Case Study

Credit Builder Program
More Than a Loan.

A financial institution had a product. Nobody thought about the experience. I was brought in to fix that — and ended up redesigning the entire service from the ground up.

My Role

UX & Service Design Lead

Type

Service Design / Strategy

Deliverables

Personas, Blueprints, Flows

Status

Soft Launch — Reassessing

The Problem

A product built without the experience in mind.

The product was coded and configured before anyone asked how a member would actually use it. I was brought in late — but took full ownership of defining the experience from scratch.

🏗️

Already Built

The product was coded and configured before anyone asked how a member would actually use it.

🤷

No Member Flow

There was no defined journey for how members would discover, enroll in, or experience the program.

🔧

No Staff Workflow

Staff had no clear process for handling applications, onboarding, or post-enrollment follow-through.

🎯

No Target User

The program was designed for "young adults" — but nobody had defined who that actually was.

Research

First, understand who we're designing for.

Before touching any flows or blueprints, I started with the people. I developed four distinct user personas to capture the full range of members this program could serve — each with different motivations, anxieties, and behaviors around credit.

Nora Martinez

New to Credit

"I just want to start building credit the right way, but I don't really know what that means."

Zion Brooks

First Time Auto Buyer

"If I could get approved without needing my mom to co-sign, that would be huge."

Erica Miles

Credit Rebuilder

"I don't want another denial — I want a real path forward."

Ravi Kapoor

Credit Cautious

"I'm not committing to anything unless it's clear, low-risk, and makes sense for me."

[ Persona cards image ]

Four user personas developed to guide tone, flow, and product fit across the experience

Process

From blue sky to real flow.

I mapped both the ideal experience and what it needed to look like given the constraints we were working within. This dual-track thinking shaped every decision downstream.

Intended Member Journey

Marketing Channel

→

FSCU Quiz

→

Qualified Result

→

Enrollment

→

Advisor Outreach

→

Program Begins

[ Program flow diagram ]

Conditional flow mapping multiple member pathways through the Credit Builder Program

Key Design Decision

Rather than a purely digital self-serve experience, we shifted to a relationship-based model — pairing each member with a Membership Advisor who guides them through the program. This aligned with the organization's broader goal of building lifelong members, not just issuing credit.

Service Design

Designing both sides of the experience.

The service blueprint was the most critical deliverable. I designed both the frontstage member experience and the backstage staff workflows simultaneously — because if staff can't execute it, the member experience falls apart.

👤

Member Frontstage

Onboarding, enrollment touchpoints, check-ins, credit education, and milestone moments designed to build confidence.

🔧

Staff Backstage

Advisor workflows, loan routing logic, document collection, and system triggers mapped step by step.

🔗

System Integration

Identified dependencies across loan systems, CRM, and communication platforms to ensure seamless execution.

📋

Training Requirements

Surfaced staff training needs and scripting guides to ensure consistent, human-centered member interactions.

[ Service blueprint image ]

Credit Builder Service Blueprint — Onboarding (Ideal Flow)

Outcome & Reflection

What we learned — and why that matters.

Soft Launch Insight

The audience engaging wasn't who we designed for. Older members seeking to rebuild credit showed up instead of first-time credit builders.

Strategic Pause

Rather than push forward, the team made a deliberate decision to pause, reassess the target audience, and redesign the marketing strategy.

Foundation Intact

The service blueprints, personas, and flows remain the foundation. The structure is sound — it's the front-end targeting that needs refinement.

KPIs Defined

Credit score improvement, on-time payment behavior, product engagement, and member retention established as success metrics before launch.

Credit Builder ProgramMore Than a Loan.