Loana came into existence to cater to individuals living in Nigeria in need of personal and business loans. It is very simple, all one needs is a steady income and a bank account, provide some personal information during the registration process and your loan is disbursed to your credit profile.

I was called onboard as the sole product designer for digitizing Loana’s money lending business, I was responsible for User Research and User Experience Design.

Upon commencement of this project, I had a general understanding of how loans worked, but to deliver a user-centered web application, it was paramount that I became fully versed in the world of "credit"

I learnt so much from my immersion into this topic and my key takeaways which were the foundation I created Loana on were;

Users had no way of knowing the loan amounts they were eligible for which led to a lot of declined loan requests.

Users had a hard time figuring out how interest rates and payback amounts worked.

Users were very skeptical about trusting their money and personal information with new products because of rampant online financial scams, why it is essential to design a platform that evokes trusts.

Once I had gathered all this information, it was time to translate them into practical ideas that the users will enjoy.

Make the users comfortable with an easy sign-up process.

Removing unnecessary steps in the loan application process.

Educating the users by explaining what every step means.

I ensured the sign up process was really easy and quick to complete, I did not want to overwhelm any user and make them abandon the product.

Users will be able to apply for instant loans with no hassle with this simple flow. Choose “loan reason”, provide personal details and submit! Feedback of a user’s loan request is returned within the hour.

Users are able to manage their accounts from their dashboards, can view their loans, view repayments schedule, contact support and apply for a new loan or topup.

Creating a project like this was very interesting and it reinforced how important user research is and how impactful user centered design decisions are. Great design decisions can be the one thing that elevates a good product to a great one.

Key Problems solved with this design;

Now that this business is digitized, it removes the burden on admin staff that have to onboard lenders manually. The staff can put this time into managing the accounts from the comfort of their office or houses.

Users are now informed of the amount they are eligible to borrow, this eliminates uncertainty and loan application rejections.

The disbursements of funds time has been reduced.

How a website is presented is very important, this will ensure you gain users trust early, their trust is the determining factor to them using and loving your product.

Unfortunately, the app is yet to go live, once it does, I will update this case study with the website link.