Prosper was founded in 2005 as the first peer-to-peer lending marketplace in the United States. Since then, Prosper has facilitated more than $23 billion in loans to more than 1,400,000 people. Through Prosper, people can invest in each other in a way that is financially and socially rewarding. Borrowers apply online for a fixed-rate, fixed-term loan between $2,000 and $50,000. Individuals and institutions can invest in the loans and earn attractive returns.

Our primary objective in this project was to reimagine the customer journey for personal loans, transitioning from the traditional web-based platform to a native mobile experience.

Problem statement
In the evolving digital landscape, personal loan customers are increasingly seeking seamless, on-the-go solutions. The current journey, centered around a traditional web-based platform, may not cater to the needs and expectations of a mobile-first user base. There is a pressing need to assess and redesign the customer journey, ensuring it aligns with the convenience, intuitiveness, and accessibility inherent in a native mobile experience.

Design process
I was the sole designer, collaborating with a project manager, a UX writer, an engineering manager, and mobile developers.

I began with research and discovery, where I conducted user interviews to understand existing pain points, performed market analysis to gauge competitor standards, and created user personas to represent diverse customer needs. Once I had gathered these insights, I compiled and prioritized the required features and functionalities for the mobile platform. From there, I moved into prototyping, starting with low-fidelity sketches to map out basic user journeys, and eventually developed high-fidelity prototypes using Figma as my primary tool. The next step was usability testing; I recruited a diverse group of users to test my prototype gathered their feedback through the UserTesting.com platform, and iteratively refined the design.

Insights & pain points

• Our tests indicate that a notable percentage of our mobile app users are young individuals seeking subprime loans for the first time.

• Participants want to preview their loan eligibility and potential interest rate range before applying.

• Even after investing considerable time and effort into completing an application, a user may ultimately be deemed ineligible for a loan due to their credit history.

• Participants seek a more streamlined process to submit documents.

Design solutions

• Introducing the 'Check Eligibility' option: This feature allows users to input basic information via a concise quiz. In return, they can quickly determine their eligibility and receive an estimated range for their interest rate before they apply.

• Implement a document scanning feature, allowing users to directly scan their documents using the Prosper app on their phones, eliminating the need for manual uploads.