The concepts are explained in context
The explanation is connected to the figures in the user’s own mortgage.
UNDERSTANDING THE MORTGAGE
- Team
- Individual project
- Period
- October 2025 · 4 weeks
Context
The project began by exploring how complex mortgage concepts can become understandable for first-time homebuyers. Through research and prototyping, the focus narrowed to making it easier to understand what you are actually paying for — where users encounter these terms in the mortgage process. To make the solution concrete, I used DNB’s existing mortgage flow and visual framework as a starting point.
DNB was not a project partner.
Insights
Two different tests pointed to the same thing. First-time homebuyers were particularly unsure about: → interest → repayments → nominal / effective interest rates
Early prototyping
The first prototypes gathered explanations in a separate “concept explorer”. Testing showed a need to understand what the concepts mean for the user’s own mortgage over time.
What does it mean for me, over time?
Existing repayment plan
I therefore focused the concept on the repayment plan — the step after the mortgage calculator, where interest, repayments and remaining debt meet in a concrete payment context.
The user selects
“View repayment plan”
The terms are visible, but
their relationship is not explained.
Design proposal: understanding before details
A new first level in “View repayment plan”, where interest, repayments and remaining debt are explained through the user’s own mortgage figures and how they develop over time. The detailed monthly overview is retained as the next level.
Details are still available
The monthly overview is retained as the next level.
The mortgage can be explored over time
The slider shows how interest, repayments and remaining debt change.