Keyz

Mobile app supporting Housing Counselors by digitizing the counseling and homebuying education journey. The Keyz App gives clients access to financial tools and secure document sharing, while seamlessly connecting with the Keyz Housing Counselor Portal for real-time collaboration and the Keyz marketing website for onboarding and outreach.

1. Overview

  • Project Type: Mobile app for aspiring first-time homebuyers

  • Role: Product Designer (Research, UX/UI, Strategy, Prototyping, Testing)

  • Goal: Help individuals who want to buy a home but aren’t yet ready — by guiding them step-by-step toward mortgage readiness through education, planning, and counselor collaboration.

2. Problem

Many first-time homebuyers aspire to own a home but lack the financial knowledge, readiness, and confidence to start the process.

Traditional borrower education is reactive — often beginning after buyers are already applying for loans. Keyz flips that model, focusing on early-stage education and personalized readiness tracking before purchase.

  • Buyers don’t know where to start or how ready they are.

  • Housing counselors rely on outdated tools and manual tracking.

  • The process is intimidating, fragmented, and lacks motivation.

3. Research & Discovery

Objectives

  • Understand barriers preventing people from becoming mortgage-ready.

  • Identify what motivates homebuyers to take action early.

  • Explore how housing counselors can guide clients efficiently using digital tools.

Methods

  • Ethnographic research and observation of counseling sessions.

  • In-depth interviews with:

    • 30+ aspiring homebuyers (not yet ready to purchase)

    • 30+ housing counselors from nonprofit and agency programs.

  • Journey mapping, concept mapping, personas and affinity clustering.

Key Insights

  • Many potential buyers underestimate how early they should begin preparing.

  • Progress visibility and emotional reassurance help users stay engaged.

  • Counselors need a digital bridge — a platform where guidance, education, and financial data come together.

4. Ideation & Strategy

  • Facilitated ideation workshops with counselors and product partners.

  • Defined three key experience pillars:

    1. Understand – Learn the mortgage process through short, contextual lessons.

    2. Assess – Identify financial readiness using guided checklists and assessments.

    3. Collaborate – Partner with housing counselors to create a personalized roadmap to readiness.

5. Design Process

Wireframes & Prototyping

  • Sketched early concepts focusing on progress visualization and friendly tone.

  • Developed high-fidelity mockups emphasizing clarity, trust, and simplicity.

Core Features

  • Readiness Dashboard: Visual snapshot of progress across savings, credit, and education.

  • Learning Modules: Bite-sized, gamified lessons that build financial literacy.

  • Counselor Chat & Task Sharing: Collaborative workspace to set and track goals.

  • Progress Tracker: Motivational milestones to celebrate small wins.

User Testing

  • Conducted usability tests with both buyers and counselors.

  • Iterated based on feedback — simplifying onboarding, adding visual progress indicators, and improving content navigation.

Prototype link: Click Here

6. Marketing & Awareness

  • Designed and developed the Keyz marketing website to attract first-time homebuyers and housing agencies.

  • Focused messaging on empowerment and readiness, using visuals that feel approachable and trustworthy.

  • Encouraged early sign-ups for beta testing and counselor partnerships.

7. Impact & Outcomes

  • Increased engagement between counselors and pre-purchase clients.

  • Improved user confidence and understanding of the homeownership journey (based on usability surveys).

  • Created a scalable model that can integrate with lender partnerships in future iterations.

8. Reflection & Learnings

Designing Keyz reinforced how empathy-driven design can simplify intimidating financial journeys.

  • Learned to blend education, motivation, and trust in one cohesive experience.

  • Gained deeper insight into how digital tools can empower early financial planning.

  • Future opportunity: expand the platform to include real-time credit insights and lender readiness connections.

Next

Keyz - Housing Counselor Portal