Helping loan officers manage loan requirements
Role & Duration:
User Research, Product Strategy, UX/UI Design, Information Architecture, Prototyping, and Usability Testing 6 weeks
About StreamLoan:
StreamLoan is an early stage startup with the mission to make the “the journey to home ownership as rewarding as the destination” by reducing friction in the residential home buying and lending processes. The web and mobile platform offers an end-to-end digital mortgage solution taking the borrower from the point of intent, purchase, to closing.
Business Goals:
Once a loan requirement (loan condition) is sent to a borrower, the countdown begins. Loan officers have to race to get the right documents from the borrower while acting as a legalese translator and coordinator through a confusing and emotional process. If loan requirements aren't met in time, the borrower loses out on the loan and the loan officer loses the commision.
Loan officers were unable to complete all of their required tasks within the StreamLoan app. The new loan requirements feature (Phase 1) was prioritized over the redesign of the outdated UI (Phase 2). I worked with the client to help improve loan officer satisfaction with the new loan requirements feature.
Design and build the new loan requirements feature
Update the outdated UI & design system
Add or improve StreamLoan features
Quickly assign loan requirements, review uploaded documents, and send messages so you can spend more time building your business.
Upcoming deadline? See requirement due dates and progress at a glance.
Sending a reminder or message to a borrower is a breeze. Say goodbye to miscommunication and late documents.
I interviewed 5 loan officers to better understand their current process and pain points. I categorized the consistently revealed pain points into the 3 most important areas of opportunity for the new loan requirement feature:
The biggest obstacle loan officers face is collecting documents from borrowers
Loan requirements can be confusing and officers act as translators to explain mortgage loan jargon to borrowers
Loan requirements are time-sensitive and it's crucial to view new requirements as soon they arrive from the underwriter
According to user interviews and industry research, loan officers need help accomplishing several key tasks:
Early iterations translated key tasks that a loan officer needs to complete into submenu categories.
I chose navigation tabs since submenu categories needed to be separated into distinct sections and tabs provide a clear indication of where the user is on the app.
Segmented controls and check-mark lists were added to the designs below. I defaulted to the complex architecture because:
Based on needs from user interviews, I added clock icons and progress bar to help loan officers track loan requirements at a glance.
Validation testing with loan officers revealed that they are not legally allowed to approve loan conditions (only underwriters can). To avoid friction, I changed the Approved submenu to Sent. The updated tab allows loan officers to see which documents were sent to the underwriter.
Easily track, assign, and review loan requirements in one central place. From messaging to reminders, quickly complete the loan process without the confusion.
The StreamLoan team is currently working on implementing the final designs. I will determine if the loan requirement feature is a success based on the following metrics:
Metrics of Success:
I found that it's important to break designs as soon as possible to account for unexpected/worst-case scenarios. Data will not always be populated and loan requirement copy, condition category, and borrower name (just to name a few) could all vary in size and length. Starting with the worst case scenario allowed for defined rules and better design decisions which led to a final product with a better overall experience.