Case Study
FICO Score Planner
Empower users to achieve their credit goals.
Credit insights and personalized plans to help consumers track and achieve their goals.
May 2023
Product Design Lead
Product Owner, Researchers, TPM, Developers
We had an opportunity to acquire a customer from a competitor, but the competitor had one feature we lacked. FICO Score Planner enables an individual to select a FICO Score goal and timeframe to achieve it. The algorithm analyzes an individual’s current score, credit report, and other inputs to produce a set of actions consumers could take to reach their goal. We added this feature to our platform to secure the deal.
On an aggressive timeline, leverage FICO's existing API for a new product that helps users set and achieve a credit score goal while being more engaging than competitors' offerings.
The Product Owner had recently transitioned from a senior developer role, so he was very familiar with our products, but this was his first experience participating in the Design process. Fortunately, our communication was very good, and the Discovery process went smoothly. A few things I uncovered were:
My first step was to study the API documentation to understand the inputs, outputs, and content. Then I moved on to do a competitive analysis and design audit.
Next, I conducted a heuristic evaluation of competitors’ products that uncovered numerous opportunities for improvement. Our competitors approached the issue from several different angles. Two used a dragging motion in a novel way that I initially struggled to understand; at least two eliminated user options and auto-selected the shortest (and most aggressive) time frame for you, while others were text-heavy and lacked visual interest. When checking your progress, it wasn't easy to ascertain how you were doing at a glance. Some were even wholly static after setting an initial score, providing no feedback for up to a year.
Lastly, I audited our component library to maintain consistency and possibly leverage existing components in the new design.
I initially delivered two design approaches: one that utilized a modal input form (as was our standard for user data collection) and a new, inline two-step progressive disclosure interface. We tested both, and while they performed similarly, we opted for the progressive disclosure format because our library lacked this pattern. Its lighter weight better suited the short, two-step user flow.
We then conducted two design and usability testing iterations before proceeding to Development.
We had an existing user preference that allowed the user to input an arbitrary credit score that, when reached, would trigger an email to them. This feature was not linked to the score goal in the new feature and would likely cause confusion.
I recommended that we add logic to the existing user preference to determine if the user’s subscription included the new product and, if it did, to display an alternate UI. The alternate UI would disable the arbitrary score input and provide a link to the FICO Score Planner flow. After the user enters a score goal, it will populate the input on the preferences page.
I repurposed our existing score chart to add visual interest and enable the user to see their progress at a glance. I modified it by adding a horizontal line representing the user's target score.
Some time prior, I noticed a design issue in the score chart and entered a change ticket into our backlog. The designer of the original chart had truncated the score range to save vertical space. Having the full context would significantly improve users' understanding of where their scores fell within the entire range. Since we would be making a new variant of the chart, I took the opportunity to address the issue in both the old and new chart components.
FICO Score Planner is a simple two-step flow:
In the competitive review, I noticed that despite never having more than four timelines for the user to choose from, one competitor eliminated the option to choose and presented only one “best option.” Others forced users to select a timeline without showing how the resultant plans differed. Because the maximum four options would not be overwhelming, I opted not to presume what was best for them and to let them preview the plans before choosing.
One of the first things I noticed about our competitor's products was that once the user selected a score and plan, the product could be utterly static until the user reached their goal up to a full year later. Adding the chart remedied this, but I decided to go further: I wrote a simple calculation comparing the user's updated score to their current point on the timeline and wrote encouraging header text that reflected their progress.
Key learnings include the importance of competitive analysis and focusing on UX improvements as a differentiator. We acquired a new partner through effective collaboration, strategic decision-making, and incremental UX improvements to existing components.
Back to homepage
