Streamlining Principal’s loan withdrawal process
My Role: Freelance UX Researcher
Principal wanted to enhance the loan withdrawal experience by improving page hierarchy, making it easier for users to navigate and clearly understand their options. My objective was to refine the process to improve efficiency and minimize friction.
Current State Assessment
I conducted a current state heuristic assessment using a set of usability guidelines to systematically review and analyze the overall user experience. I then conducted a competitive assessment using the usability guidelines as a framework, supplemented with third party research. This allowed me to measure Principal’s experience against their competitors across a set of criteria using a scale of 1-5.
Key Takeaways
Establish a Clear Page Hierarchy: Competitors use distinct headings to organize the loan process, allowing users to quickly digest important information in a logical order. This approach enables users to easily scan the page. There’s an opportunity to leverage headlines to break down information more effectively, rather than relying on lengthy bullet points.
Clarify Withdrawal Options: Competitors clearly present available withdrawal options, each color-coded by loan type for easy filtering. Additionally, brief descriptions explain each option and how it works, helping users make informed decisions. There’s an opportunity to include more details about each loan option, such as interest rates, delivery times, and required documentation.
Offer a Transparent Loan Quote Model: A dynamic loan quote tool allows users to model a loan based on their desired amount and repayment term. With these inputs, the system generates a quote that includes payment details, interest, and fees. This flexible approach helps users determine what is financially feasible for them.
Opportunities for Improvement
Through stakeholder interviews, I refined insights from the heuristic and competitive assessment. To visualize friction points in the current experience, I created a journey map and identified three key design opportunities to improve the process and build user confidence.
Revise Navigation: Users struggled to locate the loan request landing page due to unclear navigation. Updating the navigation language can help users quickly and easily start the loan request process.
Real-Time Support: Users expressed interest in a real-time support channel for immediate assistance. Implementing live chat would provide personalized help without requiring users to leave the platform.
Amortization Feature: Users would benefit from an amortization schedule to break down each payment. This feature would help them better understand their loan structure and effectively budget for payments.
Impact
I delivered three opportunity briefs to identify benefits, dependencies, and technical limitations within each opportunity. Based on these insights, the team prioritized navigation language as a key UX initiative for the upcoming fiscal year.