Foolproof partnered with Lloyds Banking Group to design a remote mortgage advice service that enabled customers to connect with advisors through video technology. The solution allowed customers to receive expert guidance either from home or within branch environments while maintaining the confidence and trust associated with traditional face-to-face consultations. The service combined customer research, service design, and technology validation to create a seamless and accessible experience.
Pioneering a remote advice service with Lloyds
We helped Lloyds Banking Group design a service which allows customers to speak with mortgage advisors remotely from the comfort of their own home, or while using an interface in-branch. We worked to define the best possible experience for customers and advisors within the capabilities of current business and technology processes.
The challenge
Expand and improve Lloyds Banking Group service offering to help maintain their place as market leading providers of customer experience.
Revolutionise how people connect with Mortgage advisors by utilising video and telephony technology to deliver advice to home buyers where they need it, when they need it.
Design, develop and test a new service proposition that facilitates remote advice whilst delivering best in class customer experience.
The solution
Understand the customer mortgage journey and concerns about receiving advice via video through qualitative research.
Utilise insight to design a service that supports customers through a potentially complex and emotionally laden mortgage application journey.
Technical analysis to map out current business processes and technical systems to guarantee successful integration and maintenance.
Validating a unique proposition
Remote advice is very different from the typical mortgage process – we knew we had to validate the proposition with users. To do this we used design research methods including customer focus groups, and interviews with Lloyds Banking Group team members, as well as quantitative surveys.
This helped us explore the mortgage application journey, understanding the phases of application and core customer needs at each point of the journey. We then mapped the business and technical processes to this which enabled us to design the ideal remote advisor experience.
Research helped us distil design principles
Our design research helped us to understand that lack of confidence was the main barrier to adoption of the service. To address this issue, we held design workshops and created a set of experience design principles which centred on confidence and security. We iterated on our concepts in increasing fidelity by conducting weekly design sprints including validation with customers and advisors to ensure the service would fulfil their needs and meet their expectations.
In order to execute the Remote Advice service in accordance with these principles we needed to consider digital and physical details. These included the look and feel of the UI, right down to the appearance of the advisor and the background of the room in which they were sitting. This helped to build trust in the service and Lloyds Banking Group as a brand.
In tandem we validated the technology, this helped to show customers and the Lloyds Banking Group team members that technology enhanced the experience rather than adding friction, giving the end user greater autonomy over their mortgage process.
Understanding all touch points set the course for future change
We created a service blueprint for the Remote Advice mortgage journey, highlighting the desired customer actions and outputs at each of the service phases from booking an appointment through to leaving the branch.
This blueprint displays the process and functions above and below the line of visibility to the customer: all touchpoints and the back-stage processes were documented in design and aligned to the overall user experience. This helped our client to evolve the proposition over time and improve the customer journey to ensure it continues to deliver the best possible experience.
Advice whenever, wherever
Our work with Lloyds Banking Group has become the largest branch-based video solution in the UK and one of the big players in Mortgage video provision from home. With 39,000 video interviews in the previous annum at branch or in-home, and the service being available at over 600 branches nationwide. The success of the service has sparked conversations about how we can help Lloyds Banking Group to extend their service vision for expert advice wherever, whenever across their product offering.
Activities
Quantitative research, qualitative research, UI design, service design blueprint, customer journey mapping, stakeholder workshops, technical audit.
Delivery
Weekly agile design sprints.
Contact us
Like what you see?
We'd love to partner with you. Contact Ed, on ed@foolproof.co.uk
Related work
Lloyds - FAQs
Customers increasingly expect financial services to be accessible, flexible, and convenient. Remote mortgage advice enables people to receive professional support without needing to travel to a branch, while still benefiting from personalized guidance. This approach improves accessibility, saves time, and helps banks serve customers more effectively regardless of location.
Foolproof conducted qualitative and quantitative research to understand customer perceptions, concerns, and expectations regarding video-based financial advice. Research revealed that confidence and trust were major adoption barriers. These insights informed the design principles, communication strategies, and service interactions that ultimately made the solution more appealing and effective.
Service blueprinting is a method used to visualize every customer interaction and supporting process involved in delivering a service. For Lloyds Banking Group, blueprinting helped map the mortgage journey from initial appointment through to completion while identifying opportunities to improve customer experience and operational efficiency. This holistic view ensured that both visible and behind-the-scenes processes worked together effectively.
Video technology combines the convenience of digital services with the personal connection of face-to-face interactions. Customers can discuss complex financial decisions with experts while remaining in comfortable and familiar environments. This improves accessibility, increases flexibility, and helps build trust throughout important financial journeys.
The remote advice solution became one of the UK's leading video mortgage advisory services, supporting tens of thousands of customer consultations. Available across hundreds of branches and home-based interactions, the service demonstrated how customer-centred design and digital innovation can transform financial services delivery while maintaining trust and quality.