Overview

Kuhoo, an NBFC FinTech platform asked us to design a mobile app to facilitate loan access for studying in India and abroad.

Securing a student loan from a bank in India is daunting and cumbersome, especially for students from humble socio-economic backgrounds. We decided to build a solution that would circumvent this problem.

Wireframes shared by client

Wonderful UI and really helps to understand the entire process of a student loan, which is very hard to come by nowadays!

User Review, Google Play Store

★★★★★

★★★★★

Leeza was a great partner for us, balancing our inputs with her expertise, never getting frustrated with the design iterations.

Chief Product Officer, Kuhoo

The Problem

Funding challenges stifle the dreams of bright students; Banks are tough nuts.

Many academically gifted students miss opportunities due to financial constraints, limited by low credit scores or lack of collateral, making bank loans inaccessible.

These youngsters need trustworthy funding options that can help their dreams come true.

Typical Persona

The Constraints

Include legalese without sounding like legalese

Unavoidably long processes must not feel cumbersome

Sound like a friend without sounding too friendly

What it Revealed

• An education loan is a decision for the entire family, not just the individual.

• Students can manage loan application processes independently only if it is demystified and less intimidating.

• People trust banks over NBFCs because the former are older institutions governed by stringent regulations.

Research

Competitive Benchmarking

User Segmentation

The Strategy

1. Dumb it all down

4. Educate users with bite-size content

5. Gamify the experience

2. Leverage principles of persuasion design

3. Get brutally honest about the fine print

Initial Concepts - Concept A was chosen

We incorporated gamification because doing so...

• Drives continuous brand engagement

• Incentivises referrals & community interactions

• Drives a whole-life product strategy

Solution Snippets

Prototype of Special Features

How the design tested with users

We tested the prototype with 7 students from tier 1 and tier 2 cities of India.

What worked well

What we fixed

We worked with Marketing to define communication initiatives and created supporting collateral for the app

• Land users in the right place

• Make them open

• Make them read

• Make them click

• Be authentic & human

• Educate the user

Here are the 6 keys to creating an effective marketing strategy

Project Impact

Biggest Learning

Next Time

The app is rated 4.2 with 10k+ downloads on the Play Store. While the reviews for the loan product are mixed, the app has received high praise for its design and user-friendliness.

I learned to be a strategic partner and give honest feedback tactfully, especially about aspects of the product or marketing that could damage trust and impact the overall app experience.

I would insist on researching with aspiring students. The client couldn't provide actual users and believed they could give us all the necessary insights. Nothing replaces research with real users.