This became a point of inflection for Own Up, as consumer patterns around housing changed, affecting customer pipelines for the company.
My redesign supported intent-based concierge experiences that increased conversion by ~5% and increased revenue streams for the company.
Decreasing customer pool (and traffic)
Due to high interest rates, low housing inventory & economic recession, there were less customers looking to buy a house and, as a result, coming to Own Up.
High drop-off post onboarding
The current experience had extremely high page drop-offs indicative of it not meeting our users’ expectations.
Broad product strategy
Adoption comes from builiding things that meet people where they are. Any new tool has to build trust through explainability, transparency and letting the person drive the decision.
Collated customer feedback from sales calls, survey and user research sessions:
• Underutilized positioning of Own Up’s 1:1 concierge service, which is incentivized for unbiased advice.
• Missed opportunity in building expertise profile and trust by addressing current anxieties around the housing market
• Unmatched mental model for users who just expected to see mortgage loan rates
• Lack of user choice or agency due to a singular CTA, without other actions
This was done through a combination of user research interviews and secondary research.
Although, since the Unlearn team had serviced a few key roles, talking to people in the industry helped clarify the scope and responsibilities granularly.
Key insights from this process was the involvement of two personas in each step — Medical Directors and Biostatisticians. This gave us a strong signal to prioritize these 2 roles as the core user set.
I led a group ideation session consisting of our Sales, Engineering, Lender Relations & Customer Success representatives to brainstorm ideas on creating a new Concierge exeprience.
The key was striking a balance in our positioning for customer problems while identifying high quality leads for our sales team.
The new Own Up Concierge
Two clear choices
Customer’s can either opt for Own Up’s concierge service and talk to a home advisor or be connected with a partner lender to give them a custom negotiated rate.
Interest Rates & Market Forces
I created a widget for our users to look at weekly rate ranges, along with explanations on market conditions.
I also included the ability to set rate reminders, giving the option for people to stay informed daily or weekly about rate fluctuations — so when they are ready, they can move forward with their mortgage loan.
Real people with genuine advice
I created a home advisor details view, featuring their qualifications, years of experience and user reviews from previous customers.
Leveraging the strength of our in-house expertise allows our customers to build trust with the product.
Building for trust and educating customers even within a tough market helped Own Up diversify revenue streams, clearly signifying the unmet need being addressed by the company.