Secure Messaging is a whistleblowing service developed by The Guardian in partnership with the University of Cambridge. Designed to make it easier and safer for sources to share information with journalists, it represents a significant step forward in protecting source anonymity while supporting investigative journalism in the public interest. As Director of Product Design and Research, I was responsible for the overall design approach across the project. While the underlying technology solved a complex security challenge, I introduced a service design approach that helped the team understand the wider ecosystem surrounding confidential sources, investigative journalists and editorial teams. Working closely with editorial stakeholders, researchers, product managers and engineers, we mapped the current experience, identified opportunities and co-created a future service. The result was a platform that balances security, trust and usability, helping sources share information safely while supporting journalists throughout the lifecycle of an investigation.
Discover
We began by looking beyond the technology itself. Through workshops with investigative journalists, editors and supporting teams, we mapped how stories moved through the organisation today, from initial contact through to publication. This revealed a complex service involving multiple user groups, tools and processes. Sources needed reassurance, anonymity and confidence that their information would be handled securely. Journalists needed ways to manage information, collaborate with colleagues and protect sensitive material throughout lengthy investigations. We also uncovered an important tension around expectations. Many participants expected messaging to behave like a modern chat application, yet investigative journalism often involves long periods of silence while evidence is gathered and verified. Understanding these moments of uncertainty became central to the design process.
Define
Rather than treating Secure Messaging as a messaging product, we framed it as a service built around trust. This shifted the conversation away from features and towards outcomes. We defined principles around safety, transparency and confidence, ensuring users understood what would happen when they shared information and what they could realistically expect in return. The goal was to create an experience that felt secure without becoming intimidating, while supporting the realities of investigative journalism.
Develop
Using service design techniques, we worked with stakeholders to map current journeys, identify pain points and co-create future experiences. We examined both front-stage journeys, experienced by sources and journalists, and back-stage journeys involving people, processes and supporting technology. The workshops were supported by usability testing with Guardian colleagues who had no prior knowledge of the platform. By asking participants to imagine themselves as whistleblowers sharing sensitive information, we uncovered concerns around anonymity, trust, communication and safety that would otherwise have been easy to miss. These insights informed improvements across onboarding, guidance, messaging flows and content design, helping users understand not only how the service worked but how to use it effectively.
Deliver
Secure Messaging launched as a world-first service that helps protect source anonymity by concealing the fact that communication is taking place, making confidential exchanges significantly harder to identify. The platform supports The Guardian's commitment to investigative journalism while providing a safer and more accessible route for whistleblowers to come forward. Importantly, the underlying technology was released as open source, allowing other organisations to build upon the approach. This project reinforced the value of service design when tackling problems that span technology, people and process. By taking a holistic view of the experience, we were able to create a service that balances security, usability and trust, helping protect those who take risks to expose the truth.
