TIMELINE
2 months
ROLE & SKILLS
information architecture ; product logic ; cross-functional collaboration
PARTNERS
1 product designer ; 1 product manager ; 1 editorial content writer ; 1 engineer
NERDWALLET
Specific and actionable no mortgage rate results or error states and proper user expectation setting
Offer shopping experience
Our Goal
No mortgage rate results states
Create a more guided experience for users so they know what they can do next to see rate options. Instead of sharing a generic message, how might we provide more specific next steps and actions for users to take?
Expectation setting
Based on UX research done on the Offer Shopping experience, we heard a few similar pain points:
I don’t understand the benefits of contacting a lender on NerdWallet
I don’t understand what I’ll gain or get when I do contact a lender on NerdWallet
I don’t understand that I can or should contact multiple lenders
So, we asked ourselves how might we improve user understanding of what their next mortgage shopping steps should be and why? To address this problem, the opportunity became how to provide user guidance around what their offer shopping next steps should be and match call to action intent with what happens next with mortgage lenders.
The Approach
No mortgage rate results state
Create custom messages that provide users with immediate next steps plus educational, long term next steps.
Besides writing the custom messages, I worked closely with product and engineering to create product logic that enables customized messaging for a few cases:
Down payment less than 3%
Credit score lower than 580
FHA loan selected
Server-side error
Multiple errors
Expectation setting
Principles for page-level guidance text:
Help users understand what next steps they’re able to and should be taking
Guide users with information that will build their trust with NerdWallet and the lender experience
Principles for call to action:
Help users understand what they’ll be able to do by moving forward
Ease users into that next step
Let them know NerdWallet is there on their journey
Original generic message for any kind of error
Process
No mortgage rate results states
I finalized product logic with the team to accommodate custom messaging. I also collected articles in partnership with the editorial content team to infuse more user education on long term improvements they can make to their financial health, especially in lending.
Expectation setting
I explored various versions of guidance text and call to action text inspired by our user research findings and a competitive audit of Credit Karma, Bankrate, and Google.
Outputs
No mortgage rate results examples
Down payment less than 3%
Multiple errors
Expectation setting
Addition of guidance text:
Why explore quotes?
It pays to compare multiple lenders to help you negotiate, find the right deal for you and save in the long run. Get a feel for your top picks to start the process of finding the lender for you.
CTA Change:
Original: Get a quote
New: Explore quote
Results
The addition of guidance text and changes to our call to action changes allowed for a 74% improvement in click-through rate to partner mortgage lenders.