Mapping the full credit card journey as the first researcher
A living journey map that connected what customers felt at every stage to the KPIs the team was tracking.
- role
- First UX Researcher (contract), with the design lead
- company
- Avant · consumer fintech
- timeline
- 2022
- methods
- Interviews, unmoderated sessions, review analysis, KPI mapping
01 / the challenge
Avant had just launched its credit card app with a new team, and needed a shared vision of the customer: from first thinking about credit, through applying, everyday use and getting help, to staying loyal or leaving. No research foundation existed yet.
02 / what I did
As the first researcher, I built that foundation:
- Recruited participants and ran interviews, facilitating sessions myself and using User Interviews for unmoderated sessions
- Synthesized what customers thought, felt and did at each stage, along with their motivations and pain points
- Worked with cross-functional partners to gather the team's target KPIs and connect each one to a stage of the journey
03 / the result
A journey map covering four phases (acquisition, account opening, usage and retention), with every touchpoint, communication and KPI connected to what customers actually experienced.
It showed where customers struggled: being declined without understanding why, confusion about payments, and frustration reaching support.
I designed it as a living document the team would keep updating as they learned. My contract ended after delivering it, so it gave the team a strong starting point to build on.
Credit card journey map: acquisition, account opening, usage, retention
open full size in a new tab ↗the full journey map · click to expand, or open it full size to zoom in