Design by Lizz | itsHome

My role:

Senior UX Designer - Product & Growth

My team:

Junior designer (x1), Two cross-functional agile teams

Timeframe:

2022 - 2023

My Challenge:

To create not just a brand that would evoke feelings of financial empowerment, but also an interactive web-based application that would allow users the ability to take control of their mortgage experience while reducing the intimidation of home-buying.

Imagining a new brand

Catering to consumers, not just transactions.

When it comes to the financial technology space, you will often find brands that cater to the transaction instead of the people who use it. With itsHome, I wanted to change that. My goal was to have users imagine that they were comfortably in their dream home and that the stress of the complexity of home buying could just melt away. After laying the research groundwork into everything from logo to colors, it was time to start building the brand.

I achieved this by incorporating:

Illustrated iconography that informs but also creates a disarming environment.

Rounded container and button edges to convey a sense of safety and security.

An easily recognizable logo that helps users visualize their goals.

Calming cool tone color palettes with a splash of warm, motivating orange.

Creating & growing the experience

End-to-end product design.

With itsHome being a new brand, I had a fresh slate from which to build. It was absolutely paramount that the experience users had on itsHome stood out against the historically bland background of the mortgage marketplace. In order to achieve this, I needed to create a unified user experience ecosystem that provided value at every interaction.

What this UX ecosystem was for itsHome:

A personalized, account based web application experience that kept users engaged, interested, and retained.

Calculators, checklists, and wish-lists tailored to the user experience on a more personal and relatable level.

Exciting dashboards and data tracking interfaces that are easy to digest and are helpful to the user advancing in their journey.

A united experience across lead-form, logged-in, and learning center interactions.

A phased approach to scalability.

When starting from nothing, you can’t start testing or monetizing until you have at least something out in the marketplace. In order to reach itsHome’s “something,” a phased approach was taken to help break into the marketplace more quickly, allow time for user testing, and to adapt to the rapidly changing mortgage marketplace.

Through this approach, we gained the following:

The ability to start analyzing user behavior and conduct usability research earlier on in the development process, which allowed us to adjust design and product strategy for the most impact.

Start generating valuable SEO ranking as early as Alpha.

Allowed our team to make wins more incrementally instead of operating on assumptions which leads to more risk.

An ever-evolving product that better matched the changing environment and emotions of the present home-buying climate.

Home buying, gamified.

Gamification is more valuable than ever. From social media to fitness tracker apps, it is present in many of our digital interactions to help keep us engaged. We all know that very few people find finances or mortgages “fun,” but itsHome aimed to change just that by:

Creating a step-by-step guide on how to buy a home, that broke down the process into easily-to-follow tasks and action items.

Impletmenting a reward or “celebration” system that played into positive psychology through messaging and animation.

Clear progress tracking that helped not just visualize their goals but actively work to achieve them.

A disarming data input system that made a user’s home buying preferences, wants, needs, as well as personal information, more accessible and organized during their journey (while also gathering valuable data points).

In conclusion

itsHome finally made home buying feel like a reality.

Owning a home had felt out of reach by so many, but itsHome helped change that perception. User feedback and engagement proved that the brand resonated as “fun”, “whimsical”, and “easy”, which helped take the stress out of planning for one of life’s most important investments. Even with itsHome launching as interest rates were rising across America, it still gave hope to many prospective first-time home buyers, a demographic which is seldomly addressed in the marketplace. The brand addressed the uneasiness and anxiety that plagued the mortgage industry and addressed the needs of users on a personal level.

While this brand was sunsetted in 2023 as our parent company, Rocket Mortgage, went through organizational changes, it still was able to improve the lives of many.

My role:

Senior UX Designer - Product & Growth

My team:

Junior designer (x1), Two cross-functional agile teams

Timeframe:

2022 - 2023

My Challenge:

To create not just a brand that would evoke feelings of financial empowerment, but also an interactive web-based application that would allow users the ability to take control of their mortgage experience while reducing the intimidation of home-buying.

Imagining a new brand

Catering to consumers, not just transactions.

When it comes to the financial technology space, you will often find brands that cater to the transaction instead of the people who use it. With itsHome, I wanted to change that. My goal was to have users imagine that they were comfortably in their dream home and that the stress of the complexity of home buying could just melt away. After laying the research groundwork into everything from logo to colors, it was time to start building the brand.

I achieved this by incorporating:

Illustrated iconography that informs but also creates a disarming environment.

Rounded container and button edges to convey a sense of safety and security.

An easily recognizable logo that helps users visualize their goals.

Calming cool tone color palettes with a splash of warm, motivating orange.

Creating & growing the experience

End-to-end product design.

With itsHome being a new brand, I had a fresh slate from which to build. It was absolutely paramount that the experience users had on itsHome stood out against the historically bland background of the mortgage marketplace. In order to achieve this, I needed to create a unified user experience ecosystem that provided value at every interaction.

What this UX ecosystem was for itsHome:

A personalized, account based web application experience that kept users engaged, interested, and retained.

Calculators, checklists, and wish-lists tailored to the user experience on a more personal and relatable level.

Exciting dashboards and data tracking interfaces that are easy to digest and are helpful to the user advancing in their journey.

A united experience across lead-form, logged-in, and learning center interactions.

A phased approach to scalability.

When starting from nothing, you can’t start testing or monetizing until you have at least something out in the marketplace. In order to reach itsHome’s “something,” a phased approach was taken to help break into the marketplace more quickly, allow time for user testing, and to adapt to the rapidly changing mortgage marketplace.

Through this approach, we gained the following:

The ability to start analyzing user behavior and conduct usability research earlier on in the development process, which allowed us to adjust design and product strategy for the most impact.

Start generating valuable SEO ranking as early as Alpha.

Allowed our team to make wins more incrementally instead of operating on assumptions which leads to more risk.

An ever-evolving product that better matched the changing environment and emotions of the present home-buying climate.

Home buying, gamified.

Gamification is more valuable than ever. From social media to fitness tracker apps, it is present in many of our digital interactions to help keep us engaged. We all know that very few people find finances or mortgages “fun,” but itsHome aimed to change just that by:

Creating a step-by-step guide on how to buy a home, that broke down the process into easily-to-follow tasks and action items.

Implementing a reward or “celebration” system that played into positive psychology through messaging and animation.

Clear progress tracking that helped not just visualize their goals but actively work to achieve them.

A disarming data input system that made a user’s home buying preferences, wants, needs, as well as personal information, more accessible and organized during their journey (while also gathering valuable data points).

In conclusion

itsHome finally made home buying feel like a reality.

Owning a home had felt out of reach by so many, but itsHome helped change that perception. User feedback and engagement proved that the brand resonated as “fun”, “whimsical”, and “easy”, which helped take the stress out of planning for one of life’s most important investments. Even with itsHome launching as interest rates were rising across America, it still gave hope to many prospective first-time home buyers, a demographic which is seldomly addressed in the marketplace. The brand addressed the uneasiness and anxiety that plagued the mortgage industry and addressed the needs of users on a personal level.

While this brand was sunsetted in 2023 as our parent company, Rocket Mortgage, went through organizational changes, it still was able to improve the lives of many.

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My role:

Senior UX Designer - Product & Growth

My team:

Junior designer (x1), Two cross-functional agile teams

Timeframe:

2022 - 2023

My Challenge:

To create not just a brand that would evoke feelings of financial empowerment, but also an interactive web-based application that would allow users the ability to take control of their mortgage experience while reducing the intimidation of home-buying.

Imagining a new brand

Catering to consumers, not just transactions.

When it comes to the financial technology space, you will often find brands that cater to the transaction instead of the people who use it. With itsHome, I wanted to change that. My goal was to have users imagine that they were comfortably in their dream home and that the stress of the complexity of home buying could just melt away. After laying the research groundwork into everything from logo to colors, it was time to start building the brand.

I achieved this by incorporating:

Illustrated iconography that informs but also creates a disarming environment.

Rounded container and button edges to convey a sense of safety and security.

An easily recognizable logo that helps users visualize their goals.

Calming cool tone color palettes with a splash of warm, motivating orange.

Creating & growing the experience

End-to-end product design.

With itsHome being a new brand, I had a fresh slate from which to build. It was absolutely paramount that the experience users had on itsHome stood out against the historically bland background of the mortgage marketplace. In order to achieve this, I needed to create a unified user experience ecosystem that provided value at every interaction.

What this UX ecosystem was for itsHome:

A personalized, account based web application experience that kept users engaged, interested, and retained.

Calculators, checklists, and wish-lists tailored to the user experience on a more personal and relatable level.

Exciting dashboards and data tracking interfaces that are easy to digest and are helpful to the user advancing in their journey.

A united experience across lead-form, logged-in, and learning center interactions.

A phased approach to scalability.

When starting from nothing, you can’t start testing or monetizing until you have at least something out in the marketplace. In order to reach itsHome’s “something,” a phased approach was taken to help break into the marketplace more quickly, allow time for user testing, and to adapt to the rapidly changing mortgage marketplace.

Through this approach, we gained the following:

The ability to start analyzing user behavior and conduct usability research earlier on in the development process, which allowed us to adjust design and product strategy for the most impact.

Start generating valuable SEO ranking as early as Alpha.

Allowed our team to make wins more incrementally instead of operating on assumptions which leads to more risk.

An ever-evolving product that better matched the changing environment and emotions of the present home-buying climate.

Home buying, gamified.

Gamification is more valuable than ever. From social media to fitness tracker apps, it is present in many of our digital interactions to help keep us engaged. We all know that very few people find finances or mortgages “fun,” but itsHome aimed to change just that by:

Creating a step-by-step guide on how to buy a home, that broke down the process into easily-to-follow tasks and action items.

Implementing a reward or “celebration” system that played into positive psychology through messaging and animation.

Clear progress tracking that helped not just visualize their goals but actively work to achieve them.

A disarming data input system that made a user’s home buying preferences, wants, needs, as well as personal information, more accessible and organized during their journey (while also gathering valuable data points).

In conclusion

itsHome finally made home buying feel like a reality.

Owning a home had felt out of reach by so many, but itsHome helped change that perception. User feedback and engagement proved that the brand resonated as “fun”, “whimsical”, and “easy”, which helped take the stress out of planning for one of life’s most important investments. Even with itsHome launching as interest rates were rising across America, it still gave hope to many prospective first-time home buyers, a demographic which is seldomly addressed in the marketplace. The brand addressed the uneasiness and anxiety that plagued the mortgage industry and addressed the needs of users on a personal level.

While this brand was sunsetted in 2023 as our parent company, Rocket Mortgage, went through organizational changes, it still was able to improve the lives of many.