Mortgage Brain: Product Suite
Replacing an unreliable NFC check-in system with geolocation verification for 5,700 carers.
Intro
Mortgage Brain provides software, data and analytics for mortgage advisers, brokers and lenders. I joined as the company’s first Product Designer, at a point when product interfaces were largely designed by separate engineering teams.
I introduced a more structured product design process, modernised key experiences and created the company’s first shared design system. My work focused on improving consistency across the product suite while helping Product and Engineering teams work more efficiently.
Role: Product Designer
Duration: 3 years
Platform: Web & Native Apps
Team: 7 different product teams
Stakeholders: CEO, CTO & Marketing Director
Creating the First Design System
Each Mortgage Brain product had its own development team, interface patterns and implementation decisions. Similar components were being designed and built repeatedly, creating inconsistency for users and unnecessary work for engineers.
I audited the existing products to identify repeated patterns, visual differences and opportunities for standardisation. I then created a shared design system with reusable foundations, components and interaction patterns that could work across the wider suite.
The system gave designers and developers a common reference point. Reusable components reduced duplication, improved visual consistency and helped teams build new interfaces faster.
Initial adoption was slow, with only one or two development teams using the system. The challenge moved from designing the components to demonstrating their value.
I presented the design system at a company-wide meeting, showing how shared components could improve build times, product consistency and collaboration. I then met with individual teams to answer questions, understand their concerns and support implementation.
Within three months, the design system reached 100% adoption across the product development teams.
Improving Product Delivery
The design system became part of a wider change to how Product, Design and Engineering worked together.
I introduced clearer design documentation, structured handovers and regular walkthroughs with development teams. Instead of receiving isolated screens, engineers had access to reusable patterns, component behaviour and the context behind each decision.
This reduced repeated design and development effort while giving teams more confidence that new features would remain consistent with the rest of the product suite.
Modernising the
Product Suite
Alongside the design system, I worked across Mortgage Brain’s B2B and B2C products to simplify complex financial workflows and create a clearer visual hierarchy.
Mortgage software contains large amounts of data, detailed forms and regulatory information. My role was to make those experiences easier to scan and complete without removing the detail advisers needed to do their jobs.
I also redesigned the main company website and modernised customer-facing website templates, creating a more consistent journey between marketing and the product experience.
