From paper to pixels: designing Pepper Money's first digital mortgage
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Pepper Money's mortgage application was a slow, manual process of paper forms and phone calls, leaving them behind their digitally savvy competitors. The challenge was to transform this entire experience into a simple, self-service online journey from the ground up. As the sole UX designer on the project, I was responsible for leading the end-to-end design, from initial discovery through to final validation and development support.
Team
I worked with a large, cross-functional team of product owners, project managers, business analysts, and developers from both Pepper Money and my own organisation.
Timeline
3 months (Discovery & Design) within a 9-month project to launch.
Tools
Figma, Miro
When the biggest hurdle is the paperwork
Applying for a mortgage is one of the most significant and stressful decisions in a person's life. At Pepper Money, this anxiety was amplified by an application process that was slow, manual, and inefficient. The entire journey was anchored to the call centre, where advisers had to navigate a maze of PDF forms and Excel spreadsheets, all of which had to be submitted for manual data entry.
This approach was not just frustratingly slow; it was inherently error-prone, leading to delays, repeated phone calls, and adding unnecessary stress to the borrower's experience. In a market where competitors were offering streamlined digital solutions, Pepper Money's paper-based process was a major competitive disadvantage.
The challenge was clear: to completely replace this outdated system. We needed to design Pepper Money’s first fully digital, self-service mortgage journey. A journey that would replace paperwork with peace of mind and give control back to the customer.
THE CHALLENGE
From manual chaos to digital clarity
To succeed, the new digital journey needed to do more than just replace paper forms. It had to fundamentally transform the user experience from one of anxiety and dependence to one of control and confidence.
The user problem
Customers were locked into a stressful, slow, and opaque process. They had no control over the timeline, no ability to self-serve, and the manual nature of the application was prone to errors that caused further delays.
The business problem
The inefficient, call-centre-based process was not scalable and put Pepper Money at a significant competitive disadvantage. The high potential for human error and the labour-intensive workflow created significant operational costs and risks.
Our goals
Deliver a true self-service experience. The primary goal was to empower customers to apply for and manage their home loan online, at any time, on any device, without needing to speak to an adviser unless they chose to.
Provide flexibility and control. We had to respect the user's time. A critical feature was the ability to 'save and return' to an application at any stage, allowing users to complete the process at their own pace.
Give upfront transparency and speed. We aimed to provide customers with an initial interest rate quote in under five minutes, transforming a process that previously took days and giving them clear, immediate feedback.
MY ROLE & CONTRIBUTIONS
Owning the experience
As the sole UX designer on this major digital transformation project, my primary responsibility was to be the champion for the user's experience, even when direct user access was limited. I worked to synthesise insights from a wide range of internal experts and market research to define, design, and validate Pepper Money’s first digital mortgage journey.
My key contributions included:
Leading discovery and defining the problem space: I designed and facilitated a series of workshops with SMEs from across the business, including the call centre, marketing, and legal teams, to build a deep understanding of the existing process and its pain points.
Conducting competitor research: To fill the gap left by direct user research, I conducted a comprehensive competitor analysis. This allowed us to identify best-practice patterns and establish a clear benchmark for a modern digital mortgage application.
Mapping the end-to-end journey: Based on insights from our workshops and competitor research, I created the definitive user journey map. This became the foundational document for the entire project, aligning the cross-functional team on the vision for the new experience.
Owning the design and validation: I was responsible for the entire design process, from initial low-fidelity wireframes to the final high-fidelity mockups. I iteratively validated these designs with the product owner and business SMEs to ensure they met all functional and business requirements.
Establishing the design system: To ensure consistency and scalability for this major new product, I established the foundational design system in Figma, providing the components and patterns needed for a cohesive experience.
Early discovery workshops included journey mapping and competitor analysis.
THE PROCESS
Building from the inside out
Without direct access to end-users, our process was built on a pragmatic foundation of deep internal knowledge and comprehensive market analysis.
Learning from the frontline
We began with discovery workshops, bringing together the true experts on the existing process: Pepper Money's own call centre advisers and other subject matter experts. The goal was to map the current, manual journey and its pain points in detail. The workshops powerfully illustrated the sheer scale of the inefficiency, the number of phone calls required, the reliance on error-prone manual data entry, and the lengthy time to completion.
Sizing up the competition
With the internal problems clearly defined, we turned our focus outwards. I led a comprehensive competitor analysis, workshopping the digital mortgage journeys of key market players. This analysis revealed a stark contrast and was the true eye-opener for the team. It showed just how antiquated the existing paper-based process was and provided us with a clear benchmark for what a modern, user-friendly, and competitive digital experience looked like.
Mapping a compliant journey
I then synthesised our findings into a new end-to-end user journey map. This became the foundational document for the project, aligning the cross-functional team on a shared vision. During this critical phase, we consulted closely with the legal team to ensure every step of the proposed journey was not only efficient but also fully compliant, providing all necessary disclosures to the customer.
From wireframe to validation
The design phase was highly iterative and collaborative. I created several rounds of low-fidelity wireframes to explore different approaches before moving into iterations of high-fidelity designs. This rigorous process required continuous validation and sign-off from numerous business units, including product, legal, and finally, the brand and marketing team, to ensure the final solution was robust, compliant, and perfectly aligned with the Pepper Money brand.
THE SOLUTION
From paperwork to progress bar
The new digital journey was not designed to be flashy; it was designed to be fundamentally clear and usable. The core challenge was to take an intimidatingly long application form and make it feel manageable, controllable, and even simple for the user.
Breaking down a mountain into manageable steps
Our primary design strategy was to reduce cognitive load. We took the monolithic application and broke it down into small, logical sections. Each screen focuses on a clear task, using large, accessible input fields and a clean layout to guide the user through the process one step at a time, making the journey feel achievable rather than overwhelming.
Clear progress and control on any device
A key principle was that the journey had to be just as easy on a mobile as on a desktop. This created a design challenge for the progress indicator. On desktop, we used a persistent progress bar that not only showed completion but also acted as a navigation tool, allowing users to jump between sections. For mobile, we had to thoughtfully design a solution that provided this same level of transparency and control within the constraints of a smaller screen.
Flexible navigation and clear error states
We understood that a mortgage application isn't always a linear process. Users need to go back, check details, and correct information. Our progress bar was designed to support this by clearly highlighting which sections were complete, which were incomplete, and which contained errors. This gave users a constant, clear overview of what was missing and allowed them to navigate non-linearly to resolve issues, putting them firmly in control of the process.
THE IMPACT
A new digital foundation for growth
The launch of Pepper Money's first digital mortgage journey marked a major strategic success, delivering significant benefits for both customers and the business.
For customers, the transformation was immediate. They were empowered with a true self-service experience, allowing them to complete their application at their own convenience. This fast, streamlined process directly addressed the high drop-off rate of the previous system.
Operationally, the impact was equally significant. The move to digital drastically reduced inbound calls and the reliance on call centre resources, leading to direct cost savings. By eliminating manual data entry, the platform improved data quality and integrity, reducing the risk of costly errors. This new digital channel was a key pillar in expanding Pepper Money's direct-to-client offering and supporting their growth strategy.
LEARNINGS & REFLECTIONS
Key lessons and future opportunities
This large-scale project was a significant learning experience, providing clear takeaways for future initiatives.
The imperative of direct user feedback. My biggest lesson was reinforcing the need to advocate for direct user involvement. While we successfully built the journey on internal expertise and market research, the ability to test and validate our assumptions with real users would have provided an invaluable layer of confidence and likely accelerated our decision-making process.
Balancing iteration with forward momentum. The project highlighted the potential danger of constant design iteration, especially with numerous stakeholder sign-offs. This sometimes led to extended feedback loops that could harm progress. In future, I would push for a more structured feedback framework with clearer decision-making gates to ensure that while iteration is valued, the project maintains a healthy forward momentum.
Future opportunity: a blueprint for digital transformation. The most significant opportunity is to use this new digital mortgage journey as a scalable blueprint for Pepper Money's other loan products. Now that a successful foundation has been laid, the business is in a prime position to digitise its entire product ecosystem. The platform's new analytics capabilities will be crucial in this, enabling data-informed decisions to continuously evolve and improve the customer experience.
