Redesigning Borrower Onboarding
So Fewer People Drop Off
CredAble's onboarding form was losing borrowers before they finished it, one confusing government verification step at a time. I redesigned the flow end-to-end so it could work for every borrower, on every device, across every brand CredAble sells under.
~30-40%
Fewer drop-offs at the GST verification step
~20-25%
Faster onboarding completion
1 system
That scaled across every white-label brand
TEAM
1 Designer, 2 Engineer, 1 PM
ROLE
Senior and Sole Product Designer
Owned research, product design, and created quality heuristics that guided our prompt engineering.
PROBLEM
Small friction, big drop-off
CredAble’s Borrower Onboarding flow was already live, but users were dropping off before completing it. The GST handoff relied only on text instructions, language selection wasn’t clear, and the same content was repeated across steps.
None of these issues looked huge alone. Together, they made the flow feel harder than it needed to be.
What I set out to fix
Make onboarding easier to complete
My goal was to make the journey faster, clearer, and easier for borrowers — while helping the business improve conversion and speed up approvals.
Because this flow was used across multiple financial brands, the redesign also had to work as a scalable system, not just a one-time fix for one client.
RESEARCH
Light research, sharp findings
I ran a heuristic review of the existing flow, used the feedback the team already had, and studied similar onboarding patterns to see how others handled government verification.
GST HAND-OFF WAS THE BIGGEST DROP-OFF POINT
Leaving the app to approve details on the government portal created the most confusion in the flow.
Content was adding noise, not clarity
The same information appeared across screens, which increased reading without helping users move forward.
The design needed to work across brands
The flow had to stay flexible for different partner brands, not just look good in one visual style.
The flow wasn't broken in any one obvious place. It was broken in the accumulation of small, unexamined decisions.
RESEARCH
Light research, sharp findings
Before touching screens, I set a few principles to keep decisions consistent across a large flow with many small parts.
DESIGN EXPLORATION
01.
CHOOSING A SCALABLE LAYOUT
Problem: I explored two layout options -center-aligned content and a more visual illustration-led layout. The illustrated version looked better alone, but was harder to scale across brands and future chatbot use.
What I designed: I chose the center-aligned layout as the default because it was cleaner, flexible, and worked well for forms, status messages, and future chat interactions.
What changed: New brands can use the flow without fresh illustrations, and the layout can support the future AI chatbot without a redesign.
02.
CUTTING REPEATED CONTENT
Problem: The overview and step pages were saying almost the same thing, making users read twice before starting.
What I designed: I removed the extra subtext from the overview and kept only the step titles there. The full explanation appears only when users reach that step.
What changed: The overview became faster to scan, and the flow felt lighter before users began.
03.
MAKING LANGUAGE SELECTION CLEAR
Problem: The old selector didn’t clearly show the active language, which created confusion before users filled the form.
What I designed: I added a dropdown that shows the selected language clearly, with each language written in its native script.
What changed: Borrowers could see their selected language at a glance and find their own language more easily.
04.
GUIDING GST VERIFICATION
Problem: Borrowers had to leave the app, log in to the government portal, approve access, and return. The old flow explained this only through text, making it the biggest confusion point.
What I designed: I created a guided step-by-step flow with previews of the government portal screens. The portal opened in a new tab, so users didn’t lose their place.
What changed: Borrowers knew what to expect before leaving the app and how to return after verification.
~30–40% fewer drop-offs at this step.
05.
DESIGNING MOBILE PROPERLY
Problem: The old flow was designed desktop-first, even though many borrowers completed onboarding on their phones.
What I designed: I rebuilt the mobile flow from scratch with the same steps, GST guidance, and language support — designed for small screens, not just resized.
What changed: Mobile users got the same clarity and support as desktop users, without feeling like they were using a compressed version.
DESIGN EXPLORATION
Owners work on their phones.
So does UpScale.
Research showed owners were already trying to track invoices on mobile, even when the tools weren't designed for it. I designed a full mobile experience across creation, tracking, and reminders.
Simplified creation steps on small screens
At-a-glance payment status on the invoice list
One-tap reminder management
I focus on speed and clarity. Dense data tables don't work on a 6-inch screen while someone's waiting for a client call. Everything was sized and sequenced for fast scanning.
IMPACT
Whats changed for users
Reflections
FRICTION HIDES IN THE HANDOFFS
The biggest drop-off wasn’t inside our screens. It happened when users had to leave for the government portal. The key lesson was to guide the moments before and after the handoff, so it didn’t feel risky or confusing.
CONSISTENCY BEATS CUSTOMIZATION
A more visual layout was tempting, but this flow had to work across many brands. The simpler, flexible layout was the better long-term choice.
CUTTING CONTENT IS DESIGN WORK
Removing repeated subtext looked like a small edit, but it made the flow lighter and easier to scan. Small content decisions matter in long journeys.
WHAT I’D DO DIFFERENTLY
I’d test the GST verification step with real users earlier. I was working from heuristic review and secondhand feedback, but watching users struggle directly would have helped us catch blockers faster.