Novus Home Mortgage 

Website Design

Novus Home Mortgage’s mission is to make mortgage lending simple. Their website contributes to their mission by allowing users to apply for a home loan, verify income and assets, digitally review and e-sign disclosures, and submit necessary paperwork throughout the loan process. 

The Situation

  • Novus Home Mortgage had a simple website that allowed users to find a loan officer but that didn't provide much additional information. 
  • Most users entered the website through the home page, but a significant number didn't make it to the loan officer landing page - a primary goal of the site. 
  • Although their site traffic was increasing, user engagement was on the decline. 
  • Overall, the Novus Home Mortgage team wanted a design refresh with a more polished, modern look, an improved user experience, more content, and stronger calls to action. 

The Solution

  • Northwoods’ designers and UX experts added unique shapes and contours , as well as sharp angles and overlapping content to add extra dimension to negative space, creating a high-design look and feel. 
  • Bold colors and gradients were used to make the design feel more vibrant and energetic, which captures the excitement of buying a new home. 
  • A clean and simple design was leveraged to make users feel more comfortable and informed throughout the loan process.

 

Homepage Design

The homepage includes more than the previous website to help the user feel more informed before starting the loan process. The images are consistent with Novus’ offline, traditional branding and bring Novus’ vibrant color palette to life throughout the website. The imagery also represents a wide range of races, ethnicities and demographics to better appeal to a wider, diverse audience.

Loan Officer Search

Novus Home Mortgage's loan officer search now allows the user to search by either name or location. The loan officer listing page provides more information about the loan officer so the user is able to make a more informed choice. Visitors can also view the loan officers detail page or jump right into the application process.

Overall Website Design

The angled design, bright colors, and increased imagery help the website feel more approachable to users without being too overwhelming. The use of white space around larger areas of text gives the website a cleaner feel and helps users easily digest content.

For a long time, gradients made websites feel outdated, but when they are used in conjunction with bold colors, they help add depth while maintaining a modern feel. The gradients used for Novus Home Mortgage are subtle, but bright enough to help the website come to life. 

The Novus Home Mortgage site also uses a mixture of center-aligned and left-aligned content. Centered content, while it can look nice from a design perspective, can negatively impact readability. So, when it comes to larger areas of text, Northwoods made sure to left align content for improved readability. 

The Outcome

  • The new design has a much more friendly, approachable design that puts users at ease before beginning the loan process.
  • More strategically placed content, calls to action and an improved user experience has resulted in better user engagement by keeping users moving through the site.
  • Forms are available on most pages to give users a way to quickly and easily reach out for more information. The new website design also delivers a bolder look that is more in line with their brand than their previous site.

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