Case study
+150% mortgage renewals
Table of contents
Project context →
(Back to) Phase 0 →
Messaging evolution →
Challenging stakeholders →
Conclusion and results →
Project context
The need: a bank was concerned that a large cohort of pre-pandemic mortgage buyers would panic at their renewal period due to higher, post-pandemic rates—jeopardizing long-term relationships (and revenue).
The goal: to mitigate or eliminate the shock of higher interest rates for pre-pandemic home buyers approaching their first mortgage renewal.
The plan: the marketing team would create an email drip campaign that would send customers to an educational web page created by the UX team.
(Back to) Phase 0
Reframing requirements ↓
Research insights ↓
Reframing the requirements
Contribution level:
Leader
The brief materials we received from the Marketing team left a lot to be desired. The proposed outline we received was chock full of financial lingo and unvalidated assumptions.
Marketing wanted to frame the experience according to how the bank processed mortgage renewals.
I proposed a new outline that reframed the experience to show users where, when, and how to make mortgage renewals work in their favour—one step at a time.
Distilling research into insights
Contribution level:
Partner
I gathered 3 sources of existing UX research:
- Third-party industry reports
- Previous internal UX research studies
- Recent user interviews from a parallel project*
Then I uncovered these insights:
People viewed banks as untrustworthy—not advisors. Trust had to be earned.
Most users wanted to know how their mortgage payments would fit into a monthly budget.
Half of users didn't know the difference between mortgage renewal vs. refinancing.
*These interviews covered the American market, but this project was for the Canadian market. I cautiously included the strongest consumer psychology insights from the American markets to supplement our research efforts here, making up for the lack of time and research budget.
Messaging evolution
Outline to wireframe ↓
First iteration ↓
Divergent stakeholders ↓
Outline to wireframe
Contribution level:
Leader
I created an outline based on these principles, developed from research insights:
Earn trust through transparency and simplicity before pitching anything.
Positioning mortgage renewal "with the bank you know," since about half of users buy and renew from institutions where they have existing relationships.
Disarming financial anxieties tied to rate increases, hidden housing costs, and the consequences of missed payments.
Ordering the messages and major interactive elements made tactical messaging decisions clearer and faster.
First iteration
Contribution level:
Partner
Our first complete iteration followed this flow:
- Defining and demystifying mortgage renewals.
- High-level mortgage renewal tips (what users expect to read).
- Clarifying mortgage renewal from refinancing.
- Offering reasons to renew with this bank, including payment flexibility options.
- Mortgage renewal calculator and FAQs.
I leaned on my Product Design partner as a financial subject matter expert here, since he used to work as a bank service advisor. It helped immensely to clarify product nuances and to supplement my research.
Diverging stakeholder interpretations
Contribution level:
Partner
I designed the content to educate customers rather than aggressively converting them, as the brief requested. Our Product team disagreed with that approach.
We learned the Product team held a project kickoff without the UX team, which—while unsporting—led us to believe they held new information that superseded the brief.
In an effort to harmonize our efforts with the Product team, we adapted the page for a conversion-first focus.
That led our stakeholders to believe we had ignored their requirements.
My key lesson here: always verify stakeholder intent directly and document conversations like these.
Reviews and stakeholder navigation
Rebuilding stakeholder relations ↓
Managing reviews ↓
Response strategy ↓
Rebuilding stakeholder relations
Contribution level:
Leader
The Marketing team was visibly upset that we had created a conversion-oriented page instead of an educational one. With no explanation for why the Product team redirected us away from the brief, the Marketing team reported the situation to their leaders.
My partner and I worked to rebuild that relationship by accommodating a high volume of feedback amid increasingly aggressive behaviour.
To that end, we created time and space for the Marketing team to articulate their viewpoints—and we discovered that they had conducted client listening calls.
We didn't receive those reports (we asked), but we did glimpse the stress they felt about the project. We continued de-escalating in review sessions while delivering on their feedback to keep the project on track.
Managing the review cycle
Contribution level:
Leader
The Marketing team increased the volume and granularity of their feedback with each round, so I responded with a simple strategy:
Accept 80% of feedback to demonstrate cooperation, delivered in 1-2 days.
Uphold major structural and messaging decisions to preserve the overall experience.
For the user experience, this meant:
- Truly educating on product fundamentals.
- Earning trust before saying "renew with us."
- Keeping an approachable and informative tone.
This showed our stakeholders (and all eyes on the project) that we took their feedback seriously.
Leading a response strategy
Contribution level:
Leader
Cooperation and accommodation alone did not convince the stakeholders to progress the project, so I looped in my UX leaders to advise.
Here's how we worked through it:
I led a response strategy session with my Manager and Director.
I shared parts of my work board to show the sheer volume of feedback (which my leaders could share in back channel conversations).
I equipped my UX leaders with my research and Phase 0 work to show their peers that we had business goals in mind.
It worked. Our stakeholders eased up, letting us ship the new experience—and the results were excellent.
Conclusion
Results ↓
Building the practice ↓
Reflection ↓
Results
26% sign-in rate
This was an educational page, not a conversion page. Earning user trust the right way spurred action.
186% started mortgage renewals
vs. the actual "renewal" product page. making users feel safe, informed, and in control paid off.
150% completed mortgage renewals
also vs. the "renewal" product page. We noticed a much higher drop-off rate—setting expectations clearly helped.
Building the Content Design practice
Phase 0 Project Guidelines
I turned my experience into a project kickoff framework for other Content Designers to independently assess project opportunities, risks, and relationships.
Stakeholder feedback model
I created a matrix for the UX team to scope feedback from every major stakeholder group, letting the team set expectations and run faster reviews—with better stakeholder relations.
Reflection
User trust powered success
The experience delivered on the promise to teach users how mortgage renewals worked before asking for anything. Our success demonstrated that earning trust is half the challenge.
Imperfect research still drives good results
Using patchwork research put the project much further ahead than relying on stakeholder assumptions. Even research from a different market still helped immensely, when handled with caution.
Trust partners, but verify
Given a do-over, I would reach out to the stakeholders directly before starting the work. This would have fixed the misalignment at the start, saving time and energy for everyone.
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