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Earnest User Dashboard


Personal Contribution: UI development, Content Design, Hand-Off
Date: Jun. - Aug. 2021
Core Team: Raphael Socrates, Alexander Goldman, Will Cole, Wilson Parsons





MISSION:

How can we help students on their financial journey to pay off debt?




CONTEXT & MOTIVATION:


Earnest provides education financing products, including student loan refinancing and private student loans. In April of 2021, Earnest has refinanced $14.5 billion in student loan debt.


In the private student loans lending space, usually 60-80% of students continue borrowing with the same lender. However, at Earnest, only 29% of existing clients serialized after their first loan. 

This gap highlights a huge opportunity to further engage existing users and provide them continuous support along their financial journey.   




OBJECTIVES:


I worked on designing the dashboard and launching it to 1% of the Earnest student lenders in an experiment to increase serialization and engagement.

When users log in to their existing dashboard, there is no clear indicator for students they’re available to apply for their next year loan. The page also lacks personalized resources that will help students achieve financial freedom sooner.  


Translating these product objectives into design choices, I considered: 

    1. Highlight clear action items to help serialization
    2. Provide personalized and timely resources
    3. Visualize the individual’s journey


RESEARCH: 


Before I joined, the team has conducted unmoderated user research with 3 different versions of the home base design. The feedback from users highlighted these insights:




  • Current homebase lacked clear value prop for re-applying with Earnest
  • For resources like Credit Card, users are likely to disregard it as soon as they see it unless the unique value prop for them as a student is clear
  • Language around how these resources can help were confusing and users didn’t know how to leverage them 
  • Upcoming deadlines were obscured


Based on the research, we’ve decided to create 4 main sections on mobile and desktop:

  • Legacy banner
  • Serialization CTA
  • Existing loans
  • Resources (scholarships, referrals, calculator - Loan Consolidation / Student Loan Repayment)


ITERATIONS:




DEMO: