Akouba - SMB Loan Origination Platform

User Experience Design

Product Overview

Akouba is a secure cloud-based, white-labelled SaaS platform designed to simplify the small business loan application and underwriting process. It is built on a .NET platform with Vue.js for frontend, reusable components. The product is mobile responsive and WCAG compliant. Akouba is configured during implementation to meet the financial institution's lending principles.

Product Goals

Allow the user to apply for a small business loan in less than 20 minutes

Support complex business entity structures, unlike our competitors

Streamline the underwriting process to minimize Client's cost, institutional risk, and maximize approval rates

Enable our clients control over their unique decisioning rules, pricing, credit policy, risk metrics, and loan amounts

Ensure that all users, Borrowers and Lenders, have an informed and smooth experience utilizing Akouba

The sitemap below illustrates all of the screens that make up the Borrower portion of the Akouba platform. The goal of the UI redesign was to simplify the perception of the process so that users will be less intimidated and more likely to complete the application process.

Review the Original Borrower Product

We based the Borrower application portal on a question and answer flow, similar to conversations an applicant would have with a Lender in person. The left side bar displays the major "modules" of the application so the applicant can anticipate what will come next and wayfind if they need to gather additional information and return to a particular module.

Traditionally, Loan Officers underwrite their loan deals manually in spreadsheets and with pen and paper. The average Lender is juggling up to 30 loan applications at a time. Akouba's loan underwriting tool allows Lenders to underwrite all of their deals in one place with the help of automated information processing and a streamlined process.

Application Dashboard

The application dashboard makes it simple for Lenders to find applications at any stage in the process. Loans can be found in the system as soon as an application is initiated, however an application is not assigned to a Lender until it moves to the Complete Application loan status.

Application Overview

Once a Lender selects a loan application on the dashboard, they are navigated to the application overview. This page summarizes where in the process the application stands; it allows the Lender to tell at a glance what information is still pending, collateral and purchase information, and any notes associated with the deal. From here, the Lender can drill deeper.

Analysis Card

Within the Analysis card is the real "meat and potatoes" of the loan deal. At this point, the application is complete and verified to not be fraudulent. This is where the Lender analyzes the viability of the deal. We strived to reuse familiar components where possible so that the Lender would experience as little friction as possible.

Terms Builder

The Terms Builder is a unique component within the Lender Underwriting Tool; calculating terms of a loan is a complex process requiring several integrations and configurations. I designed this "dashboard" where the Lender could enter information needed in a clear, concise manner that could be adjusted to create multiple scenarios to present to the applicant.

My Contributions

When I joined the Velocity Solutions development team, the company was exploring ways to make the existing Akouba platform functional and modern. The product was not working as expected and there was a long list of clients who had already signed contracts. I collaborated with our CTO, Product Owner, ScrumMaster, Business Systems Analysts, and Developers to lay the groundwork for Akouba.

Initially, we decided to focus on the online loan application service and we partnered with a design consultancy to start building low fidelity wireframes based on our exploratory exercises. After our 6 month engagement ended, I carried on as our sole designer and built out high fidelity mockups and flows for new feature functionality. We began building out the internal loan underwriting portion of the platform and it was exciting to learn about risk metrics, credit policy, loan statuses, and complex entity structures.

I had the opportunity to obtain my ScrumMaster certification, hire and train another designer, introduce standard UX design tools, and build an independent UX Design team within the organization. Today, Akouba is a fully shipped product with active users and a robust design system. As a team, we support the UX/UI needs of our entire portfolio of products.