Maxwell - QuickPricer Mortgage Pricing Tool
Maxwell was a mortgage startup providing services and a platform for third-party mortgage brokers. Brokers could manage their mortgage pipeline from lead generation to application to closing. However, Maxwell needed to catch up to its competitors, who had product and engineering teams three times the size at the time. We had to be ruthless about what we prioritized, and it wasn't enough to deliver; we had to be innovative and differentiating.
The Problem
Maxwell's pricing tools were rudimentary and lackluster, long a sore spot at the company. Pricing is one of the most common activities that mortgage bankers and brokers will do daily, and the pricing tools they had developed previously needed better usability (every field was full-width and dropdowns) and needed to be shared easily with borrowers.
They had lost several potential and existing clients to competitors who were able to invest heavily in their pricing tools. It wouldn't be enough to slap on a coat of paint and some flashy animation - it needed to show potential clients that Maxwell had much interesting tech under the hood, and it was worth putting their eggs in the Maxwell basket.
We had a big client meeting in two weeks, and our CEO discussed a new pricing tool...
The Research
Week 1 was all about research and strategy. I interviewed several mortgage brokers about how they discussed pricing with borrowers and how they used it to close the deal.
Some insights I learned:
Brokers use a lot of common tactics when talking to borrowers for the first few times. Rapport building, discovering goals, and exploring options.
There can be a breakdown between borrowers liking a pricing scenario and getting them to apply. The broker could lose a borrower between getting off the call, pricing out scenarios, and attempting contact again.
Some would keep easy access to notes about a borrower's situation so that way they could contextualize whenever they spoke to them ("Let's get you that new back patio.")
After speaking to engineering about ideas I had in week 2, I prototyped several options, validated them with my brokers, and finalized a design before the big client meeting.
The Design
QuickPricer Interface
I wanted to ensure that QuickPricer (the CEO loved to brand everything) was a conversational tool; if it could be used *during* borrower phone calls, then the time between calls used for pricing could be reduced significantly, or eliminated entirely. We saved data entry in real-time, so brokers never had to worry about whether they captured information. They could always pick up where they left off.
I leveraged button groups where appropriate. Dropdown selectors are nice, but being able to expose all the options in a selection group means it's easier to scan and select, and the click reduction can be helpful. Larger target areas (thank you, Fitt's law) also mean faster interactions.
Brokers could switch between multiple pricing engines within the same interface, even switching between them depending on the scenarios they built out for their borrowers.
While the QuickPricer tool didn't need to be responsive, we ensured the design was compact enough to worry on various devices at 1080px.
Borrower Scenario Sharing Interface
While QuickPricer didn't need to be responsive, I knew borrowers would view scenarios on their phones, so we included mobile breakpoints in the designs.
I wanted to ensure scenarios were actionable for the borrower, rather than purely informational. Using our 'voice of the lender' module approach (having the interface speak on behalf of employees at the brokerage or lender), borrowers could easily apply if they liked a scenario or view the contact information for the broker they were working with.
The result
"This is so cool. When do we get to use it?" The new client was ecstatic and signed on with Maxwell. QuickPricer became a broker favorite feature of the Maxwell platform, to the point where it's now a highlighted feature of the platform on their website (https://himaxwell.net/products/maxwell-point-of-sale/quickpricer/)
