NerdWallet personal loans matching tool
Reducing drop-off with an improved registration process
COMPANY
NerdWallet
PROJECT TYPE
Content design
TEAM
Product Manager: Michael Torres
Product Design: Kat Clave
Content Design: Katie Glick
Setting the scene
On NerdWallet, we have a personal loans matching experience. The user starts from an entry point located on a personal loans article or content page (shown below). From there, they answer a series of financial and personal questions. At the end, they are either matched with pre-qualified loan offers from our various lending partners, or given loan alternatives that fit their needs and goals.
The problem
Our data showed that the top drop-off point in our flow was the registration screen. The drop-off rate for the other steps in the flow were between 0-2%. The drop-off rate at the registration step was 22%.
The registration component was owned by another team, so we tried various optimizations that attempted to improve the user experience without changing the registration screen. But the numbers didn’t budge. It was clear that the registration step was the problem.
The original registration screen
Forming a hypothesis
1. Research
To make a case for redesigning the registration experience of this flow, we did qualitative research, observing users as they went through the entire flow and asking them to think aloud. Our findings were:
Confusing user experience: The users we interviewed were generally accepting of the fact that they would have to provide email in order to see results, but found the registration screen confusing to navigate with its many buttons and fields to complete, unlike previous steps in the flow, which offered just a single question to answer.
No clear value: The test participants also did not see any value for them in registering. They assumed the only purpose for creating an account was for us to collect their email and add them to our mailing list.
2. Agreeing on a solution
After viewing the results, we believed that breaking the account creation process into separate steps that were integrated with the rest of the flow, and providing a clear value proposition for registration would reduce drop-off at this step. By presenting these findings along with the steep drop-off numbers, we were able to get buy-in for creating a bespoke registration process tailored to this product and to our users’ needs.
3. What I did
My role during this discovery phase, was first to help develop, conduct and observe our user interviews. Before the interviews, I helped develop the testing plan by suggesting content-specific tasks and questions to include. During the interviews, I observed and took notes. Afterwards, I compiled my observations and distilled them into a set of recommendations based on what I had observed.
During the project planning phase, I proposed the addition of clear value proposition language and stronger privacy assurances, as well as recommended placement for the new name, email and password screens.
The design
1. Simplified language
We started by breaking the fields on the registration screens out into separate steps and redesigned them with clear, simple language.
These screens are now in the same style and format as the other screens that surround them, with only one simple question to answer at each step.
They flow more naturally from one step to the other, rather than interrupting the flow with a discordant, information-heavy screen.
We placed name and email within a “personal information section” where they thematically fit with other requests, such as address and date of birth.
The password screen was the beginning of a separate “Account details” section that included password, security question and identity verification.
2. Building trust
The majority of users for this experience are consumers with less than ideal finances and credit history. This makes them extra-resistant to providing personal information, particularly in a financial context.
Previously, we had no on-screen security messaging. I worked with my product design partner to design on-screen messaging with conversational language and branded imagery to reassure the user that their information and credit score are safe.
This messaging appears throughout the flow to remind and reassure the user as we ask for increasingly more personal details.
The placement is below the question, answer and CTA so the repeated content doesn’t interrupt the user as they read and answer questions.
3. Communicating value
Finally, my product design partner and I collaborated on designing a value proposition module to add to the final registration step.
We hoped this would alert the user that a NerdWallet account comes with benefits beyond simply the immediate one of seeing their personal loan matches.
This was not only important to improving the user experience of this feature, it also laddered up to high-level company initiatives to build awareness and trust in our brand.
After exploring several low-fidelity concepts, we decided to repurpose a context-setting module from the opening screen.
This design pattern would be familiar to the user from earlier in the flow, and its placement to the side (on web) or under the CTA (on mobile) would not interrupt the user’s main job — finding a personal loan.
3. A peek behind the curtain
This is a previous iteration of the registration value prop module. This earlier version felt too separate from the rest of the content on the page, and not directly connected to what was being said in the central messaging. In the final version, the headline and subhead directly speak to the content on the rest of the screen.
I’ve also made the bullet points more concise. Now they directly answer the question posed in the headline, so that the reader can quickly scan and understand the bolded text and easily understand the message, even if they don’t read all of the detail.
The language for this module was chosen based on previous market research into value propositions for registration.
Extensive research had been conducted into the benefits and value keywords that resonated the most with our target market. From these, I pulled three benefits that were most relevant to personal loan seekers.
Additionally, I pulled out the highest-value keywords from the market research, matched them up to the chosen benefits and crafted language that included these key value words and benefits.
4. The setback & the implementation
Just when we got to the stage where we were ready to implement this new design, the company went through a restructuring. There was a new acquisition in the personal loans vertical and the plan was now to sunset the existing personal loans match tool in favor of one from the incoming company.
This was a huge blow for our team. We had worked hard and were feeling really confident in our design. But we decided not to give up. While the product no longer existed, our ideas were still viable.
The new match tool didn’t have a registration step, which was a key part of the experience for NerdWallet. The product manager proposed that we resurrect the registration work we did on the old tool and apply it to this new one. The business leaders were convinced and our design was brought back and implemented into the new tool.
The final implementation incorporated our design with only minor changes. As an added user experience bonus, the new tool allowed users to skip registration if they choose.
Results
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Reduced drop-off to <4%
With the new password screen, drop-off reduced from 22% to less than 4% on this step.
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94% registration rate
Despite offering users the chance to skip, 94% chose to create a password and register at this step, proving that we had convinced them of the value of taking this step.
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Doubled monthly registered users
The new tool brings in significantly more traffic than the original tool, since it is driven by performance marketing. Between the increased traffic, the reduced dropoff, and the high rate of registration, we managed to double the number of monthly registered users.