Redesigning a mortgage platform for scale and profitability
Summary
To support Habito's shift toward profitability, I directed a 15-person team, redesigned the operating model, and led product design across Habito, Habito One, and Habito Plus. This work made the platform more efficient and increased mortgage-request volumes tenfold while measurably improving the customer experience.
Date: Jan 2021—Jan 2023
Role: Product Design Director
1→10
Outcomes & Key Results
Improved operational efficiency by 20%.
Supported a 10x increase in mortgage-request volumes.
Supported £9B in revenue across Habito mortgage products.
Reduced design-to-engineering handoff time from 3 days to 1 day.
Built reusable component patterns and working practices with engineering.
The Habito homepage guides homebuyers across the various product suites in easy-to-understand, jargon-free language.
Habito's mortgage calculator is an award-winning feature that has raised the standard for similar functionality across the industry.
Habito provides homebuyers with mortgage options across all UK providers.
Our AI-enabled chat was the first stop for homebuyers before getting matched to our excellent staff of mortgage experts.
Homebuyers had access to a personlised dashboard throughout their homebuying experience that always kept them up-to-date with next steps.
Habito was proudly web-based and our responsive design worked well across various breakpoints and devices.
In addition to leading product design, I was also co-lead of our product marketing team which always produced eye-catching, industry-leading social media.
What I did
Reshaped the operating model: Redesigned how Product Design, Service Design, Research, and UX Writing worked together during a Series D transformation and shift toward profitability.
Led product work: Co-founded the product marketing practice and led hands-on design across Habito, Habito One, and Habito Plus.
Improved delivery efficiency: Developed reusable component patterns, introduced AI-assisted workflows, and worked with engineering to reduce handoff time and improve release quality.
What I learned
At scale, design leadership creates operating conditions that help teams make better decisions and ship effectively. The largest improvements occurred when product, service, research, marketing, and engineering aligned around a clear operational process.