Problem
SimpleNexus provides the industry's leading point-of-sale software. If you’ve used a mobile app to apply for a home loan, then you've used SimpleNexus. A mobile and web platform that enables lenders to meet borrowers where they are and enable their dream team to close and sell loans.
The company, ripe for expansion, decided to invest in building software for the secondary market – yup, bigger fish.
I led design on this product, working closely with my talented Investor team to build a product that aligns with regulatory, vendor, interoperability, customer, and user requirements while also extending the ease, discoverability, and scale of thoughtful technology.
nCino eVault is a document custodian (a digital vault) where organizations hold and transact on mortgage-backed securities.
Challenge
Understanding complex industry knowledge. Mortgage is an in-club but the information is out there. I personally enjoyed diving in a space I knew nothing about. My fresh eyes and pulse on emerging tech helped bring new ideas to biased audiences. Building a deeper understanding helped me architect solutions that catered to a wide range of specific use cases and industry changes.
Regulations changing in real time. eVault is still "new" so protocols are being made in real time. My PM Nelson Chou and VP Jay Arneja were key to bringing industry news back to us builders. Then we talk about how to abide yet push for better interactions.
Security and audit trails. Big assets means big risk, and lots of laws means customers have legal needs. We worked through how to store assets securely while providing visibility to our customers. Reliable systems / data and user trust via transparency were priorities.
Federal and inconsistent state laws made it difficult to create single-solution features. Everything needs to be considered from multiple angles, especially the angle of "how do we protect our customers from getting sued?"
Interoperability with legacy systems. Compromises of ideal experiences were made to accommodate widely-used, archaic systems. Hard but a key to adoption.
Balancing compliance and innovation. We worked closely with our vendors, advisors, and industry partners to make sure we understood compliance rules. This allowed us to identify where we could innovate and build optimal experiences despite constraints.
Easy contract value. eVault took 2 years until we felt it was ready for customers. Once trying to market, we learned that we needed to provide the whole eClosing bundle for them to switch platforms. We quickly built nCino eSign to sweeten the deal.
Outcome
Despite the volatile economy, our product has early adopters. We're monitoring and iterating as we go. And graciously, we recognized by MERS (the people who approve these things) as a lovable product.
A player team!
Collaboration with Shane Herd, Nelson Chou, Jay Arneja, Trevan Reese, Ryan Jensen, Brett Hays, Matt Corbett, and many more to build this beast!