Empathize Phase
Empathize Phase
I started the empathize phase of Project Credit Bloom with research by interviewing 7 diverse individuals from different backgrounds - everyone from an immigrant student to a well-respected BSA Director. I made sure to screen each interviewee that they were in interested in monitoring and/or improving their credit or have done so in the past.
In order to gauge where each individual was at in their credit journey, I asked open ended questions to obtain the most data possible from each interview. I also made sure to gauge what each individual specifically knew about the credit scoring system, the credit bureaus involved in those scores, and what makes their score go up or down.
To my surprise, the knowledge of the credit scoring system was completely vague. And not many participants knew what exactly impacted their score. The most common answer I received was “If you pay your credit cards your score goes up, and if you don’t it goes down.”
Another common response was “Only individuals who have money have a good score and can borrow money.”
Next, I also asked questions about their motivations to improve their credit score or monitor their report to get a sense of why they wanted to.
After gathering my responses from my interviews, I compiled the data to create 3 USER PERSONAS and USER STORIES. Those personas and stories are listed below.
USER PERSONAS & USER STORIES
To better empathize with my user and design with intention, I developed 3 distinct personas based on patterns that emerged across all user interviews. I synthesized qualitative data to identify common behaviors, goals, and frustrations. Then crafted personas that reflect shared mindsets rather than isolated situations.
Each persona includes details such as age, lifestyle, hobbies, primary financial goals, and key pain points. These personas helped ground my design decisions later on in the case study and served as a constant reminder of who I am designing for and why.
My first user persona is High School Algebra Teacher David Samuels, age 32 who is trying to improve his credit to purchase a starter home for his growing family.
My second user persona is Design Student Jennifer Chang, age 21 who is trying to build her credit from scratch so she can have the best chance at financial success here in the United States.
My third user persona is Banking Manager Charlotte Evans, 41 who is trying to pay down her debts so she can launch a new business venture.
While each persona has different end goals, scenarios, and pain points my ultimate goal with the app design and functionality is to meet the most pressing pain points at the current moment. Future app iterations can add in or amend other functions or design.
User Story: As a new husband, I want to increase my credit score to 750 in less than 12 months so that I can qualify for lower interest rates to buy a home and vehicle for my growing family.
User Story: As a busy career woman who wants to start a makeup business, I want to easily track my credit health while paying down $30k in debts so that I can feel more in control of my finances.
CREDIT BUREAU RESEARCH
Since my initial research uncovered a low percentage of users that had a difficult time understanding what credit was, how it was calculated, what it all entailed, and how to improve it, I felt it was important to include in my research the factors that impact one’s credit score and credit history. This would be the benchmark for later phases in the case study and help me greatly in the ideation and design phases to build out the best functional app that would help users the most.
In my research I discovered two types of credit scoring models: FICO (the more well-known one) and VantageScore.
FICO is calculated based on 5 criteria: Payment history (35% of score), Accounts owed (30%), Length of credit history (15%), Credit mix (10%), and New Credit (10%).
VantageScore is calculated on 6 criteria: Payment history (40%), Depth of credit (31%), Credit utilization (20%), Balances (11%), Recent credit (5%), and Available credit (3%).
The credit scoring system starts to get complicated when you begin to compare FICO and VantageScore. The 3 major credit bureaus report FICO numbers, however each bureau is allowed to report the scores differently using their own models. VantageScore places importance on payment history, while FICO focuses on credit usage.
No wonder users have a difficult time navigating a system that seems inconsistent and confusing. The credit scoring models can also get confusing because each of the 3 credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) can have drastically different scores for the same person based on the same information.
USER JOURNEY MAPS
User Story: As a college student with no credit score yet, I want to easily understand how to build my credit in the right ways now so that I can responsibly manage my credit in the long run.
User journey maps are on the way to illustrate the end-to-end experience of managing credit for the user; all from confusion to confidence. I will use these maps to identify pain points, moments of opportunity, and emotional highs and lows, ensuring the final design addresses both functional and emotional needs at every step.
COMING SOON!