Project overview: Reduce friction and increase revenue
The Application Journey project aimed to streamline the funding application process for SMEs by reducing submission time and improving user experience to increase revenue. That meant overhauling internal operations to support an entirely self-service process from start to finish.
My role: Project lead
As the lead for the project, I oversaw the entire design process from conception to implementation. My role involved:
- conducting internal and customer research
- creating detailed business blueprints, user flows and wireframes
- developing interactive journey prototypes
- designing UI components
- delivering solutions for internal business operations
- planning development work
- writing frontend code
- coaching two junior designers
The Problem: Slow and frustrating application journey
Context
Outfund's existing funding application journey was unclear and slow, relying heavily on manual intervention from the sales team.
User Problem
Customers needed help to complete the entire application independently, creating unnecessary bottlenecks and high reliance on sales headcount for growth.
Objective
The primary objective was to increase successful self-service applications and reduce reliance on sales teams.
Process: Teamwork makes the dream work
Collaboration
I successfully collaborated with the risk, underwriting, engineering, and sales teams to address complex internal operations. This enabled us to identify opportunities for process changes that would improve the customer journey.
Research
In-depth discovery workshops were conducted in collaboration with cross-functional teams to gain a detailed understanding of internal processes and existing customer journeys. The workshops aimed to identify pain points for both internal users and customers.
Ideation
With complex stakeholder requirements, we conducted numerous brainstorming sessions and workshops. The ultimate goal was to quickly evaluate concepts for potential impact and alignment with business requirements.
Prototyping
I created interactive prototypes and tested them internally and through online services. Validated designs led to quicker planning and reduced development time.
Solutions: Streamlined application journey
Challenges
The proposed update to the onboarding journey and internal operations required a fully automated system to coordinate and update user statuses in the internal system and CRM. This presented an enormous task that involved everyone in the development and product teams.
Operations
I planned and helped implement an event-driven workflow to minimize manual intervention in the CRM, and enable cross-team automation. Specific events triggered automated marketing outreach, internal emails, and signals for risk and underwriting teams
Design
To establish confidence and encourage customers to give us access to their banking data, I opted for simple, trust-signalling designs featuring prominent calls to action, easy-to-read forms, and intuitive navigation. Iterative testing, and evolving business requirements added complexity and required regular UI revisions.
Continuous improvements: Job that's never done
The project began with small updates to the existing process, gradually evolving into our final plan. Throughout, we gathered customer feedback to identify pain points and validate our assumptions. We continuously made updates to address user errors and improve the overall experienc
Impact: Increased revenue and reduced costs
- Reduced submission time by 96% (from several hours to an average of 4 minutes).
- Decreased Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) by 83% within six months as a result of enabling self-service application.
- Boosted margins 2.3 times by decreasing dependency on the sales team.
Reflection: There is always room for improvements
The Application Journey was a pivotal project for the company. It underscored the importance of user-centred design, continuous feedback, and iterative development in creating impactful solutions. Navigating the complexities of user needs, internal operations, and technological constraints highlighted the value of cross-functional collaboration.
Lessons Learned
This project not only improved my skills in leading design and development efforts but also highlighted the significance of adaptability and responsiveness in delivering successful product outcomes. Looking back, the project’s success is a testament to the power of a cohesive and dedicated team working towards a common goal.