Making Mortgage Applications Digital
The Mortgage tools help to compare and generate a list of mortgage rates based on the user profile and walk through the documents the lender needs to process the application. User can monitor their loans at various life stages on the platform, have more transparency and visibility in the application process.
My Role: UX researcher/UX Designer
Discovery
Worked with the founder to understand and categorize the different user groups. I created personas and mapping out their journeys across the offered services. With more in-depth knowledge about the mortgage application process, I was able to integrate an on-boarding flow and calculator tools into the user journey.
User interviews
Interviewed 10 individuals between the ages 26-55 to understand their experience in getting a mortgage, what they like and disliked in the process. Overall, most people expressed a desire to complete a portion of their mortgage application online. The only people who showed any reservations were first-time home buyers, they wanted to talk to someone before making a big decision instead of doing it all online.
The following features will be required to win our future client’s trust:
Professional aesthetics
Data protection
Secured website
Website traffic control
Company reputation
Design and test
I worked closely with the developer to understand what is feasible for the design.
We ran usability sessions using the early concepts in 1:1 interviews. During the session, I observed users while they completed a series of tasks on the beta site to catch copy and usability issues. The 1:1 session was followed by an NPS survey to understand loyalty and understand how our customers feel about the product and service.
Many users found the content hard to understand because of finance jargons
Customers feel comfortable providing sensitive information (bank login, SIN number) online if they feel the site is “secure” and there is an incentive for inputting the information
To improve the experience based on the user feedback, we invested in content to educate the user on homeownership and mortgages. This includes a FAQ section and video. We also cut down the number of fields required in the sign-up flow and give the users a chance to use the mortgage calculation tools upfront. We only ask the user to fill out their personal information at a later stage when they apply for a mortgage.
After iterating on the low-fidelity designs, I worked with the visual designer to flush out the final design.
Mortgage application flow