Launching a new line of business

I was the lead designer and UX point-of-contact on digitally introducing car refinancing for customers who could benefit from better terms. I partnered with product, marketing, and legal teams to create a ecosystem that allows customers to discover refinancing, evaluate whether it’s right for them, and start an application.

Our goal was to double the revenue of our auto loan business. An MVP was rolled out to the public on May 21st, 2025 and can be found in Chase offerings now. We're on track towards our goal, generating an average of $6M/month from refinance customers.

Over the past few years, many people took out car loans with high interest rates due to post-COVID inventory shortages. Now that rates have dropped, many want to refinance to lower their payments. However, Chase Auto does not offer refinancing. People also seek to refinance after life changes such as marriage, having a child, or retirement. Over 2,000 customers call in every month asking if they can refinance their loan with us, to whom we have to say “no."

By beginning to offer refinancing, we're aiming to earn $1.5B annually from new customers. My goal is to design an ecosystem that allows customers to discover refinancing, evaluate whether it’s right for them, and start an application.

I collaborated with the marketing and development teams to define how we can integrate the key moments of refinancing into our existing digital structure. This allowed me to define our deliverables and scope the project timeline.

I posed considerations about content amount, design system patterns, and technical requirements to guide myself and the cross-funactional team towards a final solution.

To persuade the product and dev teams to implement different solutions than they expected, I wanted to clearly demonstrate the value of the proposed updates. I planned and launched quick unmoderated usability research. When conducting evaluative testing, I like to define focused learning objectives, build a prototype tailored to those goals, and dedicate time to thoughtful synthesis. This study also allowed me to refine the designs slightly and surface opportunities for future improvements. You can see my full share-out here.

I make it a point to consider diverse ways of experiencing a design — like through a screen reader — as I work. At handoff, I outlined accessibility specifications such as heading order, alternative text, and tab order. I also wanted to proactively address any questions the developers may have by writing interaction and component notes. Most importantly, I nurture my relationships with developers and maintain close communication through the quality assurance process.

We launched this MVP of refinancing on May 21st, 2025. As of August 21th, there have been about 90k applications started, more than 36k apps completed, more than 12k approvals, and 600 bookings​. This equates to over $18 million in originations, putting us on track for our revenue goals. Since MVP launch, the team and I have worked on further improving the refinancing experience for customers. We're making pre-qualification tools accessible for refinancing, boosting visibility of refinancing in our navigation, and creating personalized nudges for people that could most benefit from refinancing.

Before I started this role, I largely focused on making the best products. However, I didn’t pay much attention to the design of how we’ll get people TO the product. By working on launching a new business line, I’ve learned that product design and marketing aren’t separate forces, but rather need to work hand-in-hand to meet the discovery and engagement needs of an audience.

As always, exposing team members to design iteration, testing, and tradeoff consideration was enjoyable and I’m grateful for the people who trusted me to run this working model. With our solution, I'm thrilled that people who have been stuck with high interest rates are getting some relief.