Project
Freddie Mac's Single Family Innovation Lab sought to validate whether HomeFund — a new digital platform — could guide first-time homebuyers through saving for a down payment.
As Senior UX Manager within Freddie Mac's Innovation Lab, I defined and led a new UX leadership role — driving end-to-end development of the HomeFund application through cross-functional collaboration, research, synthesis, and UX recommendations that directly shaped the product direction.
I developed three target personas across a knowledge spectrum, designed and built a functional InVision proof-of-concept, and created a research protocol for moderated sessions conducted with an external agency.
Research surfaced five key themes around onboarding, financial terminology, education needs, and trust. I translated findings directly into design actions — a two-path onboarding flow, progressive disclosure model, and saved scenarios feature — that informed the Alpha site redesign and improved clarity across all user types.
Impact
Research findings directly informed the Alpha site redesign — reducing cognitive load, simplifying onboarding, and improving the experience for all three user knowledge levels.