U.S. Bank after mortgage payoff
After paying off a mortgage with U.S. Bank, you'll need to take several steps to ensure your property is free from the mortgage lien and to manage your property tax and insurance payments. U.S. Bank will handle the lien release and other administrative tasks, but you'll need to take proactive steps to handle property taxes and insurance.
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Impact: 53% reduction in call volume, Annual cost savings: $150K–$175K, and
Increased customer preference for the digital experience over mailed instructions.
Role
Lead Designer & Product Strategist
Timeline
2023-2024
Status
Contributions
Discover, Define, Design & Access
Live
Problem Statement
Customers seeking information on the next steps after mortgage payoff often rely on web searches or are unaware of the full process. While instructions are sent via mail, they are sometimes overlooked or missed, leading to confusion about the necessary actions.
Potential Solution
Provide comprehensive information about the mortgage payoff next steps on the U.S. Bank website (.com), ensuring customers have easy access to clear, step-by-step guidance without relying solely on mailed instructions.
Target Audience
Customers wanting to self-serve, digitally complete the remaining steps after making their final mortgage payment.
Desired Outcomes
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Call volume reduction.
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Increase customer self service.
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Improve customer experience/CSAT scores.
UX Scenarios
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Outline U.S. Bank and customer responsibilities to eliminate any confusion about roles and expectations.
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Provide a concise video recap to help customers gain a deeper understanding of the process.
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Include relevant FAQs to address common customer concerns and ensure clarity.
My Responsibilites
As a UX Designer, I led the entire design process from discovery to final evaluation:
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Discovery: Conducted user research, journey mapping, and competitor analysis. Collaborated with cross-functional teams and held design thinking workshops to uncover user needs. Developed personas to guide design decisions.
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Define: Turned research into actionable requirements, created user stories, and designed low-fidelity wireframes for early validation.
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Design: Produced high-fidelity designs following brand/UI guidelines. Led design reviews, added detailed annotations for development, and ensured WCAG accessibility compliance.
Assess: Presented designs for feedback, conducted usability testing, and refined designs based on insights.
Discover Phase
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The journey map helped identify customer pain points and areas for improvement, such as the convoluted responsibilities section.
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Shared insights with stakeholders to align on scope and goals.
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Developed a discovery flow diagram to map the mortgage experience before and after payoff, improving clarity and addressing the missing entry point for before payoff.
Define Phase
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Created low-fidelity wireframes and an interactive prototype, gathering stakeholder feedback.
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Iterated designs based on feedback to align with user and business needs.
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Collaborated with developers and product managers for design feasibility before high-fidelity stages.
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Ensured accessibility and clarity by working with the A11y team and content designer.
Design Phase
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Proposed a page for mortgage after payoff with quick recap video of the responsibilities followed by other sections.
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Aligned designs with other web pages for seamless journey.
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Created icons based on the title for customers to better understand the sections and make it consistent with other pages.
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Worked with accessibility team to align designs for screen readers and AEM for implementation
Page link: https://www.usbank.com/home-loans/mortgage/mortgage-account-management/after-mortgage-payoff.html
Assess Phase​
Goal: To assess the ease or difficulty customers face in navigating and understanding the mortgage payoff information on the .com site, identifying areas for improvement in clarity and user experience.
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Qualitative Research​
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Developed a test plan (questionnaire) in an unmoderated mode, desktop version.
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Questionnaire (e.g. Likert scales, rating scales, and both open and close-ended).
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Conducted with 50 participants (to see how seamless or confusing is the experience).
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Quantitative Research
Task 1: “Next steps after mortgage payoff” with video on the top.
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Participants found the title self explanatory, indicating the page was about mortgage payoff steps.
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The short description was concise and easy to understand.
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The jump-off link was preferred over video on the top since very few participants prefer to watch video.
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The grey background of the video created a clear contrast with the white page background, making it more accessible and easily distinguishable.
Task 2: Yours vs U.S. Bank responsibilities
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All participants found the distinction between customer and U.S. Bank responsibilities clear. One participant noted, “The different sections say it all.”
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The "U.S. Bank Mobile app or usbank.com" link was easily accessible, guiding users to the authenticated space for relevant information.
Task 3: Frequently asked question
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All participants confirmed that the FAQ content was short and concise.
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One of the participants commented: I’m happy to see these questions, since I had same questions in my mind.
Key Results
​Expectations: Met the goals
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53% reduction in call volume.
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Annual cost savings: $150K–$175K.
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Increased customer preference for the digital experience over mailed instructions.
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Key takeaways​
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Text Over Video: Customers prefer reading for brief content, so placing the video within the reading section made it more adaptable and reduced cognitive load.
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Clear Responsibility Breakdown: Clearly, differentiating U.S. Bank's and the customer's responsibilities helped prevent confusion.
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Jump Links: Enhancing navigation with jump links allowed customers to quickly find relevant information without excessive scrolling.