Case study / Finnable

Finnable.

Reframed a loan application journey around trust, clarity, and fewer moments of hesitation.

Duration: Mar-Jun, 2023
Client: Finnable
Category: Product Design
Year: 2023

ChallengeLoan applicants needed faster answers, clearer terms, and more reassurance at the moments where financial decisions felt risky.

ApproachAudited the application journey, mapped repayment friction, explored alternate sitemaps, and used problem-based wireframes to test clearer paths.

OutcomeCreated a redesigned flow direction with sharper hierarchy, an eligibility calculator concept, and clearer loan-tracking moments for product and marketing teams to execute.

Overview

Reducing hesitation in a high-trust financial journey

Finnable's app and website needed to make loan discovery, eligibility, application, and repayment feel easier to understand. I led a structured audit and redesign direction that turned scattered pain points into a clearer journey: reassure users early, shorten the path where existing data can help, and make loan terms and repayment status easier to track.

RoleLead Designer

ServicesUX Audit · Information Architecture · Interaction Design

TeamUX/UI Designer · Marketing · PM · Leadership

Full flowApp, website, application, repayment, and tracking moments reviewed as one journey.

Audit scope

3Reassurance, excitement, and human connection organized redesign priorities.

Decision lenses

ShorterEligibility and existing-data concepts reduced unnecessary steps before deeper application effort.

Application path

Finnable final loan product interface imagery

Context

Financial products fail when clarity arrives late

Finnable needed the app and website to support people applying for loans, understanding terms, and tracking payments. The existing journey had moments where users could lose confidence before reaching the next step.

The redesign direction focused on making the loan experience more straightforward and transparent: simplify application steps, present terms clearly, and give customers a more useful way to track loans and payments.

Journey mapping

Seeing the application as one connected system

The work started by mapping the customer journey across discovery, application, approval, repayment, and account management. This helped the team evaluate the experience as a connected financial service rather than a set of separate screens.

Customer pain points

Pinpointing repayment and trust friction

We analyzed each stage of the journey to identify where users might hesitate: unclear eligibility, uncertainty about terms, repeated information entry, repayment visibility, and the emotional weight of making a financial decision. Those pain points became the basis for ideation. Instead of redesigning screens broadly, we focused on the moments where better structure could remove doubt.

UX audit

Diagnosing friction across the flow

The UX audit examined the application journey interaction by interaction. The most important gaps were not cosmetic; they were moments where trust, visibility, and next-step clarity needed reinforcement. This gave product, marketing, and leadership a shared language for what had to change before visual design refinement.

Finnable UX audit of application touchpoints

Prioritization

Reassurance before excitement

The bullseye map grouped opportunities by emotional need: reassurance first, then excitement, then human connection. This helped the team avoid treating every issue as equally urgent. For a loan product, conversion is not only about speed. Users need to feel that the next step is safe, legible, and worth taking.

Information tree

Structuring complexity before screen design

The information tree distilled complex loan details into a clearer hierarchy. It clarified what users needed before applying, during eligibility, after approval, and while tracking repayment. That structure helped the team make the experience easier to scan without oversimplifying important financial information.

Finnable information tree for loan application structure

Sitemaps

Testing alternate paths into the product

We compared multiple sitemap configurations to improve clarity and conversion quality. The work gave marketing and product a clearer shared structure for how users should move from interest to eligibility and application. The important decision was to reduce the distance between customer intent and the information needed to act with confidence.

Wireframing

Prototypes as hypotheses

Each wireframe was framed as a hypothesis: if we reduce uncertainty here, the next action should feel safer and easier. That made critique more focused than simply comparing screen variants. Problem-based wireframing also helped the team keep user hesitation visible throughout design review.

Finnable problem-based wireframe concepts

Eligibility calculator

Letting users understand fit earlier

The eligibility calculator concept helped users understand fit earlier in the journey, reducing unnecessary application effort and improving the quality of intent before deeper form steps. This was a trust decision as much as a conversion decision. A clearer answer upfront can make the rest of the journey feel more respectful.

Shortening the process

Faster decisions with better data use

Existing user data created opportunities to abbreviate steps while preserving personalization. The redesign direction used that data carefully: fewer repeated questions, clearer context, and more confidence in the next step. The strategy was not to hide the seriousness of a financial decision; it was to remove avoidable friction around information the product could already infer or explain better.

Finnable shortened application process flow

Custom imagery

Making finance feel approachable without becoming vague

Tailored visuals aligned the experience with core demographics and supported a more approachable financial tone. The imagery needed to humanize the journey without distracting from terms, eligibility, and repayment clarity.

Final product direction

A clearer loan experience to execute

The final direction brought the audit, information architecture, eligibility concept, shorter process, and visual trust language into a more coherent product experience. Because the available source material does not include hard conversion numbers, the portfolio should frame impact honestly: clearer journey structure, stronger trust moments, and a more actionable product direction for the Finnable team.

Reflection

What changed in the product direction

The work shifted the conversation from isolated screens to a trust-building journey. By tying each redesign move to a specific moment of user hesitation, the team could prioritize changes that made the application feel clearer and more human.

For portfolio representation, Finnable should stay highly process-led, but the ending needs product proof. The final image closes the loop so the audit work does not feel like a Miro-only exercise.

More to explore

01Case study

Insane AI.

Rebuilt a motion-led fitness product foundation around brand, feedback, and repeat engagement.

02Case study

Panasonic Miraie.

Designed a smart-home experience that made advanced controls approachable for Indian households.

03Case study

Quambio.

Turned carbon-saving commutes into a visual reward system people could understand and repeat.

04Writing

How to create a culture for creative growth.

Shifting from output metrics to quality and learning to cultivate stronger design outcomes.