Home Loan App Product Design: Pick a User, Map the Journey, Set Metrics

Design a mortgage app. Choose whom it serves, identify the problems it should solve along the home-loan process, decide what to build first, and explain how you would measure success. ```hint Walk the loan timeline A mortgage unfolds over weeks, from working out a budget to closing, followed by years of payments. Find the stage where your chosen user faces the most uncertainty or delay. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the app for borrowers, for lenders and their loan officers, or for both sides of the same loan? Is that choice mine? - Are we a lender that originates the loans, or a marketplace that connects borrowers with lenders? - Which market and which loans: home purchases, refinancing or both, and in which country? - Should the app also cover the life of the loan after closing, such as monthly payments? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A deliberate choice between borrowers, lenders and loan officers, and the business model behind the app - The mortgage journey mapped into stages, with the pain points that matter most for the chosen user - Prioritized features that remove those pain points, and what stays manual or human - A north-star metric with guardrails for loan quality, fraud and compliance - Risks specific to lending: sensitive financial data, fair-lending rules, fraud and rate swings ### Follow-up Questions - How would the design change if you built for loan officers at a small lender instead of borrowers? - Mortgage rates rise sharply and purchase applications slump. How should the product and its roadmap respond? - How would you keep personalized nudges and offers from steering borrowers in ways that break fair-lending rules?