The Challenge

Capital One found through research that the process of buying a home / taking out equity is overwhelming for most people, and that laws and legalese were intimidating homebuyers and homeowners. They wanted to re-imagine a web experience that excited customers about these important life moments, and empowered them with tools and education to navigate the process. We hypothesized that this would also convert more website visitors into Capital One customers.

The Result

I led a cross-functional team of engineers, designers, and researchers in redesigning and launching the Home Equity website. The new experience drove 157 more application starts per month, and got rave reviews from colleagues.

For example, Stann Shinn said: “Despite the many technical and deadline challenges, Sarah delivered a remarkable customer experience which was truly rave-worthy.”

My Role & Impact

I was the product manager for this initiative, focused on product strategy/definition and delivery. Initially, the team was marching towards an experience our business stakeholders had suggested. However, I delved into user research and crafted a narrative describing the customer journey, and specific opportunities to solve pain points for them. This drove my director’s buy-in and gave us the freedom to design an experience that accounted for stakeholders’ intent, but kept user needs at the forefront.

Overall, my greatest impact was to partner with, and influence, each of the many partners - marketing, tech, design, mortgage, and more - to deliver a customer centered experience that balanced technical and resource constraints, and drove KPI’s for the business.