Lendingtree
UX Design
2022
Creative Director - Stephen Kelly
Senior Product Designer - Sara Koubek
Summer design intern who designed bit of everything and worked fully remotely.
LendingTree is an online platform where consumers can compare and choose from multiple loan offers, connecting them with lenders who compete for their business.
I focused on redesigning outdated pages and elements from compare cards, graphics for socials, and a summer capstone project for a personal budget tracker.
Advertorial Redesign for CompareCards
Advertorials on CompareCards have a barebones design. They are functional and contain all the desired information, but they are long and challenging to navigate. The redesign consisted of auditing design of current CompareCards advertorials, comparing them to competitors Value Penguin, Nerd Wallet, Credit Karma, and Card Rating.
Wireframes
After completing a design audit, the intention behind the redesign was to use interactive components to hide and expand text. The reduction of text would allow a better visual presentation for card art
Final Design
The final design variation consisted of interactive components that were later A/B tested against the original design and new versions.
Introduction of accordion fold card art
Contains copy content for Pros/Cons, why we like it, and about the card
Main card specs are included directly on the card art component with a clear CTA button
Top Pick & next best three cards
The featured card is presented front and centered as required by the card sponsor
The next top three cards are displayed for easy access with option to show more
Comparison chart
Users can choose to cross-compare card specs across all presented cards
Jump Link
For easy access, the jump link presents a summary of all cards.
CompareCards 404 Page
Objective was to create a more friendly engaging user interface for 404 landing page of comparecards.com. The final design consisted of redirection buttons to top categories. Use of current CompareCard design system to illustrations for future design art
Customer Service Week
Create a logo and zoom background for Customer Service by incorporating “BEE-Cause You’re Essential”
Credit Card Design
Collaborated with the creative team to design variations of possible credit card designs.
SEED: A Lendingtree concept for Gen Z personal finance
Design Objective
Role: Sole Designer
Timeline: 3 Weeks
SEED was a summer intern project created to showcase a concept that could be implemented into the Lendingtree ecosystem.
I was given full creative freedom and responsibility to design anything Lendingtree-related. Feedback was given to me by members of the creative team and the creative director.
Designing for Gen Z
For the role of the project, the focus was on a demographic and challenge that I am familiar with and curious about: Generation Z and the challenge with personal finance when first starting out.
Research
With the constraint of the scale and time of the project. Preliminary research was conducted to understand the landscape of Gen Z and attitudes toward personal finance.
Research Insights
Following the preliminary research and interviews with college acquaintances. I synthesized the research into
three main pain points
Key Design Features
With the three main pain points outlined, solutions were proposed to influence the key design features and guide the overall design direction.
Overall Design Application
Personal finance is not the most entertaining thing to learn. The main challenge would also be integrating SEED into a rotation of apps that fight for Gen Z’s attention. The decision was to gamify personal finance.
Task Flow
Task flow was created to map the main design features and how a user would be expected to navigate while completing achievements.
Final Prototype
The final prototype features three key features.
The user is able to set a financial budget toward a goal
2. Complete the personal finance quizzes from Lendingtree academy
3. Reflect on recent purchases as good, neither, or regret
Completion of each challenge would earn the user Sunray to grow their personal plant avatar of choice. As the plant evolves it will eventually bloom and die to unlock a new plant seed for the next month.
