Designing a property loan platform for Nigerian diaspora
Role
Product designer
Timeline:
5 weeks
An MVP loan platform designed to help Nigerians living abroad (primarily in the US, UK, and Canada) access home financing in Nigeria using verified credit and income data from their countries of residence.
The Problem
Nigerians in the diaspora face significant barriers when trying to purchase property or access home financing in Nigeria:
Long, offline loan approval processes that require physical presence.
Uncertainty around property verification and trust when purchasing from abroad.
Difficulty proving creditworthiness to Nigerian banks using foreign financial data.
Complex, trust-deficient processes that can take weeks or months.
Project goals
Business Goals
Reduce loan application time from weeks to days
Establish digital trust through verifiable foreign credit and income data.
User Goals
Link foreign financial accounts for instant credit verification
Get prequalified for loans within minutes
Find and verify properties
Track loan and payment progress in one place
Design process
I was brought on as a contract designer for 5 weeks to design the MVP. The project followed a phased, iterative workflow, with work divided into distinct modules: dashboard, property finding, and loan application, which I designed sequentially.
Design
Define
Phase starts
Feedback
Handoff
Phase ends
After each module was completed and reviewed, engineering would begin development while I moved to the next module. This iterative, phased approach allowed for:
Parallel work flow between design and development
Continuous feedback and refinement
Faster time-to-market for the MVP
Flexibility to adjust based on technical constraints discovered during development
Key design decisions
Building trust through progressive access
The challenge:
Users might be skeptical of a new financial platform asking for sensitive identity verification upfront.
The solution:
Allow users to skip KYC at signup and explore the platform first. They can see available features, browse properties, and understand the value proposition before committing their personal information. However, to access loans or complete prequalification, KYC must be completed. This approach balances security requirements with user comfort, letting people build trust with the platform before sharing sensitive data.
Designing the dashboard
The challenge:
Deciding what information deserved prime real estate on the main dashboard view.
The solution:
After considering what users would need to see most frequently, I prioritized:
Active loans with status and details
Upcoming payments with due dates and amounts
KYC/Prequalification card that shows KYC status initially, then transforms to display loan range and credit score once complete
Recent activity which is a summarized version of notifications for quick scanning
Property view with mortgage calculator
My proposal:
After researching platforms like Zillow, I proposed adding a mortgage calculator directly on the property view to help users understand affordability before applying.
The result:
Users input loan information like down payment, loan type, etc to see estimated monthly payments in real-time. From the same page, users can initiate prequalification.
Loan management and tracking
Save application feature:
I proposed letting users save incomplete applications, recognizing that gathering documentation may not be an immediate process. This reduces the chance that they abandon the flow.
Repayment schedule:
On desktop, the full payment table displays all details. On mobile, I prioritized the three most critical pieces (amount, due date, status) with additional details accessible through a three-dot menu and bottom sheet.
Challenges & learnings
Working with limited context
After researching platforms like Zillow, I proposed adding a mortgage calculator directly on the property view to help users understand affordability before applying.
My research approach:
Used Google to understand loan terms, mortgage processes, and financial verification.
Leveraged AI tools to expand on concepts from the PRD and understand domain-specific terminology.
Studied how other property platforms (like Zillow) handle prequalification and property viewing.
Designing for trust in financial products
Financial platforms require an extra layer of thoughtfulness around trust and security. Every design decision, from the KYC flow to how we display loan information, needed to communicate reliability and transparency.
Working under constraints
As an MVP with a tight timeline, I had to make strategic decisions about what to design in detail versus what could be simpler in the first version. The modular approach helped manage this, allowing us to focus on getting core flows right.
What I learned
Sometimes stakeholders don't know exactly what they need. As a designer, being able to research independently and make informed suggestions based on that research adds significant value beyond just executing on requirements.
Outcomes
The MVP design was completed within the 5-week timeline and handed off to engineering for development. As a contract designer, I wasn't involved in tracking post-launch metrics, but the intended success metrics included:
Percentage of users who complete KYC and link their Plaid account
Prequalification success rate
Average time from onboarding to prequalification (goal: under 10 minutes)