Service design transformation reducing approval time by 82% while tripling customer acquisition through systematic process redesign and stakeholder orchestration

Transforming Property Finance: from 5 Months of Frustration to 16 Days of Digital Excellence

Impact Statement

Redesigned end-to-end property finance service ecosystem, reducing approval time from 90 to 16 days (82% improvement) and increasing offers within 20 business days from 41.7% to 73.3%, enabling tripling customer growth from while transforming £57M+ application pipeline efficiency.

Key Success Drivers

A black and white cartoon face with sunglasses and a big smile.

Systems Mapping Excellence: Comprehensive service blueprint revealing critical bottlenecks across 8+ stakeholder touchpoints in the property finance acquisition journey

Multi-Channel Orchestration: Integrated broker portal development connecting fragmented Excel-based processes into a unified digital workflow

Operational Transformation: Evidence-based process redesign moving from manual document handling to automated status tracking and batch document upload

Proof Points

A black and white illustration of a person's face with glasses and a beard, within a square frame.

Multi-stakeholder research across PF Advisors, Underwriting Team, and PF Officers

Service blueprint identifying end-to-end process inefficiencies

Post-implementation metrics: 82% reduction in approval timeline, 31.6% improvement in delivery consistency

£57M+ application volume successfully processed through redesigned system (Q3 2025)

The Strategic Context

  • Property finance division operating with manual processes, Excel-based tracking, and fragmented stakeholder communication, creating significant friction in a competitive market requiring rapid response times.

  • Critical business constraints limiting growth potential:

    • 5-month average approval timeline vs. industry standard expectations

    • Manual document management creating processing bottlenecks

    • Broker frustration with lack of application visibility

    • Internal stakeholder coordination inefficiencies across advisory, underwriting, and processing teams

  • How might we redesign the property finance service ecosystem to dramatically reduce processing time while maintaining compliance standards and improving stakeholder experience across the entire acquisition journey?

  • Implement comprehensive service design methodology combining stakeholder ethnography, process mapping, and systematic digital transformation to create integrated broker portal and streamlined operational workflows.

Research Strategy and Execution*

Research Strategy and Execution*

  • The limited pool of active property finance customers presented a significant constraint for conducting comprehensive user research to understand the full customer journey. Traditional user-centered research approaches would have yielded insufficient sample sizes for reliable insights across the diverse property finance acquisition process. To overcome this limitation, I implemented a research triangulation methodology that combined multiple data sources and research methods to enhance validity and credibility of findings. This strategic approach integrated four complementary data streams: existing research review to identify known gaps, quantitative performance data analysis to reveal systematic bottlenecks, subject matter expert interviews to capture process-level insights from internal stakeholders, and digital experience audits to assess customer-facing touchpoints.

    Read more

Service Design Innovation: Ecosystem Mapping: Comprehensive Service Blueprint Analysis

an example of a section of the service blueprint - details are omitted

Critical process inefficiencies identified → Designing a cohesive experience across stakeholder touchpoints → Broker Portal development addressing core pain points

Reflections

How this project refined my practice:

Systems Thinking Application: Developed a framework for mapping complex multi-stakeholder financial processes

Digital Transformation Integration: Created an approach combining service design with technology implementation

Stakeholder Research Depth: Enhanced methodology for capturing operational constraints alongside user needs

Impact Measurement: Established quantifiable metrics connecting service design decisions to business outcomes

How insights transfer to other banking contexts:

Process Optimization: Framework applicable to any multi-stage financial approval workflow

Stakeholder Coordination: Methodology for managing complex internal/external user ecosystems

Compliance Integration: Approach for maintaining regulatory standards during digital transformation

Performance Measurement: Metrics framework connecting operational efficiency to customer experience