Crafting an intuitive experience to enhance engagement and minimize support costs.
TIMELINE
1 month
MY ROLE
UX Design,
Visual/UI
TEAM
Saideep Karipalli
Dharmesh Gandhi
+3 developers
TOOLS
LINK
CONTEXT
About Oportun
Oportun is a financial company offering loan to 2.0 million members with no or limited credit history and empowering members with a confidence to build a better financial future.
About the project
Currently, members rely heavily on support calls and seldom use the web or app to manage their loans or make payments online. To address this, we aim to enhance the web and mobile experience with a self-serve approach, empowering members and reducing support channel costs.
Problem
High support costs arise due to the lack of accessible loan information, with no functionality for members to view payment details or access information about their current or past loans.
Goals
Build trust
Adding transparency around everything and increasing users confidence in Oportun.
Make things easy
Incorporating discoverability through design and providing guidance to users contextually.
BUSINESS GOALS
Online adoption
Encouraging active members to prefer the online platform over offline options.
Reduce support costs
Offline support should decrease as users increasingly trust and rely on the online platforms.
Key performance indicators
Before delving into solutions, we first identified the key factors that would define our project goals.
Engagement
Are our members coming to online servicing to do all loan related activity there?
Effectiveness
Are our members still calling the member support to perform basic tasks?
Research
Key stakeholders had already identified a gap in the online servicing platform due to increasing support costs over time. The product owner for online servicing had conducted initial research, sharing analytics and data on why users reach out to member support, and how we can leverage this information as an opportunity for improvement.
Access the web/app monthly to make payments, not viewing it as a loan management tool.
~116k calls per month, ~800k active loan members—Members are heavily dependant on support.
Key reasons of member support calls over a month.
Why members call?
ACCOUNT DETAILS
45%
Include inquiries about payment due dates, amounts, schedules, bank accounts used, interest charges, payment confirmations, outstanding balances, and document requests.
PAYMENTS
24%
Address queries about payment methods, Pay Near Me store locations, ACH payments, payment failures, and setting up promises to pay.
ACCCOUNT UPDATES
17%
Requests for updating email, address, bank details, name corrections, password resets, and account unblocking.
SERVICES
14%
Involves activating or deactivating text notifications, managing recurring ACH payments, and resolving payment issues.
Define
After understanding member support agents' insights and common member inquiries, we delved deeper to identify gaps in the existing experience.
Current experience
We found that the web/app experience lacked the relevant information members were looking for, with no clear details on loan status or a comprehensive breakdown of loan information. The existing screen was overly simplistic and missed key details, so we designed a new page structure to include all the missing information.
Redefining the structure
To begin, we designed a structure that aligned with our vision, providing the necessary details without overwhelming the user. Rather than clutter the home page with loan information, we placed it under a "View details" section. This section was designed to house all relevant information for both active and past loans, including various payment history states.
Determining the placement of content from the outset
Getting every detail right
We mapped out the user journey from start to finish, considering all possible user states that could impact loan and payment details. We focused on identifying relevant information to display at a glance and how it would vary across different user states. For example, a member who has missed a payment would likely want to see if any late fees have been applied and how they are calculated.
Mapping the user journey throughout the loan lifecycle and identifying key details
Explorations
I created multiple versions to perfect the design. I started by sketching iterations on paper to quickly visualize how to incorporate relevant details without getting bogged down in pixels. Once I settled on the right direction, I translated it into a first version and continued refining the design based on feedback from the key stakeholders.
Final outcome
We launched a member-focused design that clearly presents essential loan information, addressing key pain points in a month.
At a glance view
Members can access current loan information with a single click from the home page, with relevant details displayed based on the user's loan lifecycle stage.
Transparency in details
Members can view a detailed breakdown of the outstanding balance and receive real-time, dynamic insights into the calculation.
Past loans
Members can now track past loans on the online platform and view relevant details for loans they've recently closed. Additionally, users can access payment history for their previous loans.
Individual and consolidated receipts
Most members previously called to request documents and payment invoices. They can now download them individually against each payment or all at once with a single click.
Breakups that are simplified
Payments are now simple and intuitive.
Members can see a clear breakdown of interest, principal, and fees. They can also track their progress after each payment.
Nudges
The component is designed to be dynamic, supporting each stage of the loan journey. It provides members with information and clarity at every step of the payment process.
Impact
We recently launched the designs, and while we’re still awaiting the final metrics, the early feedback from member support has been very encouraging. Reports indicate that it has already reduced costs by ~10% within just a few weeks. My key stakeholders are thrilled with the early results and my contributions!
This project is fairly complex and effort intensive. I'm very happy with the work you've done so far. Collaboration, ownership, quality, thoughtfulness and agility have consistently been very good. Good job!!!
DEVANSHU BHAT
DIRECTOR OF DESIGN
Fantastic job with the design. The attention to detail was pretty good. The design thinking, information hierarchy, the use case scenarios were very well thought through. You are raising the bar.
DHARMESH GANDHI
VP, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Learnings
