Citizens Bank

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions. It provides a wide range of banking products and services, including personal and business banking, loans, mortgages, and wealth management. The company operates primarily in the Northeast, with a strong presence in states like Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. With a deep commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and community involvement, Citizens Financial Group continues to maintain its strong position in the financial services industry, focusing on building long-term relationships and delivering financial success to its clients.

Building a Seamless Loan Process

This project aimed to address the key challenges faced by two distinct user groups: loan officers and prospective borrowers, each with unique needs and objectives. The goal was to create a seamless, efficient experience that catered to both user types while eliminating friction points and ensuring clarity in the home buying process.

Addressing Needs

To begin, I conducted extensive user research, including interviews, surveys, and contextual inquiries with both loan officers and prospective borrowers. This research provided valuable insights into the daily workflows, pain points, and expectations of each group. For loan officers, a major issue was their reliance on multiple Excel files and an intranet site for tracking and processing loans, which caused inefficiencies and inaccuracies. They expressed frustration with the time-consuming manual data entry and lack of centralized tools to manage their tasks. For prospective borrowers, the primary challenge was navigating an often-confusing loan process without a clear understanding of their budget and available options. They struggled to find transparent, easy-to-understand pricing information and feared making costly mistakes by pursuing properties outside their budget.

With this research, I was able to define specific user needs for each group. Loan officers required a solution that was responsive, streamlined, and intuitive, enabling them to process loans quickly and accurately without needing to switch between multiple platforms. Prospective borrowers, on the other hand, needed clear, transparent pricing and loan options to confidently make decisions without wasting time on unaffordable properties.

A Blueprint for Smarter Loans

Using the insights from user research, I created wireframes to map out the structure and flow of the application. These wireframes helped visualize the layout and interaction patterns for both loan officers and borrowers, ensuring that the final design would address their specific needs.

For loan officers, the wireframes focused on simplifying the loan management process, consolidating key data into a single interface, and reducing the reliance on external tools like Excel. I designed features such as automated data entry, streamlined workflows, and real-time collaboration tools, making it easier for loan officers to process and manage loans efficiently.

For prospective borrowers, the wireframes prioritized transparency and ease of navigation. I mapped out clear, step-by-step loan options and budgeting tools that would help users quickly assess their affordability and make informed decisions. The goal was to provide them with a simple, intuitive interface where they could see loan amounts, interest rates, and monthly payments in a way that was easy to understand and compare.

Once the wireframes were refined and approved, I moved on to creating interactive prototypes. These prototypes allowed stakeholders and real users to engage with the design early in the process, providing valuable feedback that helped to further optimize the user flows. The prototypes included fully interactive elements such as loan calculators, pricing sliders, and dynamic loan comparison features for borrowers, as well as dashboard views and task management tools for loan officers. Testing these prototypes with actual users helped ensure that the design would meet both functional and usability requirements.

A Strong Foundation

The prototypes underwent several rounds of usability testing with both loan officers and prospective borrowers to validate assumptions and refine the user experience. For loan officers, testing focused on their ability to efficiently process loans, track progress, and collaborate with other team members using the new interface. This iterative testing allowed us to fine-tune features such as automated data entry, error reduction mechanisms, and task prioritization.

For prospective borrowers, testing focused on understanding how well users could navigate loan options and budget tools. Feedback revealed that users appreciated the ability to easily compare loan terms and see real-time updates on their budget as they adjusted loan amounts. Based on this feedback, I refined the interface to make the loan comparison process even clearer and more accessible, ensuring that users could easily move from one step to the next without confusion.

The Final Payoff

The final design delivered a seamless, user-centered experience for both loan officers and prospective borrowers. For loan officers, the new design provided a centralized platform that eliminated the need for multiple Excel files and intranet tools, enabling faster, more accurate loan processing across all devices. Features such as automated data entry, real-time collaboration, and a responsive interface ensured that loan officers could efficiently manage their workflows with minimal effort, leading to improved productivity and reduced errors.

For prospective borrowers, the design empowered users to make informed decisions by providing clear, transparent pricing and loan options. The intuitive budgeting tools and loan comparison features gave users the confidence to explore their home buying options without fear of overspending. The seamless, transparent interface made it easier for borrowers to navigate the complex loan process, ensuring a smoother and more enjoyable experience.

Ultimately, this project not only addressed the unique needs of both user groups but also contributed to a more efficient and user-friendly loan application process. By combining user research, iterative prototyping, and testing, the design successfully simplified workflows for loan officers and provided prospective borrowers with the clarity they needed to make confident decisions, resulting in a more streamlined and effective user experience for all.