Introducing a new offering of switching mortgage deals the same day

Due to tight delivery timelines and the age of the existing journey, copy changes were the main way to improve clarity and reduce risk. With no up-to-date design files, I identified the key points in the journey where the concept of switching early needed to be introduced and where users were required to make a choice. I then wrote scenario-specific copy for each deal type, focusing on whether users could switch now or later and what that meant in practice. Key information was repeated on both the deal overview and accept pages to reduce confusion and support confident decision-making before commitment.

As we got ready for moderated testing, I realised that if we wanted to make the experience as realistic as possible we would need to use variables. This allowed me to design one page and run a quicker prototype but keep 'swapping' in and out different lines of copy. One reason for making the prototype as realistic as possible is that some deals could switch early and others couldn't.  Therefore we wanted to see if customers could identify them or not 

Moderated testing highlighted recurring issues around comprehension, particularly with the 14-day cooling-off rule, the meaning of “saving” a deal, and the consequences of choosing to switch today versus later. 

While users generally found the journeys clear and easy to navigate, many skimmed content quickly, treating pages as a tick-box exercise and missing critical details. The “Switch Now” messaging received mixed reactions—seen as helpful by some but overly sales-driven by others. 

To improve, we added the line 'There is no cooling off period' in the yellow warning box and removed a blue information box when the user clicked 'when my current one ends' which prompted them about the saving they could have if they switched today.

To address saving a deal I put forward for the roadmap to investigate if we can move it forward in the journey as currently it is just before the accept rather than in the 'exploring' part of the journey near the deqal overiew.

I ran a workshop with the team, to map out all the different ways customers could have multiple mortgage deals, including fixed and tracker products starting now or in the future. Using real customer scenarios, we worked through how choices would change depending on deal type and timing, and where journeys could become confusing. This helped uncover edge cases and make sure the designs worked for real-world combinations, where the most a person can have is 6 loans all starting on different days! 

The designs clearly show what is changing, when each loan will start, and what the customer is agreeing to, helping reduce confusion in more complex setups. Loan details are presented using cards to clearly show which parts were starting when, and grouped into sections where customers had a choice and where they did not. Checkboxes are also split between loans starting today and those starting later, reflecting different cancellation rules. Loans starting today were positioned last, as they carry the highest risk due to no cancellation period.

The Switch Now initiative drove strong uptake, with 58% of eligible customers switching between July and October, generating £3.8m in value. The mortgage retention journey delivered £14bn last year, while maintaining a 92.9% five-star customer rating.