Industry
Banking
Client
Santander Consumer USA
MyAccount Customer Banking Portal
Project Objective
The MyAccount portal at Santander Consumer USA allows customers to manage their auto loans—make payments, review statements, and access payment history. Stakeholders requested a redesign to modernize the interface, reduce call center volume related to website issues, and improve overall customer satisfaction.
Business Goals
Modernize the Look and Feel: Create a visually updated, user-friendly experience aligned with Santander’s branding.
Reduce Customer Support Calls: Address common issues causing users to call, especially around AutoPay and account access.
Improve Mobile Usability: Optimize for mobile-first, given that 79% of users access the portal via their phones.
UX Research
The project was very business centric but lacked direct user research support. With limited resources and no budget for customer recruitment, I proactively cross-collaborated with internal teams to gather insights that would still center user needs in the design process. I leveraged existing data sources and partnerships, including:
CSR Interviews & Contextual Inquiry
Partnered with the Customer Service (CSR) team to shadow and interview call center representatives. This provided direct insight into recurring customer pain points, particularly around billing, access issues, and AutoPay confusion. These frontline perspectives served as a proxy for real user feedback.
Data Analysis via CSR Team
Collaborated with the CSR and Analytics teams to access and interpret call center logs and platform usage data. I found that representatives handled over 75 calls per day—50% related to payments, 25% to AutoPay, and 25% to account access issues. This helped prioritize which issues to tackle first in the redesign.
Analytics Team
Worked with the Analytics team to review site traffic and behavior patterns. The data showed that 79% of users accessed the portal on mobile, reinforcing the need for a mobile-first design approach. Website surveys showed 61% of users did not accomplish their goals - particularly around making payments.
Additional UX activities included:
Heuristic evaluations of the current portal
Card sorting and click testing (via UsabilityHub)
Information architecture mapping and journey mapping (current vs. ideal experience)
These insights directly informed the information architecture, helped identify key user goals, pain points, and shaped the direction of both the authenticated and unauthenticated experiences, including the Sign-In and Create Account flows.
Mobile First Approach
Given that 79% of users accessed the portal via mobile, I prioritized a mobile-first design approach.
I led the design for both the authenticated and unauthenticated experiences—including Sign-In and Create Account flows. Starting with low-fidelity wireframes for mobile and desktop, I gathered feedback from the CSR team, Compliance, and Legal.
Throughout the process, I collaborated closely with developers to ensure technical feasibility and alignment. Once feedback was addressed and there were no remaining concerns, I walked through the wireframes with both the development team and VP stakeholders to align on the approach, address any technical or compliance concerns, and ensure overall feasibility before moving forward with high-fidelity.
High-Fidelity
Mockups were created with brand-compliant typography and colors. While proposed animations and illustrations were ultimately scaled back to meet global brand guidelines, they helped explore tone and visual identity.
Outcome
The redesigned MyAccount portal delivered a more intuitive, mobile-optimized experience that directly addressed frequent customer pain points. By reorganizing content, simplifying key tasks, and improving usability, the new design helped reduce friction, aligned with branding standards, and laid a foundation for fewer support calls and higher customer satisfaction.
