Improving Your Mortgage On the Go

At Quicken Loans, we pride ourselves on delivering industry leading digital tools. When I had the opportunity to take an already successful product like MyQL, the loan status and process application, and elevate the experience even further, I led the effort to reimagine how clients engage with their loan information.

My Role

In 2014, I led the experience strategy and design for the MyQL application as part of the core design team. I partnered closely with a mobile app designer who focused on the Android and iOS experience. Together, we drove the end to end UX work, produced all major deliverables, and presented the work directly to team leaders and product managers.

Starting on the Same Page

I led discovery efforts through direct engagement with clients, mortgage bankers, and product managers to deeply understand both user needs and business challenges. I facilitated alignment on risks, expectations, and opportunity areas, and drove the creation of a shared vision for the enhanced experience. From there, I defined the experience strategy and established an iterative approach that guided the direction of the application.

A Collaboration with Lean UX

I partnered closely with UX researchers to drive rapid sketching, prototyping, user feedback, and design exploration from the earliest stages of the project. I used this Lean UX approach to generate strong concepts quickly and build early alignment across the broader team.

Designing for What Users Want to Know, Do and Need

I redesigned the MyQL homepage to surface only the most relevant information at the moment clients signed in. I created a profile experience that allowed clients to manage notification preferences across email, SMS, and phone calls at any time. I improved the Loan Tracker to provide real time visibility throughout the loan process and introduced a message board that allowed clients to post questions and track responses directly.

The Refinement

I led realistic usability validation using a live build of the application rather than static prototypes. I tested with real users both internally and externally and conducted interviews and shadowing sessions with client relationship specialists, underwriters, and mortgage bankers who rely on MyQL daily. I used these insights to refine task flows, clarify objectives, and continuously improve the experience based on real operational behaviors.