Project Overview
At Ally Financial, I co-led the UX design of a new paper-based workflow for Ally Lending’s Agent-Assisted Application (3A) experience. The challenge: a significant portion of borrowers lacked access to email or preferred not to use digital communication—blocking them from completing their loan applications. This project aimed to close that gap.
Solution
We introduced a hybrid application experience that allowed borrowers to print, wet sign, and upload essential loan documents without requiring email access. The redesigned flow preserved compliance, maintained operational efficiency, and ultimately made Ally’s lending experience more inclusive.
Impact
The redesigned flow expanded accessibility for offline borrowers and ensured Ally could continue funding loans through compliant, paper-based channels. Within months of release, the flow contributed to a 10% increase in loan volume by accommodating previously excluded borrowers.
My Role
Co-led UX strategy, design, and cross-functional collaboration across Legal, Risk, Compliance, Marketing, Engineering, and Product
Conducted stakeholder and provider interviews to identify systemic and usability pain points
Designed low to high-fidelity mockups and validated with usability testing
Streamlined document workflows and designed intuitive CTAs to reduce operational burden on providers
Redefining Accessibility in Lending: Designing a Seamless Agent-Assisted Application Experience
In February 2022, I joined Ally Financial as a Senior UX Designer, supporting the Lending division, which provided B2B2C financing solutions across multiple industries. This division offered a diverse suite of lending products designed to meet the needs of both businesses and their consumers. While I had not previously designed for a financial institution, I welcomed the opportunity to broaden my expertise in a highly regulated industry. Navigating complex financial systems and diverse user needs challenged me to grow as a designer, enhancing my adaptability, problem-solving abilities, and strategic approach to UX.
Upon joining Ally Lending, I became involved in the design of a new agent-assisted application (3A) experience, which required borrowers to complete key actions—such as accepting disclosures and signing agreements—directly on their devices. However, a major challenge quickly emerged: a significant portion of the target audience either lacked an email address or preferred not to provide one, preventing them from progressing through the 3A flow in a compliant manner.
This email dependency created a critical barrier, as document consent, authentication, and signing were all tied to email communication. Additionally, Customer Care teams faced operational inefficiencies due to existing systems that did not support seamless or accurate document review for applicants in these scenarios. The challenge was twofold: design an inclusive, compliant application experience that allowed borrowers without email addresses to complete their applications while also equipping Customer Care teams with the necessary tools to review and process documents efficiently, ensuring timely and accurate funding.
Bridging the Digital Divide: Research & Competitive Insights in Lending
Prior to my arrival, the team conducted preliminary business research to assess the challenges and opportunities within the lending space, with a particular focus on the Digital Divide—the gap between individuals who have ready access to digital technology and those who do not. The research aimed to:
Identify key Digital Divide trends affecting potential borrowers
Understand how systemic barriers impact digital loan applications
Evaluate how reimagining the non-digital loan application process could enhance Ally Lending’s competitive position
Key Digital Divide Trends
Demographics: The Digital Divide predominantly affects older adults, rural populations, and low-income individuals, limiting their ability to complete digital financial transactions.
Market scan & competitive opportunity
Systemic Barriers: The primary drivers of the Digital Divide stem from broader systemic issues, including digital literacy gaps and the availability of necessary technological infrastructure.
To complement these internal research efforts, we also looked outward to assess how Ally’s competitors addressed the needs of non-digital borrowers. This external scan helped us identify opportunity gaps in the market and served as a springboard for evaluating the potential business impact of a paper-based loan application flow.
The goal of our competitive analysis was to understand how reimagining the non-digital loan application process could potentially impact Ally Lending's competitive position in the market. We conducted an external scan of companies simplifying the loan initiation and administration experience, as well as those taking steps to accommodate borrowers impacted by the Digital Divide.
Key Competitors in Loan Administration:
Greensky – Offers merchant solutions and paper-based workarounds
LendKey – Provides white-label loan platforms connecting borrowers to credit unions
FinMKT – Powers point-of-sale financing platforms with flexible loan infrastructure
Upstart – Leverages AI to match borrowers to bank partners
Experian – Supplies verification and loan processing tools
Digital Divide Adaptations Across the Industry:
Freddie Mac – Uses Remote Ink Notarization (RIN) to enable offline completion
Lending Club – Allows in-person loan processing at doctor’s offices
CareCredit – Supports phone-based loan approvals
Greensky – Incorporates audio/video recording to verify and authenticate agreements
While several competitors have taken modest steps to address offline borrower needs, few offer a scalable, compliant hybrid workflow. Notably, Greensky’s audio/video process is promising but operationally intensive. This created an opening for Ally to lead with a user-friendly, paper-based solution.
Emerging Disruptors:
SoFi – Known for sleek, all-digital experiences in lending, SoFi continues to pose a strategic threat by setting user experience standards in the fintech space.
WellPay (Affirm) – Offers patient financing with streamlined, digital-first workflows that could challenge traditional lenders.
Lightstream – Provides fast, unsecured personal loans with a frictionless user experience, making them a competitive force in user-centered lending.
Ally’s decision to pursue a compliant, hybrid paper-based workflow positioned the company to stand out—not by mimicking digital-first disruptors, but by designing for inclusion and compliance at scale.
PERSONA DEVELOPMENT
To better empathize with borrowers affected by the Digital Divide, we developed lightweight personas grounded in qualitative research. These personas were informed by insights gathered from stakeholder interviews, provider conversations across healthcare and home improvement sectors, and internal feedback from Ally’s Customer Care and Compliance teams. By identifying recurring patterns—such as age, income level, geographic location, and comfort with technology—we created representative user profiles that helped guide inclusive design decisions throughout the project.
With our research synthesized and personas in place, we were ready to move into the design phase. The insights we gathered shaped our strategy and helped us identify key touchpoints where we could streamline workflows, improve compliance, and reduce friction for both borrowers and providers. It was time to translate our findings into a tangible, inclusive solution.
Current State Gaps: Mapping the Road to Inclusive Design
Our UX strategy was grounded in the findings from our current state analysis, which revealed critical friction points for borrowers in the Agent-Assisted Application (3A) flow. The gaps were clear: the process lacked viable alternatives for signing disclosures and loan agreements with pen and paper; it failed to accommodate borrowers without email during prequalification; and there was no compliant method for proving that offers had been reviewed jointly by the borrower and provider. Additionally, the existing approach relied heavily on borrower device access, which was not feasible for users in the Digital Divide. These gaps became the foundation for our design priorities and informed each aspect of the solution.
We explored multiple approaches but chose to modify the existing 3A flow rather than build a new one from scratch. This ensured development efficiency and retained alignment with Ally’s compliance-reviewed architecture.
Key Features Introduced:
Print and Wet Sign Workflow – Enabled providers to print disclosures, T&Cs, and loan agreements for borrowers to sign physically.
Upload Capability – Allowed providers to upload signed documents directly, bypassing the need for borrower email authentication.
Improved Verification & Compliance Protocols – Helped prevent fraud and invalid submissions while aligning with legal requirements.
Happy path
The following screens are taken from Step 1: Sign Disclosures within the hybrid application’s happy path. While they do not represent the full end-to-end experience, they highlight the core interactions that define our redesigned solution at this stage of the process:
Email Selection – Providers are prompted to indicate whether the applicant has an email address, establishing the appropriate workflow.
Non-Email Flow Activation – If the applicant does not have an email and the provider opts to proceed, a modal appears with clear instructions to print the necessary forms for wet signature and upload.
Terms & Conditions Screen – Providers receive step-by-step guidance, along with access to required documents that must be reviewed and signed by the applicant. Once completed, the provider can upload the signed forms to continue the application.
The following screens are taken from Step 5: Signing within the hybrid application’s happy path. At this point, the applicant has completed Steps 2 through 4, and is now ready to review the final set of documents before signing the loan agreement.
After all required documents are signed and uploaded, Ally’s Customer Care team will review the submission and notify the provider of the application’s approval or denial within 2–3 business days.
Provider portal enhancements
To support the new hybrid workflow, we introduced updates to the provider portal. If Ally’s Customer Care team requires a provider to re-upload or re-submit any documents, providers can now do so directly within the portal using the application’s TRN (Transaction Reference Number).
Admin portal enhancements
In response to feedback from the Ally Customer Care team, I designed two key enhancements to improve clarity and prioritization within the admin portal:
Time-Sensitive Indicator – A new clock icon was added to the admin dashboard to flag applications that require urgent, manual review by the Customer Care team.
Hybrid Application Banner – All hybrid applications now feature a distinct banner at the top of each TRN account, allowing Customer Care to quickly distinguish hybrid applications from standard digital ones.
From Insight to Impact: Transforming the 3A Flow
We launched a hybrid 3A flow that effectively bridged the digital divide, allowing borrowers without digital access to submit applications confidently and compliantly. The updated process reduced reliance on workaround email hacks, improved operational efficiency, and empowered providers to support borrowers without digital access.
Reflections on Building Inclusive, Real-World Solutions
This project was a masterclass in designing for equity and accessibility within a highly regulated space. I learned how to align design solutions with legal and business requirements while staying deeply attuned to user needs—especially those often overlooked by digital-first product strategies.
The experience reinforced the importance of building inclusive systems and advocating for underserved users. I’m proud to have played a role in transforming Ally’s lending process to better serve everyone—not just the digitally fluent.