Designing Trustworthy AI for Mortgage Underwriting

Slashing mortgage underwriting time from 2.5 hours to 5 minutes with AI raised eyebrows — and trust concerns. My job? Make it feel clear, safe, and credible.

Role & Project Scope

Lead UI/UX Designer

I joined early and shaped the product through four major shifts — from raw AI to a trusted underwriting tool. Worked across two continents, bridging design, AI, and ops.

My focus: to make complex tech feel simple and trustworthy. I led UX, UI, research, branding, and investor materials. Early versions sparked scepticism — users didn’t trust the AI. My job was to change that.

I joined early and shaped the product through four major shifts — from raw AI to a trusted underwriting tool. Worked across two continents, bridging design, AI, and ops.

My focus: to make complex tech feel simple and trustworthy. I led UX, UI, research, branding, and investor materials. Early versions sparked scepticism — users didn’t trust the AI. My job was to change that.

10 min read

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Process, insights, and design decisions →

Challenges

Legacy tools, unclear needs

Outdated tools made it hard to tell what users actually used — or needed on screen

Adapted to friction

Clunky tools bred errors — users made it work, but lost speed and precision

Early AI skepticism

First versions triggered scepticism — users didn’t trust or understand the decisions

Fast scans & deep dives

With most tasks automated, UI had to support both quick scans and deep dives

Simplicity vs. credibility

The product had to look modern — but instantly signal credibility and precision

Designing across time zones

Split time zones with ops, design, and AI teams slowed feedback and blurred alignment

Solutions

User interviews & audits

Spoke with mortgage experts and underwriters to clarify needs and cut legacy noise

Familiar patterns, clearer UI

Kept spreadsheet patterns for ease — improved structure, clarity, and trust

Explainable AI

Broke down decisions, linked sources, and added human review control

Progressive disclosure

Summaries on top, full application data and decision logic a click away

Trustworthy visual tone

Calm colours and sharp structure — trust without saying a word

Async team workflow

Reframed workflow: async Miro updates, morning design blocks, evening syncs

UX & Interface Design

We went through dozens of design iterations to find patterns that worked best for speed, clarity, and trust.

UX & Interface Design

Final Design in Action

A minimalist interface that balances trust, familiarity, and innovation — with clear typography, whitespace, and hierarchy.

For the best experience, please use a tablet or computer, as this product is designed for workplace use

Highlighted Source Document

The financial document opens with the relevant value highlighted, linking it to the calculation

Explainable AI

Shows detailed information about the formula and calculation

Calculation Breakdown

The pop-up shows AI-calculated results in an Excel-style layout with fields placed in a familiar way

Income Breakdown

The structured table displays income sources for a quick, detailed review

Review Notification

Once AI completes calculations, an underwriter gets the notification and can review the results

Replay

Highlighted Source Document

The financial document opens with the relevant value highlighted, linking it to the calculation

Explainable AI

Shows detailed information about the formula and calculation

Calculation Breakdown

The pop-up shows AI-calculated results in an Excel-style layout with fields placed in a familiar way

Income Breakdown

The structured table displays income sources for a quick, detailed review

Review Notification

Once AI completes calculations, an underwriter gets the notification and can review the results

Replay

Highlighted Source Document

The financial document opens with the relevant value highlighted, linking it to the calculation

Explainable AI

Shows detailed information about the formula and calculation

Calculation Breakdown

The pop-up shows AI-calculated results in an Excel-style layout with fields placed in a familiar way

Income Breakdown

The structured table displays income sources for a quick, detailed review

Review Notification

Once AI completes calculations, an underwriter gets the notification and can review the results

Replay

Highlighted Source Document

The financial document opens with the relevant value highlighted, linking it to the calculation

Explainable AI

Shows detailed information about the formula and calculation

Calculation Breakdown

The pop-up shows AI-calculated results in an Excel-style layout with fields placed in a familiar way

Income Breakdown

The structured table displays income sources for a quick, detailed review

Review Notification

Once AI completes calculations, an underwriter gets the notification and can review the results

Replay

Micro-Optimisations

Reducing Visual Clutter

Dimmed non-essential columns to highlight key data.

Reducing Visual Clutter

Dimmed non-essential columns to highlight key data.

Ensuring Readable Numbers

Monospaced numbers align for easy comparison.

Ensuring Readable Numbers

Monospaced numbers align for easy comparison.

Optimising Data Alignment

Text left, numbers right — easier to scan.

Optimising Data Alignment

Text left, numbers right — easier to scan.

Modernising the Familiar

Users were used to Excel-based tools. We modernised the experience without disrupting it — keeping layouts familiar, yet intuitive.

More Screens

Brand & Marketing

Brand Identity

Led creation of cohesive identity — defined palette, type, logo, brand assets, and developed website (illustration above)

Led creation of cohesive identity — defined palette, type, logo, brand assets, and developed website (illustration above)

Typography guidelines, featuring Euclid Circular A and Montserrat fonts in different weights for main and accent text.

Isometric-style illustration showcasing digital graphics principles, with interconnected elements representing financial concepts like income, assets, and credit.

Presentations

I crafted dozens of decks for clients, investors, and onboarding — clear, trustworthy, and value-driven

Slide showcasing fast, precise document classification and data extraction with AI and human verification.

Slide highlighting document processing speed, system training years, and total processed applications with visualized data.

Slide presenting the product’s value, increasing underwriters’ productivity from 3 to 20 loans per day.

Slide explaining income calculation and eligibility assessment for FHA, VA, and GSE loans, with a product interface screenshot.

Slide listing supported loan types and income sources, including salary, bonuses, rental income, social benefits, and more.

Slide offering a 14-day free trial of the income component with no integration required.

Results

4.56/5

user satisfaction far surpassed the original 4.0 goal

2→14

only 2 trusted it at first. After improvements, 14 of 15 did

2→14

only 2 trusted it at first. After improvements, 14 of 15 did

95%

of new users needed no help

95%

of new users needed no help

5 min

review time fell from 2.5h

5 min

review time fell from 2.5h

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View the Project

Let’s build great things

From bold ideas to shipped products — together.

Book a Call

Let’s build great things

From bold ideas to shipped products — together.

Book a Call

Let’s build great things

From bold ideas to shipped products — together.

Book a Call