1

Data Privacy Concerns

Users hesitated to input personal info due to fears of data misuse, leading to high abandonment rates during onboarding.

2

Form Complexity

Confusing form fields and excessive questions frustrated beginners, causing delays and drop-offs in the score access process.

3

Skepticism from Competitors

Past experiences with rival services requiring full sign-up before scores bred distrust, reducing willingness to engage.

Curious Non-User (New to Credit)

Demographics: Individual new to credit, 18-30, unfamiliar with monitoring tools, seeking basic financial insight.

Goals/Needs: Access a quick, no-commitment credit score to understand financial standing, with minimal effort and clear guidance.

Pain Points: Distrust in data sharing, overwhelmed by complex forms, and frustration with sign-up demands from competitors.

Behaviors: Has explored other free product offerings but hesitant to commit to drawn out sign-up processes.

Design Influence: Inspired a visual streamlined form and instant score to ease entry for newcomers.

Engaged Free User (Active Explorer)

Demographics: Regular user, 25-40, familiar with free scores, interested in financial growth.

Goals/Needs: Seek frequent score updates and educational resources to track progress, with an eye toward premium features.

Pain Points: Limited depth in free insights, occasional delays in updates, and unclear upgrade paths from competitors.

Behaviors: Actively used Experian’s Free Score for regular checks, valuing instant results and tips, which sparked curiosity about premium tools.

Design Influence: Drove the addition of educational content and seamless upsell prompts to enhance engagement.

Early Findings

I evaluated prominent products offering free credit access for consumers, such as Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, CreditWise, and myFICO, which often required sign-ups. This assessment revealed gaps in onboarding simplicity and conversion strategies that Experian’s Free Score feature sought to address by providing a true, no-commitment glimpse of users’ credit scores with minimal effort.

Leading Competitors: TransUnion, Credit Karma and Credit Sesame

Low-Fidelity Wireframes for Initial Testing and Validation

Low-fidelity wireframes were developed to facilitate initial testing and validation with stakeholders and users, helping evolve the overall direction by streamlining clicks in the user experience. This ensured a quick, intuitive path for non-users to access a free score, aligning with business goals of increasing sign-ups and premium subscriptions.

Establishing Visual Aesthetics

The mood board was created to explore a modern, blue-toned design with clean lines and financial motifs, guiding the team’s creative freedom while aligning with Experian’s brand identity. We worked closely with the brand and marketing teams to ensure the aesthetic, featuring charts and currency elements, seamlessly integrated with existing styles.

1

Exploration Approach

Initial discovery kicked off with user research and competitive analysis, engaging 3-5 non-users and free users with wireframes to assess their first impressions.