with a brand designer. We worked in close collaboration directly with the founders throughout the process.
Scope Concept exploration and UX research, brand design (led by my THCo brand partner), UI design system and component library, and detailed product design with engineering-ready assets
Launched March 2026
Scamwise scam detection tool shown on three mobile screens

The problem

Every year, Americans lose billions of dollars to scams, and digital fraud is now the fastest-growing crime in the country. Founded by two brothers whose mom had a close call with a scammer, Savi is a cybersecurity start-up on a mission to protect families from scams and fraud.

When we started working with Savi, they already knew that they wanted to start by putting a free tool out in the market, and even had an early prototype for Scamwise. We helped them step back and define their overall product architecture and design the overarching Savi brand, which needed to encompass both the free Scamwise tool and future subscription products.

In parallel to this brand architecture and identity work, we designed the end-to-end UX for Scamwise. Their engineers were already testing the tech and had a working prototype, but the UX wasn't as intuitive or friendly as it needed to be for the intended audience. And since it was going to be Savi's very first product, Scamwise also needed to fully reflect the new look and feel for the launch of the overall Savi brand.

Four Scamwise screens: check for scams, uploading a screenshot, a scam verdict with next steps, and trending scams

The solution

Since Savi's own origin story stems from a family experience where their aging mom was targeted by a scammer, they started with a strong hypothesis that they should focus on family caregivers — specifically adult kids trying to protect their aging parents. Given our expertise in this area, The Holding Co. set out to validate whether this was the right primary target audience, and what the specific brand and product implications might be — from landing the right value propositions, to the brand look and feel itself, and the overall interaction experience of using Scamwise.

Informed by our research findings and in close collaboration with the founders, we designed a brand identity for Savi that felt both secure and friendly, conjuring a feeling of protection without relying on the common fearful tropes seen in the cybersecurity space. Our research also helped us refine a set of winning value propositions that were highly resonant with family caregivers.

For the Scamwise UX, our research helped us narrow in on the use cases and needs for our specific audiences, as well as what interaction paradigm would be the easiest and most useful for older adults. With these insights, we designed a digital experience with a super simple and intuitive interface — large inputs, plain language with no jargon, and lots of support integrated throughout the flow. The result is an easy-to-use experience that empowers and educates people in a potentially high-stakes or even dangerous moment.

Four months after launch, Scamwise is at over 200,000 submissions and growing.

Press & recognition

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