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• During the design presentation to the company, my work received an enthusiastic response. The company valued the AI integration for its rapid insights and actionable features within the COO dashboards.
• Reviewers highlighted that the designs exhibited a strong alignment with the company's branding, and the connection between the two personas was logical and resonant.
• The designs are expected to enhance decision-making processes within the organization which will ultimately reduce the cycle times for loan closing.
OVERVIEW
Industry sponsored class project
For our interaction design class, we partnered with a leading mortgage company to improve their operations. Our main goals were to predict time-to-close loans, understand influencing factors, provide detailed insights, simulate actions, and enable actionable steps.
Interaction Designer
Created a conceptual model to guide information architecture decisions.
Crafted data visualization specifications.
Designed iterations of low and high fidelity wireframes.
Tools
Figma
Axure RP
User Researcher
Facilitated semi-structured interviews during usability testing
Timeline
September 2022- December 2022
Visual Designer
Provided guidelines for the visual aspects of the design, including color schemes, typography, layout and iconography
Team
Individual
Closing loans on time is crucial for revenue. Operations managers need precise data for decision-making, but face challenges in optimizing workload and unblocking loans. On the other hand, COOs need insights into economic factors impacting loan closure. The company approached us to solve their efficiency problems.
To address these complexities, the project aims to design an information architecture for data analysis and introduce role-based dashboards to make informed predictions and simulations.
RESEARCH
Since this project was a part of the graduate interaction design class, our focus was mainly on data Visualization. We were given one week's time to conduct research. As our user groups were the operations manager and the COO, we wanted to understand their pain points in depth.
Discussions with Client
The class initiated discussions with the client to gain an understanding of their objectives, constraints, and needs.
Personas
Following our initial conversations with the client and gathering insights, I proceeded to build personas in more detail. These personas served as invaluable reference points throughout the project's lifecycle. They helped us understand our users better.
Key Takeaways
Arnie aims to efficiently run departments, foster staff morale, and meet sales targets
Michelle seeks to optimize loan processing, meet targets and address uncertainties.
Object Action Matrix (OAM)
I mapped out the connections between various objects and the actions users can perform within our data visualization platform. This simplified complex workflows and enhanced usability allowing easy navigation.
Transactional and Analytical Attributes
Next, I compiled a comprehensive table of transactional and analytical attributes, forming the foundation of our data organization and visualization. This table is designed to enhance decision-making for users as it helps map out the the crucial graphs and insights that will be presented to them.
Prioritized features
Finally, I prioritized the most critical features from the comprehensive list of potential functionalities, ensuring a streamlined and focused user experience towards ensuring faster loan processing.
IDEATION
After conducting initial research, I transitioned into the ideation phase. Here, I explored the layout, browsing, searching and word design choices. This was essential for user-friendly navigation, data retrieval, and supporting better decision-making by our users.
Grids
I used a 2-column grid approach to structure and organize the design layout. This was essential to maintain consistency throughout dashboard and effectively communicate data.
Browse Experience Design
Since the intended audience were the operations manager and COO, I considered their preferences for labels and ensured that the terminology was business-centric and aligned with the industry.
Headings, navigation and call to action were all thought thoroughly to enhance user engagement and facilitate intuitive interaction with the interface.
Search Experience Design
The next step was to solidify the search experience. These enhancements result in a more user-friendly search experience with quicker access to relevant information and improved search result organization.
Search experience included natural language input, predictive suggestions, quick redirection from frequent queries, highlighted search terms, and result sorting for improved usability.
Design Language
Brand
Proactive: In identifying and preventing potential problems
Informed: Having knowledge of the field of operation
Trustworthy: Results and insights that can be trusted
Product
Helpful, Direct and Guiding:
Product helps users by clearly guiding them through their goals and activities. The voice is direct to avoid ambiguity
Tone
Presentation of information is clear and concise. Alerts not only signify the urgency and need to take action but also guide users. Messages are clear and informative that meaningfully drive users to take actions
DESIGN
The objective of this design effort was to provide a clear and accessible interface for data exploration and enable data-driven decision-making. Each persona's dashboard had its specific goals, which I carefully integrated into our design process.
Wireframes: First Iteration
I began with the design of the COO dashboard and then proceeded to design the Operations Manager screens.
Initially, I chose a horizontal top nav-bar, but subsequently, I made the decision to switch to a vertical nav-bar to align with the company's visual design guidelines.
It was during this phase that the project took an interesting pivot in terms of including AI-powered features and suggestions within the dashboards. This shift aimed to provide users with intelligent insights and recommendations, enhancing their decision-making capabilities.
Key Takeaways
Switched to a vertical nav-bar for company design consistency.
Integrated AI for smarter dashboard insights and user guidance.
Modifications based on Feedback
I sought feedback on the initial designs, focusing on aspects such as data visualization techniques and other technical terminologies. These insights and perspectives from stakeholders played a pivotal role in shaping the final product, ensuring it not only met the highest standards of functionality but also was technically sound.
Design feedback highlighted confusing technical terms. The term 'Started' was found to be misleading, as it does not represent a loan state. A more fitting description might be "Not started" to reflect this phase more accurately. Moreover, 'Closed' was noted as potentially misleading because it suggests external loan closure when, in reality, it refers to employees successfully completing their tasks within the system.
These adjustments are important to ensure the design delivers clearer and more intuitive results for our users.
The popup title "Reassign Neil Diamond" was not intuitive. Instead, the title should reflect the loan number to be reassigned. Within the dialog box, it was necessary to clarify that the loan is being reassigned from Neil to another individual.
Such changes improve the user experience by making the reassignment process transparent, faster and easy to understand.
Final Designs
I sought feedback on the initial designs, focusing on aspects such as data visualization techniques and other technical terminologies. These insights and perspectives from stakeholders played a pivotal role in shaping the final product, ensuring it not only met the highest standards of functionality but also guaranteed flawless technical execution, resulting in a seamlessly efficient and reliable system.
Smart AI Insights
Designed to be a game-changer for our COO persona, Michelle, this feature directly aligns with her mission to optimize loan processing and gain deep insights into the factors influencing loan closures.
By delivering data-driven insights, it allows her to make informed decisions, streamlining the loan processing workflow and helping her meet targets effectively.
Simulate Scenarios
The simulation feature is a powerful tool for Michelle, as it enables her to understand through simulations, how different factors and decisions might influence loan processing. This empowers her to proactively plan and strategize, optimizing her ability to address uncertainties effectively; ensuring smooth operations.
Daily high level view
Our persona OM, Arnie, wants to achieve his targets and manage workforce. The Overview screen provides him with a high level view of the operations. This allows him to identify areas needing attention and helps him meet sales targets through timely insights. Additionally, it streamlines the process of generating and sharing reports with the COO, enhancing overall operational efficiency.
Unblock Loans
This design allows Arnie to efficiently monitor loan status, blockages, identify responsible employees, and quickly initiate the unblocking process. This reduces the time it takes to close loans, enhancing operational efficiency. Arnie can promptly allocate resources, and foster team collaboration, contributing to meeting sales targets and maintaining staff morale, aligning perfectly with his goals.
REFLECTION
I would conduct more extensive user testing and interviews with the internal staff to gather additional insights early in the design process. This would help identify additional potential pain points and areas for improvement.
I would incorporate more user-centric key performance indicators (KPIs) from the beginning of the project. This would allow us to measure success in terms of user satisfaction and efficiency, aligning our goals with improving loan processing.
Given the project's limited duration, I had to rapidly familiarize myself with the fundamentals of the mortgage industry. This involved understanding industry-specific jargon, data sources, and domain-specific challenges in a short time to deliver results.
Throughout the project, I frequently faced unexpected challenges arising from evolving requirements. The ability to swiftly adjust to changing situations and devise user-friendly solutions was a critical skill I acquired.
