Redesign of Auto Loan and Lease Management Portal
Team​
3 Product Designers, UX Manager​
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My Role​
Led User Research
Co-owned Design Execution
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​Tools Used
Figma, Miro, JIRA, UserTesting, UserZoom, Dovetail​​​
​Timeline
January 2023 - December 2024
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​​UX Methods
User Interviews, Stakeholder Interviews, Surveys, Prototyping,
Wire framing, Usability Testing,
Think-Aloud Protocol, Affinity Diagramming
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QUICK GLIMPSE OF THE REDESIGN
Designs shown here have been adapted to respect confidentiality agreements.
Redesigned Dashboard
Old Dashboard
THE CHALLENGE
Reinvent an outdated and non-intuitive portal, enabling users to manage their vehicle loans and leases seamlessly.
Client: Major Automotive Finance Company
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As a core channel for payment and account management, the portal plays a key role in supporting customer retention and service efficiency.​
MY ROLE
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Led research initiatives with users, stakeholders and customer support teams, to inform design decisions, prioritize features and shape future product direction.
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Collaborated cross-functionally to design the end-to-end experience of the reimagined loan and lease portal from initial concept through launch (Nov 2024).
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Created predictable user flows, intuitive information architecture, wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes.​
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Led usability tests to evaluate design ideas and final prototypes.
KICKOFF - DISCOVERY
I led research initiatives, moderating interviews with stakeholders, customer support teams and end-users. The interviews focused on 17 loan and lease customers across key user groups (first time users, returning users, mobile first users, users who recently contacted customer care).
By synthesizing qualitative and quantitative insights, I identified three core problem areas within the account portal experience.
KEY FINDINGS
Metric values have been abstracted to safeguard confidential information; relative impact remains consistent.
1. The account portal has low feature discoverability, confusing information architecture and poor navigation.
Approximately 60% of customer support calls were for tasks already available on the portal.
INSIGHTS FROM USER RESEARCH
​Making monthly payments was the main feature being utilized.
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Approximately 85% of the ​users only used the platform for making their monthly payments.
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Approximately 75% of the users were unaware of other functionalities the account portal offered.
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Users who were aware of additional features preferred calling support, finding it easier than navigating the current digital experience.​
Quotes from Users
Ambiguous Section Titles and Navigation Items.
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Key features like viewing retail or lease contracts, submitting a name change request and registering vehicle in another state were hidden behind ambiguous navigation items titled 'Self-Service' and 'PLC'.
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Users overlooked these sections due to a lack of context, resulting in low engagement and missed functionality.
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When prompted, users wrongly predicted the contents of 'Self-Service' and 'PLC' sections.
Designs shown here have been adapted to respect confidentiality agreements.
​Users expected to find vehicle related services like oil change under
'Self-Service'. They were surprised to see contract related tasks like 'Name Change' and 'SCRA'.
Designs shown here have been adapted to respect confidentiality agreements.
Users have to navigate through too many steps to access important information.​
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Key task flows and information, like VIN number, setting up autopay, managing bank accounts and viewing loan/lease details, are buried behind unnecessary interactions, making essential content harder to access at a glance.
2. The promotional content and offers are in-appropriate and un-timely.
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Offers often feel out of place and don't align with where the users are in their loan/lease timeline.
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Returning users noted the absence of loyalty-based incentives or personalized offers.
Users early in their loan and lease contract are encouraged to upgrade their vehicle and plan for end of lease. Many users found this off-putting and confusing.
Designs shown here have been adapted to respect confidentiality agreements.
Users nearing end of their lease and loan terms are shown irrelevant offers encouraging purchase of accessories and add-ons.
Designs shown here have been adapted to respect confidentiality agreements.
3. The login and registration flow is broken.
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Approximately 80% of first-time users needed customer support to register their accounts on the portal.​​
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Customer support teams handled over 150 login-related
calls per week.
INSIGHTS FROM USER RESEARCH
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Approximately 70% of returning users faced issues while logging into the loan/lease portal.
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Users found the online registration process complicated and confusing to complete without support.
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Users expected a seamless experience across all brand-owned digital touch points. The need to re-authenticate when accessing the loan/lease portal through other digital entry points caused confusion and frustration.
Quotes from Users
DESIGNING THE DASHBOARD EXPERIENCE
Designs shown here have been adapted to respect confidentiality agreements.
Our team iteratively designed and delivered the dashboard experience from concept to launch.​​ We defined three core design pillars that guided and structured our redesign efforts.
CORE DESIGN PILLARS
1. Streamlined Information Architecture
and Intuitive Navigation
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Created two distinct mental maps - 'My Vehicles' and 'Account Hub' to organize features and information, reducing cognitive load.
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Allow users to easily switch between connected vehicle dashboards and add a new vehicle to their account.
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Meaningful labels: renamed ambiguous items like 'Self-Service' as 'Account Services' to effectively reflect contents.
2. Surface Critical Information Upfront
Prioritized high-value content, making it easily scannable at first glance.
User research confirmed that VIN number, recent transactions, payoff details, and remaining loan/lease components were the most valuable information to users.
Easy access to loan/lease details and digital contracts.
3. Appropriate and Timely Offers and Promotions
Contextual advertisements and offers based on where the user is in their loan and lease term cycle.
Users early in their contract terms are offered vehicle accessories, warranty packages and add-ons to their contracts. Those nearing end of contract are encouraged to plan for end of lease and shown vehicle upgrade offers.
Relevant offers for users early in their lease and loan term
Relevant offers for users nearing the end of their lease and loan term
KEY SCREENS FROM THE REDESIGN
Redesigned Dashboard for Retail Customers
Redesigned Dashboard for Lease Customers
Account Services
IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES
Bringing our designs to life came with a set of challenges:
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Aligning with ongoing infrastructure upgrades
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Evolving Design Systems​
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Addressing inconsistent experiences across the web platform
and mobile app
To navigate through these limitations we adapted, scaled and optimized
our design solutions.
PHASED ROLLOUT STRATEGY
To work within constraints while staying true to our design goals,
we implemented a two-phase rollout.
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Phase 1​
Foundational Improvements
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Focused on delivering high-impact UX improvements using the existing infrastructure and current design system.
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Our team successfully launched Phase 1 of the Account Portal in Q4 2024, delivering key improvements on schedule.
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Phase 2​
Deeper Structural & Functional Enhancements
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With this release, we plan to integrate the upgraded infrastructure, new design system and align both mobile app and web experience.
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It includes broader changes to user flows, information architecture and new self-service features.​​
IMPACT
The launch of phase 1 - redesign decreased customer complaints by 70%
Metric values have been abstracted to safeguard confidential information.
FUTURE PRODUCT SCOPE INFORMED BY USER RESEARCH
Informed by user research, I defined and recommended additional design initiatives.
Simplify Registration & Login
Simplify onboarding and reduce friction in the authentication process for both new and returning users.
Enable True Self-Service
Digitize and simplify account service task flows such as name change, register vehicle in another state to reduce reliance on customer support.