SoFi: Credit Score Simulator

Objective

Capitalize on our credit score tracker’s success

Our credit score tracker’s launch was smashing company records left and right and we were only getting started. We wanted to expand on the basic functionality of tracking members’ credit scores and credit factors to offer a more competitive product.

Initial Research

Interviewed members, looked at competitors, and strategized

We began by conducting in-depth interviews with our members, looking at customer feedback channels, speaking with our partners at TransUnion (one of the top 3 credit bureaus in the US), and assessing business needs.
‍

Findings

We found the sweet spot between user needs, business needs, and technological capabilities

• Members wanted a way to see what financial decisions would benefit them the most.
• SoFi wanted to customize members’ experiences based on their needs.
• We had access to a myriad of credit planning tools through our partnership with TransUnion.

Solution

A what-if machine for your credit score

Our proposed solution was a credit score simulator: an educational tool that could simulate members’ credit scores under a variety of scenarios.

This would allow users to predict what would happen to their credit score if they took certain actions (e.g. taking out a loan).

By knowing what questions members had, SoFi could serve members more relevant content and products
‍

Iterating in Lo-fi

Creating the simulator hub

Creating an inviting experience for the hub was paramount. Users loved our credit score tool’s focus on education, so we tried to infuse elements of that here.
‍

Balancing info-density and brevity in the simulator header

The simulator header was arguably the most important part of the whole experience. Making sure that it communicated enough information while still being easy to read was a fun balancing act.

Prototyping and User Testing in Hi-fi

Letting our users tell us which approach is more helpful

After whittling down our options, we were left with two contenders for the hub design and simulator pages:

• Option A: An education-focused experience with a persistent typographic header.
• Option B: An experience more focused on giving context to a user’s credit score.
  ‍

Our team was split on which design to move forward with, so we included a preference test in our usability studies.

Findings

Users loved the tool, but our design variants tied in the preference test

Users were able to complete all of the tasks given to them during the usability study. However, they were split when it came time to choose between the simulator designs:

• Users loved the educational focus of variant A.
• They also liked how we gave them an actual number as to how much their credit score had changed in Variant A.
• Users did not, however, like the persistent header in variant A. Instead, they preferred the colorful header of variant B.

Results

Combine the best parts of both variants  

We took the aspects users loved about each variant and combined them into one experience.

‍

Launching with a MVP

In the spirit of learning and iteration, we first released a MVP before rolling out the entire feature

Our MVP would focus on simulating one credit scenario and would be linked to from the credit factor details page as well as our home page’s news feed. We would then take the learnings from that MVP and apply them to launching the full product.

Final Designs

Our North Star designs and what we’re working toward

Impact

Increased engagement on credit score monitoring and positive user feedback

Since its launch, the simulator has driven continued interest in our credit monitoring product and continues to be a favorite among hardcore Relay users.