The traditional 1003 mortgage application form is long, complex, and historically completed over the phone by call-center agents. While a third-party vendor (Blend) had offered a partial online solution, it didn’t support the full form, and the licensing fees were significant. Relying on agents also created staffing costs and bottlenecks in the application process. We saw an opportunity to bring the entire 1003 experience in-house, reducing vendor expenses, lowering call center staffing needs, and creating a seamless, branded digital journey for customers.

Early in the process, one of our senior designers received informal guidance from stakeholders — including Legal & Compliance — that suggested the digital version of the 1003 might need to closely mirror the dense structure of the official government form. This created the impression that we’d be constrained to replicating the paper experience online, rather than reimagining it. At this stage, requirements weren’t yet fully documented, which gave our design team room to challenge the assumption. We used this exploration phase to question whether strict fidelity to the government form was truly necessary, and to begin shaping a case for a more user-friendly, step-by-step experience.

To inspire our approach, we studied digital products outside of the mortgage space that had successfully simplified complex financial transactions. Apps like Lemonade and TurboTax demonstrated how breaking down large, intimidating tasks into small, digestible steps could transform user behavior. Their models of conversational guidance, progressive disclosure, and bite-sized inputs helped us think differently about how to structure the 1003 in a way that felt approachable instead of overwhelming.

Once the Epic was formally created, Product Managers developed detailed requirements to guide the work. Because our design team was engaged during the exploration phase, we were able to influence these requirements in meaningful ways. This early collaboration ensured that usability and content design strategy were baked into the scope, rather than being treated as downstream add-ons. It also set the tone for a more collaborative relationship with Product throughout the project.

Content Designers play a critical role before hi-fi designs take shape. While content models are often our signature deliverable, we tailor our outputs to the needs of each project. For the 1003 effort, process mapping was essential to visualize the flow of information across multiple stages and identify dependencies. These models clarified how content would move through the experience and ensured consistency across the application journey, making it easier for both design and development teams to stay aligned.

Using Figma as our collaborative platform, the cross-functional team — including UX designers, content designers, and product stakeholders — co-created a digital mortgage application experience. Together, we developed a new content strategy and interface design that reduced complexity, improved readability, and aligned with our brand voice. By focusing on chunking information and guiding users step by step, we transformed the intimidating paper form into an intuitive, human-centered online journey.

To maintain consistency and compliance, we used Brandmaker as both our approval tool and our central repository. Content Designers curated and compiled all content across the experience into a comprehensive reference deck, which served as the “source of truth” for both design and development. This not only streamlined the legal and compliance review process but also provided version control — a critical safeguard for large-scale projects with multiple stakeholders.

The launch of the online 1003 delivered both cost savings and business growth. By eliminating third-party vendor fees and reducing call center staffing needs, we created meaningful expense saves during a quarter when originations volume was increasing. At the same time, the improved digital experience contributed to a period of meaningful results: a 36% quarter-over-quarter increase in funding volume and a 21% quarter-over-quarter increase in pull-through volume. Together, these outcomes demonstrated how a customer-centered design solution could also deliver significant operational and financial value.