When we first put the new Quicken Loans wholesale mortgage site in front of users, no one new what a wholesale rate was. I had everyone take a stab at it; once before showing them the site and once while viewing the site. This was especially important because if a visitor to a site can’t figure out the reason the site might be useful, they’ll have no reason to stay and investigate.

Issue:

Before viewing the site, a few people were close, but most admitted they didn’t know and they took a wild guess.

While viewing the site, users were frustrated with the lack of a clear definition. They visually scanned the entire homepage but felt like there was no clear-cut answer. Only after viewing the How it Works page did users start to understand what a wholesale rate actually is.

Feedback in Action:

We gave users what they asked for! We adjusted the bullets in the gray area to better describe the value of a reverse mortgage. We also changed the orange sign to direct people to the How it Works page. This way, users are immediately directed to the page that proved most informative during user sessions.

Check out mortgagewholesalerate.com to find out exactly what a wholesale mortgage rate is and how it can benefit you.

On the new Wholesale Rate site, the pre-production calculator fields asked for “Your Loan Amount” and “Monthly Payment”.

Issue:

This language didn’t resonate with users and several people were confused by it. They weren’t sure if the calculator was asking for the amount they currently owe on the loan or their original loan amount.

Feedback in Action:

We changed the fields altogether and made the language clearer. Now they read “Current Loan Amount” and “Cash Out”. Hopefully this makes more sense and is easier to understand.