A sitemap strategy that puts user’s need at the forefront |
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LendInvest | London, UK | April, 2022
When I joined the project, LendInvest was at an interesting crossroads. Since its launch in 2008, the business had expanded so widely—new products, new audiences, new expectations—that the brand’s original identity felt a bit stretched thin. Internally, people had different answers to “What exactly do we do best?” and externally, the message felt scattered. In a fast-moving UK FinTech market, that fuzziness was slowing us down.
Despite having strong products, the overall story didn’t hang together. We were trying to speak to too many groups at once—borrowers, brokers, institutional partners—and the message became diluted. Users bounced between pages trying to make sense of it, and our data reflected the confusion.
We needed to:
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Define a cohesive brand identity that worked across audiences
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Simplify the journey without losing important product detail
- Communicate the upcoming changes in a way that built trust rather than anxiety
Rather than rebuild everything from scratch (tempting as that was), I worked with the constraints we had—tight timelines, existing design systems, and stakeholders with strong opinions.
Key moves:
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Identified risk areas early and locked them down before they became blockers
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Reduced unnecessary content and designed clearer, more direct pathways
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Created upfront comms to prepare users for the new experience
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Prioritised pragmatic, lightweight iterations over pixel-perfect fantasy
This kept the project moving. And, frankly, it kept everyone calm.
The new experience clarified both what LendInvest offers and who it’s for. Visually and structurally, the journey became cleaner, calmer, and less labyrinth-like.
Highlights:
- Leaner page architecture
- Simplified decision routes for users
- Tighter narrative across all product touchpoints
- More consistent tone and hierarchy
- Reduced cognitive load in critical conversion steps
Even though we shipped earlier than planned, the rollout was surprisingly smooth—mainly because we’d done the heavy risk lifting upfront and communicated clearly with users.
Within three months, we saw:
- ↓ Bounce rates
- ↓ Rage clicks (those always sting)
- ↓ Drop-off during key journeys
- ↑ Conversion rates
Stakeholders appreciated that we didn’t drag them through endless revision cycles. It was efficient, collaborative, and, in the end, a genuinely impactful refresh.