Future of AI Mortgage Lending

Driving UX Strategy to Expand a $75M Product Line

CHALLENGE: LEGACY OVER INNOVATION

Mortgage lending runs on legacy systems—rigid, outdated, and resistant to change. Loan officers and underwriters manually verify income from endless tax returns, pay stubs, and bank statements, slowing down approvals and frustrating borrowers.

For lenders, this inefficiency wasn’t just an inconvenience—it was costing them business. Automating income verification could unlock massive growth, but the industry had a problem: trust. New technology can streamline workflows, but many saw it as risky, unpredictable, and prone to errors. In an industry where accuracy is everything, trust in innovation didn’t come easily.

MY ROLE

At Ocrolus, I led the UX strategy, user research, and product design that shaped our first AI-driven mortgage automation tool—giving lenders a faster, smarter way to process income while maintaining full control.

Our approach wasn’t just about building a sleek interface. It was about fundamentally shifting how lenders worked—balancing automation with transparency, accuracy, and human oversight to create a solution they’d actually trust. 

RESEARCH-DRIVEN STRATEGY

To shape our product vision, I led an in-depth user research initiative, partnering with product marketing and customer success teams. This research not only informed our product roadmap but also became a key thought leadership asset, shaping mortgage technology trends, and establishing Ocrolus as a category leader.

Click to download white paper to learn more. 

KEY INSIGHTS & OPPORTUNITIES

Our research uncovered income verification bottlenecks:
Mortgage lenders spent excessive time manually verifying income sources, particularly for self-employed borrowers.

Loan teams want a customizable yet transparent interface to ensure accuracy and compliance.

Technology Trust Gap
While lenders sought automation, they were hesitant to rely fully on AI due to regulatory risk and past system failures.

Our solution needed to balance automation with human oversight, providing clear audit trails and user control mechanisms.

Revenue Growth Potential
Lenders who embraced AI-powered verification reported higher efficiency and deal closures.

By addressing these gaps, we positioned Ocrolus to capture a larger market share and expand its $75M revenue stream.

EXECUTING THE VISION:
DESIGN SPRINTS

With these insights, I led a cross-functional design sprint, bringing together product managers, engineers, marketing, designers and other stakeholders to rapidly prototype solutions. This wasn’t just a design exercise—it was a strategic move to align teams, accelerate execution, and build confidence in our vision.

STRATEGIC RESULTS

✅  A product prototype in just two days, reducing our design-to-development cycle significantly.

✅  Designed the industry’s first AI-powered self-employed income calculator, a game-changer for loan officers and underwriters handling complex income types.

✅  Built a modular, customizable UI that aligned with existing mental models (e.g., Fannie Mae 1084 forms), ensuring seamless adoption.

✅  Created an intuitive commenting & auditing system to bridge human-AI trust gaps, empowering lenders with clear decision trails.

Design Sprint Wireframing

PRODUCT IMPACT

After rigorous usability testing and iterative improvements, our final design successfully launched in Q4 2023, with strong market reception. By embedding UX research-driven decision-making, our team succeeded in:

📈 Expanding document processing capabilities by 79%, from 1,450 to 2,600 document types

💰 Driving $75M in net annual revenue, contributing to 40% of Ocrolus’ total earnings

🚀 Securing adoption by 100+ mortgage lenders, streamlining their underwriting workflows

The success of this product positioned Ocrolus as a leader in mortgage automation, transforming a traditionally manual, slow-moving industry into a scalable AI-powered operation. Our product design process also demonstrated how design, when done strategically, drives both product and business growth.

Slide to see before and after. 

USER FEEDBACK

This participant has been in mortgage industry for 15 years and was so surprised there isn't a product already like this on the market. She's even thought of building one herself. So she was very excited about discovery our new product build.

UX AS A BUSINESS GROWTH DRIVER

This project reinforced my belief that UX is not just about usability—it’s a strategic lever for business growth. Through research, design leadership, and cross-functional collaboration, I drove:

✅ Product adoption at scale by aligning design with mortgage workflows.

✅ Faster decision-making through streamlined automation.

✅ Revenue expansion by enabling Ocrolus to capitalize on new market opportunities.

DESIGN. LEADERSHIP. GROWTH.

As I continue my journey as a Product Design Leader, this experience has strengthened my ability to:

✅ Define and execute UX strategy in high-impact industries like fintech & AI.

✅ Scale teams and operations, ensuring efficiency in design and user research execution.

✅ Lead research-driven decision-making to guide product-market fit and growth.

By merging AI-driven design innovation with deep user insights, I help companies build future-proof, scalable products that drive business success.