Leading the digital transformation of a $750B portfolio
Transforming a "captive audience" platform into a high-engagement ecosystem for 2.6M homeowners.
Client
Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC
Industry
Fintech
Role
Design Leadership
Secondary role
Product Design
Date
Location
Remote
Measurable business impact
I led the transition from a conceptual design vision to a proactive ecosystem that drove significant engagement and retention gains.
Metric | Outcome |
|---|---|
Loan Originations | Drove a 24% increase in originations by transforming the dashboard into a proactive lead-generation engine. |
Business Growth | Achieved a 5x increase in the HELOAN business within six months of launch, capturing >50% of current originations. |
Engagement | Outperformed baseline monthly engagement by 10% through a high-trust ecosystem strategy. |
Risk Mitigation | Spearheaded enterprise-wide WCAG compliance, protecting a ~$750B mortgage portfolio from significant legal and regulatory risk. |
I was brought in to elevate and operationalize the frog (agency) design concepts.
From agency vision to effective business driver
I inherited a "skeleton" of a vision from an external agency. While the concept was ambitious, it lacked the systemic foundation, accessibility and legal compliance required for a large-scale financial platform. My strategy was to move beyond this high-level vision and build a production-ready ecosystem that could safely and effectively manage 2.6 million homeowner relationships.
Reclaiming the customer relationship: Our business goal was to reclaim the customer relationship from third-party sub-servicers. We migrated users to our proprietary dashboard where we could inform them of their real-time home equity and engage around financial needs. By surfacing this data, we turned the dashboard into a high-value advisory tool that drove engagement with our mortgage, insurance, and realty products and services.
Strategic onboarding: To ensure a high-trust experience, we implemented a targeted rollout strategy. We used specific qualifiers to ensure that only customers whose data and loan types were fully supported could access the dashboard. This prevented users from encountering broken experiences or data gaps, protecting the integrity of the Lakeview brand from day one.
Solving the identity gap: Initially, customers were confused by the transition from their sub-servicer to our dashboard, which was originally branded as "Fastlane." Feedback showed that users didn't realize Fastlane and Lakeview were the same company, creating a trust barrier during the loan application process.
I led a multi-year brand evolution to bridge this gap:Phase 1 (Fastlane): Rebranded and refined agency concept.
Phase 2 (Lakeview Powered by Fastlane): Introducing the parent brand to establish trust.
Phase 3 (Lakeview Digital): A sophisticated, unified identity that aligned with the parent company while modernizing the digital experience.
Building value: In addition to integrating a broad range of Lakeview services, we introduced third-party value-adds (Ownwell, Kukun, RefiRadar) to help homeowners save money and plan renovations, directly linking homeowner goals to Lakeview’s financial products.
Customers were educated about their home equity loan options and always provided with a clear path to in-person support.
Scaling excellence through DesignOps
I didn't just lead a project; I built a high-performing department. I hired and operationalized a multi-disciplinary team while keeping my own design skills sharp.
Building a specialized UX organization: I hired and mentored a specialized UX organization spanning User Research, Brand Design, Design Systems, and Application UX. Through the leadership of these domain experts, I transformed the design function into a proactive strategic partner.
Establishing a Design System: I established 'Purple Rain' design system and managed its project and creative direction to significantly increase the Design team's speed and accuracy. It simplified the handoff to our engineering partners and cut down on the time spent on rework. This scalable foundation was the primary engine that later allowed us to unify multiple brands under the Lakeview Digital identity.
AI-forward DesignOps: I encouraged the use of AI tools to speed up our design process from start to finish. By using it to simplify research, as well as generate and validate new ideas, we reduced the time spent on manual execution. This shift allowed us to focus on high-quality design outcomes and the creative work that truly moves the needle for the business.
Custom-built, tokenized design system enabled accellerated delivery and engineering handoff.
