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Broker Portal Case Study
Transforming mortgage applications: shifting from paper forms to an innovative online portal
My Role(s):
Product designer
Responsibilities:
Strategising with stakeholders | Collaboration with Designers, Product Managers and Developers | User research including interviews, understanding the problem and gathering insights | UX/UI design of new dashboard, application forms and relevant screens | Design system management, contribution and upkeep | Component design and documentation | Design QA
🙍🏻♂️ Business problem
Cumbersome applications cause delays
LendInvest focused on business expansion as a premier non-bank lender, prioritising enhancing the customer journey when applying for bridging loans, by addressing brokers' frustrations with outdated processes to streamline operations. Their primary goal was digitising the mortgage application process, offering users advanced case management capabilities for a modern and efficient experience.
🗑️ First attempt
Broker Portal 1.0 was scrapped
The first attempt at launching a Broker Portal didn't end well. The project was riddled with poor business decisions due to a lack of product knowledge, time delays, subpar design choices, technological constraints, and frustrations across all teams and main stakeholders.
Shortly after its launch, the decision was made by the business to scrap the product and start afresh.
☹️👎🏻
🚧️ Information architecture
Avoiding mistakes of the past
Armed with newfound insights, the business made the decision to reboot the project. Intent on preventing a recurrence of past mistakes, I dedicated myself to gathering comprehensive knowledge before embarking on any design commitments.
This involved delving deeper into aspects such as the overall broker journey, individual application forms, and securities, with a focus on meticulous detail to mitigate delays.
🌍 Research and discovery
Uncovering user frustrations and insights
Broker feedback from twelve interviews highlighted frustrations with frequent calls/emails for progress updates, complex paper applications without all customer details, and manual submission processes.
They sought improved deal visibility, potential earnings insight, and the ability to submit more initial enquiries before committing to a full application.
📜 Dashboard designs
A single view for all needs
Insights from my user research told me that brokers wanted the ability to manage their deals, a way to quickly submit new enquiries, see the potential value of their deals, quick access to their assigned key contact and to see if they had any tasks outstanding.
After several design iterations, brokers were happy that they were able to achieve their goals in one from a single screen.
📜 Broker portal: Enquiry
Quick enquiries for quick responses
From Broker Portal 1.0, a key insight emerged – brokers required streamlined initial enquiries. I crafted a form for quick submission of essential details to BDMs, who could approve or decline deals with one click, replacing the previous method of manual calculations and direct communication.
Now, by providing key loan details, applicant information, securities, and additional fees, brokers submit initial enquiries in under three minutes, a substantial enhancement from the previous tedious and time-consuming process.
📄 Building the application form
Streamlining and enhancing the broker experience
While the application form is long and detailed by nature, my aim was to make it as streamlined as possible. Details provided in the enquiry were pulled through to prevent duplication of data entry, auto-fill was used where appropriate and sections were split up to offer suitable ‘break points’ for a broker to save and return to it later.
Applicants also had the ability to e-sign their documents to further speed up the process.
🥳 We achieved some success
Applauding enhanced efficiency and user experience
In post-launch feedback sessions, brokers spoke highly of the portal, commending its user-friendly interface, streamlining tasks and providing comprehensive insights. Positive remarks highlight reduced time spent on processes, improved communication, and the efficiency of
submitting enquiries.
Overall, brokers appreciate the tech advancements that contribute to informed decision-making and reduced operational friction.
😤 Challenges along the way
Lack of product knowledge created blockers
A lack of diverse knowledge of the Regulated Bridging product, legacy code complications, and a complex application form led to numerous post-design adjustments. The challenge of launching on a new framework (Salesforce Cloud Communities) in conjunction with a lack of Figma features that weren’t released at the time were additional blockers. The absence of reusable components further compounded the development challenges.
