UX Design Internship at CSBS

Defined a path to reduce call-center reliance for small-company users across core NMLS licensing workflows by creating 6 end-to-end journey maps.

12 WEEKS / MAY - AUG 2025

Role: UX Design Intern

Team: Technical L&D Team, Products and Solutions BU

Tools

Miro

Miro

Google Workspaces

Google Workspaces

ServiceNow

ServiceNow

Skills

Product Design

Product Design

UX Research

UX Research

User Interviews

User Interviews

Journey Mapping

Journey Mapping

Overview

Overview

Primary Problem

Primary Problem

Small companies, often called "mom and pop shops", face unique challenges in navigating NMLS licensing compared to larger institutions. Without dedicated staff, they often rely heavily on the call center for support.

Small companies, often called "mom and pop shops", face unique challenges in navigating NMLS licensing compared to larger institutions. Without dedicated staff, they often rely heavily on the call center for support.

> 53%

mortgage license companies consist of a single mortgage loan originator (MLO)


> 93%

mortgage licensed companies are considered micro-sized, employing 10 or fewer MLOs.

195%

increase in the national dropout rate for students


Project Goal

Project Goal

To understand small company users' journey, highlight key pain points (especially versus larger companies), and recommend improvements for self-service support (new NMLS Resource Center). This is done by creating six journey maps of the end-to-end licensing experiences for small company users as they navigate NMLS and complete core workflows:

To understand small company users' journey, highlight key pain points (especially versus larger companies), and recommend improvements for self-service support (new NMLS Resource Center). This is done by creating six journey maps of the end-to-end licensing experiences for small company users as they navigate NMLS and complete core workflows:

πŸ‘€ Account Creation

πŸ“‘ MU1 Filing

✍ MU2 Attestation

Live notifications are an important feature to ensure tasks and lessons stay on track, helping users at home avoid procrastination.



πŸ“Š Financial Statements

Live notifications are an important feature to ensure tasks and lessons stay on track, helping users at home avoid procrastination.



πŸ’² Form Payments

Live notifications are an important feature to ensure tasks and lessons stay on track, helping users at home avoid procrastination.



βš™οΈ Account Management

Live notifications are an important feature to ensure tasks and lessons stay on track, helping users at home avoid procrastination.



Approach

Approach

Creating Hypothesis

Creating Hypothesis

Secondary Research
Call Center Interviews
Hypothesis Journey Map

Secondary Research
Call Center Interviews
Hypothesis Journey Map

Quantifying Data

Quantifying Data

Hand-coding ServiceNow tickets


Hand-coding ServiceNow tickets


Validating Hypothesis

Validating Hypothesis

User Interviews
Refined Journey Map
Recommendations for NMLS Resource Center

User Interviews
Refined Journey Map
Recommendations for NMLS Resource Center

Research

Research Goals

GOAL #1

πŸŽ₯ Understand the user's overall movie-going and snack purchasing journey.

GOAL #2

πŸ˜• Identify common sources of frustration within the current snack-purchasing processes.

GOAL #3

πŸ€– Explore user expectations for an improved snack experience.

Methods

6
call centre agent interviews

900
ServiceNow tickets analysis

3
user interviews

Call Centre Agent Interviews

We created a hypothesis map from self-evaluation, then validated and updated it with 6 interviews with call-center agents.

We created a hypothesis map from self-evaluation, then validated and updated it with 6 interviews with call-center agents.

Step 1: Self-evaluation
Created a hypothesis journey map from a self-guided review of the system.

Step 2: Call center agent interviews
Ran 6 remote, semi-structured 1:1 interviews (60–90 min).

Transcribed sessions and affinity-clustered insights to quantify pain-point frequency (how many agents raised each issue) and updated the hypothesis journey map based on mention weight.

Step 1: Self-evaluation
Created a hypothesis journey map from a self-guided review of the system.

Step 2: Call center agent interviews
Ran 6 remote, semi-structured 1:1 interviews (60–90 min).

Transcribed sessions and affinity-clustered insights to quantify pain-point frequency (how many agents raised each issue) and updated the hypothesis journey map based on mention weight.

πŸ› οΈ Need for an easy-to-use app that supports the complexities of e-learning.

Seesaw and Homeschool Panda have complex interfaces, making them difficult to navigate. Conversely, simpler apps lack the tools needed to manage the full E-learning process.

πŸ› Existing solutions were not engaging for students.

Most apps focus primarily on parents and teachers, but fail to make the experience engaging for students. There is a need for features that promote active participation for children.

πŸ”” The importance of live notifications.

Live notifications are an important feature to ensure tasks and lessons stay on track, helping users at home avoid procrastination.



This motivated me to:

This motivated me to:

01
02

03

01
02

03

Focus on ease of use in my design, while still supporting the complexities of digital learning.

Conduct user interviews with teachers and parents to identify the technical challenges they face with existing E-learning apps.

Conduct user interviews with students to understand their experience with existing apps and determine whether they find them engaging and interactive.

Focus on ease of use in my design, while still supporting the complexities of digital learning.

Conduct user interviews with teachers and parents to identify the technical challenges they face with existing E-learning apps.

Conduct user interviews with students to understand their experience with existing apps and determine whether they find them engaging and interactive.

Reflection

Educademy taught me to turn multi-stakeholder research into clear user stories and high-impact features, balancing user needs and constraints.

Educademy taught me to turn multi-stakeholder research into clear user stories and high-impact features, balancing user needs and constraints.

The "Educademy" project enhanced my ability to balance user needs with functional goals, ensuring the solution aligns with real-world challenges in E-learning. Conducting extensive research, creating personas, and mapping user journeys emphasized the importance of understanding diverse stakeholders.

The project taught me the value of leveraging user stories to identify and prioritize features effectively. By stepping into the users’ perspectives, I was able to clearly define their needs and objectives, which helped guide the design process. Using the MoSCoW method, I classified features into categories, ensuring a strategic approach to resource allocation and feature implementation. This process honed my ability to focus on high-impact features first, balancing user needs with project constraints.

The "Educademy" project enhanced my ability to balance user needs with functional goals, ensuring the solution aligns with real-world challenges in E-learning. Conducting extensive research, creating personas, and mapping user journeys emphasized the importance of understanding diverse stakeholders.

The project taught me the value of leveraging user stories to identify and prioritize features effectively. By stepping into the users’ perspectives, I was able to clearly define their needs and objectives, which helped guide the design process. Using the MoSCoW method, I classified features into categories, ensuring a strategic approach to resource allocation and feature implementation. This process honed my ability to focus on high-impact features first, balancing user needs with project constraints.

Future Directions

Future Directions

Enhance participation with an attendance feature that requires the camera to be on for at least half the class

Provide performance insights through real-time stats for parents and students to track progress

Foster peer connections with dedicated socializing features for students

Enhance retention for learners with interactive flashcards for better learning and recall

Saumya Verma Β© 2018-2025 All Rights Reserved

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