Lever Negotiations
Mobile App for negotiations with debt collectors, that helps Australian students negotiate better loan payment conditions.
Goal
To inform Australian students about their rights regarding loans.
The app was created during COVID-19
This time, many students lost their jobs. They took loans and, despite having flexible options to pay them back, they were not using them. Because they were not aware that the options existed. Negotiation starts with an offer. Lever App helps formulate it.
Problem statement
82% of users were leaving the app before they made an offer.
Research
To understand what was going on, the team tried to conduct qualitative interviews. But we faced several hurdles:
8 hours time difference
respondents were ashamed to talk about their loans
So team started searching threads on the topic “Personal Loan Australia” using anonymous forums like Reddit and Quora.
User persona
User goal
Queenly aims to regain financial stability after losing her job to manage her debts.
Challenges
Does not have enough time to learn more about the legal aspects of debt collection. Studies, job search, and personal life take up all her time.
The burden of debts creates stress, impacting Queenly's overall well-being and academic performance.
Pain points
Fears the consequences of not effectively managing her debts, affecting her credit score and future financial opportunities.
She is unsure about her rights and the best approach to negotiate with debt collectors.
Feels stressed from calls.
Match between need and offer
As a result of desk research, 3 main insights were discovered and matched to solutions that the app can provide.
Insights | Solutions |
|---|---|
People like Queenly are afraid to blurt out the wrong thing in a conversation with a collector, subsequently worsening credit conditions. | We can reduce the stress calls from collectors by formulating a convincing request to write an email, instead of calling on the phone. |
They do not know their financial rights; therefore, they miss the opportunity to agree on favorable payment terms. | Lever transforms information given by user to PDF template, that can be sent to the collector. Offer considers interests of the user and legal restrictions. |
They do not want to sacrifice their usual lifestyle to pay off a debt. | User can create a request to choose different payment plan with lowering monthly fee. |
First iteration
List of all services offered, as is. It was not clear which of the options would lead to the desired result.
Second iteration
Changed the copyright to address the user's problem and offer only one solution, added support window for questions.
Approved iteration
Introduced chat-assistant that explains what steps are ahead. Users understood what to expect and how it matches their needs, filling out the survey more willingly.
Results
Research and a change of the approach led to more users willing to try the app.
18% → 24% of users reached the next step of the flow (source: Amplitude).
Credits
Anastasia Isachenko — UX/UI Design (2 months)
Ventur Agency — Project Management, User Research
