Security by Design: How Product Leaders Build Products People Can Trust

A practical guide to embedding security thinking into product development—from early-stage features to fast-moving teams and scalable platforms.

Dear friends,

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to build trust into the products we design — not as an afterthought, but as a foundational choice. This piece is part reflection, part guide, and it comes from years of seeing how much more powerful, scalable, and human-centered our products become when we take security seriously — and early.

Thanks for being here and reading along. I hope it sparks something for you or your team.

— Dominika

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Imagine this: you’re shipping a much-anticipated feature. Everyone’s excited. QA signs off. Marketing is prepped. The launch is smooth. And then, two days later, a user emails your team with a line that sends a chill down your spine: “I just saw someone else’s personal data in my account.”

What happened? As it turns out, the “view activity” endpoint didn’t have proper access control. No one flagged it. It wasn’t included in the user story. It never made it into the acceptance criteria. In short, no one asked: “Who should be able to see this?”

You fix it. Quickly. But the trust you’ve lost? That takes longer to repair than the code ever did to write.

Security by design is not just about defense—it’s about intentionality. It starts with presence, clarity, and building trust from the inside out.

Why Product Teams Hold the Keys to Security

Security isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s not something reserved for the engineering team or left to legal and compliance once the product is live. And it’s definitely not something you “add later.”

As product leaders, we help shape what gets built—how it works, how it scales, and yes, how it breaks. That means we are also responsible for how secure, private, and abuse-resistant our products are.

Security isn’t outside your job description. It is part of building quality.

If security isn’t in your definition of done, it’s not done.

Let’s Get Clear: What Is Security by Design?

Security by Design means we intentionally bake security and privacy into our products from day one. It’s not a checklist you do before launch. It’s a way of thinking—from your very first whiteboard session to how you define “done” in your backlog.

It’s a mindset. It’s a philosophy. And most importantly, it’s achievable—even for small, fast-moving teams.

You don’t need to be a security expert. You just need to start asking better questions.

Where PMs Fit In

You, as a PM, are in a uniquely powerful position. You influence what gets prioritized. You define how features behave. You lead conversations about trade-offs.

Security doesn’t magically appear in your product. But when you make it part of your planning docs, your backlog templates, your roadmap conversations, your team starts building trust by default. You normalize it. And when it’s normalized, it becomes culture.

A 2-Minute Reflection

Before you scroll on, pause and think about the last feature your team shipped.

Now ask yourself:

1. What personal data did it touch?

2. Who could access it, really?

3. What would happen if something went wrong?

These are uncomfortable questions, but the most important ones. Building trust means building this awareness into every step of your process.

Five Secure-by-Design Principles

These aren’t abstract technical ideals. They’re product decisions you already make every day. You just might not be framing them in terms of security—yet.

1. Minimize Attack Surface

Are you collecting more data than you need? Less data means less to protect—and less to lose if something goes wrong. Default to minimal. Push back on unnecessary tracking or retention. Often, the most secure system is the one that doesn’t collect the data at all.

2. Least Privilege Access

Does this role need that permission? Be thoughtful about access levels. Define scopes clearly and early. Don’t let “temporary” admin privileges or vague internal tools become long-term vulnerabilities.

3. Secure Defaults

What happens if the user never changes the setting? Most won’t. So, assume your default settings are your product’s baseline security posture. Make them safe. Use private sharing by default. Avoid guessable links. Don’t make users work for their own safety.

Most users never touch settings. Defaults are design decisions—and security decisions.

4. Fail Securely

How does this break, and who gets hurt if it does? Define failure states clearly. What happens when a session times out or a permission check fails? Good security design assumes failure and contains it gracefully.

5. Privacy by Design

Can you deliver this value without personal data? Explore ways to pseudonymize, minimize, or eliminate the need for identifying information. Involve legal and compliance early, not because you have to, but because it's good design.

Product Workflows That Embed Security

Security shouldn’t be an afterthought or an extra step. It should feel natural, part of the process. That means creating product rituals that encourage security awareness without slowing you down.

Use a security story template. For every new story or epic, add:

• What data does this touch?

• Who can access it?

• How should it fail?

Run a threat modeling jam. Thirty minutes is enough. Ask:

• What are we protecting?

• Who might try to exploit it?

• What entry points do they have?

• How can we reduce or mitigate the risk?

Hold quarterly security grooming. Check for:

• Overexposed permissions

• Deprecated dependencies

• Internal tools with too much access

• Places where privilege has crept up over time

Security isn’t just a feature. It’s a culture, and PMs are the culture builders.

Tie It to What Execs Care About

Want to make a case for investing in security? Translate it into outcomes that the business already values:

Good security decisions are also good product decisions. Here's how common features map directly to business value — from customer trust to faster growth.

Security drives revenue, retention, trust, and scalability. It’s not a cost. It’s a multiplier.

If You Only Remember One Thing

You’re already responsible for product-market fit, usability, and growth. Now add one more dimension: trust.

Security by Design isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being intentional. You are in the best position to lead that work.

Start small. Ask the right questions. Create better defaults. Because products people can’t trust… don’t last.

Trust isn’t built later. It’s built in.

Found this helpful? Share it with someone building under pressure. Let me know what resonated—or what you'd like to see in the next piece.

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