Expanded Payment Capabilities

Increasing loan repayment options to boost transaction volumes and reduce payment flow abandonment for Discover Student Loans customers experiencing financial hardship.

ROLE
UX Designer at MCD Partners

TIME
6 months (2023)

PLATFORM
Desktop & Mobile Web Browser

INDUSTRY
Financial Services

TOOLS
Adobe Suite, Figma, Miro, Zeplin

AREAS OF FOCUS
Info Architecture, Interaction Design, Prototyping

Overview

  • Marcelo Mijares - UX Associate Director
    Kate Mather - Copywriter
    Sama Kasliwal - Visual Designer
    Isaac Lee - Design Director
    Sylvia Flores - Director of Production
    Dana Thacker - Client Manager

Discover Student Loans (DSL) customers in delinquency were challenged with limited loan repayment options when attempting to make payments outside of the default amount.

Our primary goal was to enhance payment capabilities within the existing DSL delinquency platform significantly. This involved accommodating a variety of payment scenarios across four hardship repayment options, tailoring our approach to meet the diverse needs of DSL delinquent customers.

Additionally, we recognized the need for users to modify their account settings during specific flows without interrupting their payment process. We focused on creating a fluid and seamless transition between the DSL delinquency and servicing environments to address this.

The result was a more inclusive and supportive user experience, equipping DSL customers in financial hardship with a comprehensive suite of options to repay their loans with more flexibility.

Goals & Success Metrics

  • Method(s):

    • Revise and augment four loan repayment journeys, each incorporating one-time and multiple payment scenarios to include exact, over, and underpayments, as well as pending payments

    • Ensure distinctiveness and clarity among all repayment scenarios

    Challenge: Align updates with the antiquated DSL delinquency web design system as closely as possible

    KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Increased delinquent loan payment transactions

  • Method(s):

    • Audit alert design styles and language across all entire DSL payment environments (i.e., normal servicing, collections/delinquency, and recovery)

    • Effectively manage the hierarchy of warnings, errors, and notifications on individual form and verification pages

    Challenge: Communicate the severity of multiple alerts on a page to inform the user how best to take action

    KPI: Reduced abandonment of hardship repayment journeys

  • Method(s):

    • Facilitate effortless transition to account settings during payment review and allow users to return seamlessly to complete their payments

    Challenge: Maintain consistent language and visual design across DSL delinquency and normal servicing environments

    KPI: Flow completion rate following mid-transaction payment settings modification

My Contributions

⭐️ Wireframe Development and Prototyping

For all of our payment scenarios, I created high-fidelity wireframes and prototypes. Aligning the new functionalities with the existing DSL design system allowed us to facilitate a familiar and intuitive payment experience. Rapidly produced prototypes also enabled efficient, impactful decision-making during client reviews.

⭐️ Platform Audit and Error Handling

I also audited interactions across DSL platforms, standardizing messaging and visual design. This audit improved user experience coherence and led to the development of simplified, effective error-handling strategies for form inputs. As a result, we ensured clear visual communication about payment thresholds and alerts to DSL users.

⭐️ Settings Modification Integration Strategy

I schemed out possible flows and developed low-fidelity wireframes to determine how users could update non-conforming payment allocation settings mid-transaction. Since the final account settings screen belonged to the DSL servicing platform, this required constant coordination with their team’s UX designer, copywriter, and visual designer in order to maintain a seamless transition between our two web environments.

⭐️ Collaborative Design Consistency

Collaborating closely with our copywriter and visual designer, I focused on maintaining a consistent tone and design aesthetic throughout the DSL delinquency journey. I continued to ensure alignment with the broader DSL ecosystem when necessary. This involved meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of design and architectural choices across multiple DSL platforms.

Project Outcome

Within 8 weeks, post-project scope clarification, we delivered nearly 500 unique screens across all Discover Student Loans hardship repayment journeys.


Through consistent communication with the client, including weekly reviews for content, design alignment, and legal compliance, we overcame the challenges of a tight timeline. Final designs were delivered through Zeplin and Miro, supplemented by PDF decks detailing screen designs, interactions, and flows.

The enhancements are set for implementation in late 2024 to early 2025, promising significant benefits to current Discover Student Loans customers.

More details about this work are restricted under an NDA.

If you would like to learn more about my experience designing for financial services, feel free to contact me.

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