Land Loan Calculator

Product design for a land loan calculator which increased the land loan application completion rate to 40% from 7.5%

Overview

The problem

When farmers apply for a land loan with FBN they have little visibility into the rates offered until later in the application process. This often leads to loan application abandonment. We built this tool to increase rate transparency for farmers, and reduce the FBN loan-application abandonment rate.

What I did

I collaborated with a small engineering team and a project manager to take this project from concept to completion within a three-month period. My role included research, wireframes, user testing, presenting to stakeholders, development-ready designs, engineering hand off and design QA.

The outcome

In the first eight months after launching this product, 40% of loan applications initiated through the calculator were completed, compared to just 7.5% through other entry points. Additionally, the total number of applications saw a modest increase of 2%.

Skills

Unmoderated usability testingWireframesInteraction designInterface designResponsive design

Team

3 devs, 1 PM and 1 designer (me)

Process

Research and Define

I worked with my product manager to define and scope the project. While many of our competitors offered basic calculator tools where you can input loan amount, interest rate, and term to calculate payments, we identified that these tools didn't inform farmers about the actual interest rates available, rendering them less helpful. Our goal was to empower farmers by offering a tool where they could explore the loan rates we had available.

*Examples of other loan calculators I referenced*

Design and Feedback

I iterated on designs with the business using our in-house design system and referencing competitors' products.

Initially, we had planned to build two calculators, one for new loans and another for refinancing existing loans. However, when interest rates began increasing we deprioritized the refinancing flow.

*Various screen designs from various iterations and rounds of feedback*

Usability Testing

When we were about halfway through designing the experience I made a prototype that I ran unmoderated user testing on.

The test was run with 5 farmer participants. The experience tested well and participants understood how to use it. Additional features like the likelihood of approval and a field to capture the downpayment amount were asked for by users unprompted.

When asked “How useful or not useful would this tool be to you when looking for a land loan?” all participants answered “Very useful”.

Outcome & Final Product

In the first eight months after launching this product, loan applications through the calculator have a 40% completion rate relative to a 7.5% completion rate through other entry points. Additionally, the number of applications has increased by a modest 2%.

The team has yet to come back to and iterate on this project but some of the next features on the roadmap to add to this tool are:

Likelihood of approval
More personalized rates

You can check out the current iteration of the product here

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