Forward Financing: Broker Calculator
External tool for financing brokers to calculate financing deals for SMB owners
Forward Financing: Broker Calculator
External tool for financing brokers to calculate financing deals for SMB owners
Forward Financing: Broker Calculator
External tool for financing brokers to calculate financing deals for SMB owners
Forward Financing: Broker Calculator
External tool for financing brokers to calculate financing deals for SMB owners
Product Design
User Research
Forward Financing provides fast financing for small businesses. Forward works with brokers, such as Lending Tree, who provide these financing options to their clients.
The teacher activation funnel included four key steps: sign up, create a class, create an assignment, and assign to students. We strategically concentrated our efforts on the assignment creation stage after discovering that less than 30% of teachers who signed up actually created assignments—meaning over 70% weren't actively using the platform.
Activities
Prototyping, UX Design, UI Design, User Interviews, Rapid Iteration, Stakeholder Management
Activities
Prototyping, UX Design, UI Design, User Interviews, Rapid Iteration, Stakeholder Management
Activities
Prototyping, UX Design, UI Design, User Interviews, Rapid Iteration, Stakeholder Management
Timeline
2 weeks
Timeline
2 weeks
Timeline
2 weeks
Team
Courtney Sabo (Solo Designer)
Team
Courtney Sabo (Solo Designer)
Team
Courtney Sabo (Solo Designer)
Company Type
Financial Services
B2B
200-500 employees
Company Type
Financial Services
B2B
200-500 employees
Company Type
Financial Services
B2B
200-500 employees
Project Goal
Define, validate, and implement improvements to the Broker Calculator
Project Goal
Define, validate, and implement improvements to the Broker Calculator
Project Goal
Define, validate, and implement improvements to the Broker Calculator
User Research with brokers unveiled inefficiencies and opportunities.
Though we would have preferred more participants, consistent feedback across all interviews gave us confidence to proceed with these insights.
Through interviews with six brokers, we identified critical usability issues in Forward's contract interface that were hindering broker productivity and affecting potential revenue.
User Research with brokers unveiled inefficiencies and opportunities.
Though we would have preferred more participants, consistent feedback across all interviews gave us confidence to proceed with these insights.
Through interviews with six brokers, we identified critical usability issues in Forward's contract interface that were hindering broker productivity and affecting potential revenue.
User Research with brokers unveiled inefficiencies and opportunities.
Though we would have preferred more participants, consistent feedback across all interviews gave us confidence to proceed with these insights.
Through interviews with six brokers, we identified critical usability issues in Forward's contract interface that were hindering broker productivity and affecting potential revenue.
User Research with brokers unveiled inefficiencies and opportunities.
Though we would have preferred more participants, consistent feedback across all interviews gave us confidence to proceed with these insights.
Through interviews with six brokers, we identified critical usability issues in Forward's contract interface that were hindering broker productivity and affecting potential revenue.
Existing design: Our research revealed that brokers primarily focused on Adjust by Approval Amount and desired key features like keyboard editing and clearer term adjustment options. They constantly scrolled between inputs and review sections, dealt with unnecessary decimal inputs, and encountered redundant information—all creating friction in their workflow.
For the design, we focused on basics, reducing unnecessary steps and functionality.
The redesigned interface keeps deal terms visible while making adjustments, prominently displays expiration notifications, and simplifies the entire contract creation workflow—all improvements directly addressing the pain points identified in our broker interviews and requiring minimal new component development.
Based on our user research, we focused on creating a view that allows brokers to quickly adjust purchase prices with a clear understanding of how changes affect other values, replacing circular inputs with more intuitive horizontal sliders and editable fields.
For the design, we focused on basics, reducing unnecessary steps and functionality.
The redesigned interface keeps deal terms visible while making adjustments, prominently displays expiration notifications, and simplifies the entire contract creation workflow—all improvements directly addressing the pain points identified in our broker interviews and requiring minimal new component development.
Based on our user research, we focused on creating a view that allows brokers to quickly adjust purchase prices with a clear understanding of how changes affect other values, replacing circular inputs with more intuitive horizontal sliders and editable fields.
For the design, we focused on basics, reducing unnecessary steps and functionality.
The redesigned interface keeps deal terms visible while making adjustments, prominently displays expiration notifications, and simplifies the entire contract creation workflow—all improvements directly addressing the pain points identified in our broker interviews and requiring minimal new component development.
Based on our user research, we focused on creating a view that allows brokers to quickly adjust purchase prices with a clear understanding of how changes affect other values, replacing circular inputs with more intuitive horizontal sliders and editable fields.
For the design, we focused on basics, reducing unnecessary steps and functionality.
The redesigned interface keeps deal terms visible while making adjustments, prominently displays expiration notifications, and simplifies the entire contract creation workflow—all improvements directly addressing the pain points identified in our broker interviews and requiring minimal new component development.
Based on our user research, we focused on creating a view that allows brokers to quickly adjust purchase prices with a clear understanding of how changes affect other values, replacing circular inputs with more intuitive horizontal sliders and editable fields.
Prototype: This prototype was shared with internal leadership, internal stakeholders, and brokers.
Accounting for all scenarios
We also integrated subtle safeguards for broker profitability by adding a confirmation dialog when upsell values fall below 3%, keeping this alert off the main screen per Sales team preference while ensuring brokers consciously proceed with lower-margin deals.
Our redesigned interface handles two critical disclosure workflows: automatically sending documents when brokers provide a single offer, and enabling selective disclosure sending for multiple offers where SMB owners need to review options before final contract requests.
Accounting for all scenarios
We also integrated subtle safeguards for broker profitability by adding a confirmation dialog when upsell values fall below 3%, keeping this alert off the main screen per Sales team preference while ensuring brokers consciously proceed with lower-margin deals.
Our redesigned interface handles two critical disclosure workflows: automatically sending documents when brokers provide a single offer, and enabling selective disclosure sending for multiple offers where SMB owners need to review options before final contract requests.
Accounting for all scenarios
We also integrated subtle safeguards for broker profitability by adding a confirmation dialog when upsell values fall below 3%, keeping this alert off the main screen per Sales team preference while ensuring brokers consciously proceed with lower-margin deals.
Our redesigned interface handles two critical disclosure workflows: automatically sending documents when brokers provide a single offer, and enabling selective disclosure sending for multiple offers where SMB owners need to review options before final contract requests.
Accounting for all scenarios
We also integrated subtle safeguards for broker profitability by adding a confirmation dialog when upsell values fall below 3%, keeping this alert off the main screen per Sales team preference while ensuring brokers consciously proceed with lower-margin deals.
Our redesigned interface handles two critical disclosure workflows: automatically sending documents when brokers provide a single offer, and enabling selective disclosure sending for multiple offers where SMB owners need to review options before final contract requests.
State disclosure forms: Disclosure handling with state-specific alerts allows brokers to either automatically send documents with a single offer or selectively send disclosures for client review when presenting multiple options.
Low upsell alert: Low upsell confirmation dialog appears only when needed, maintaining clean interface while ensuring brokers are aware of potentially unprofitable deals before proceeding.
Outcomes
The implementation of this moved quickly since we used the existing design system. By moving the Broker Calculator to the newer internal platform, engineers would save time by not needing to manage this older code. The internal Sales team felt heard throughout the whole process.
Outcomes
The implementation of this moved quickly since we used the existing design system. By moving the Broker Calculator to the newer internal platform, engineers would save time by not needing to manage this older code. The internal Sales team felt heard throughout the whole process.
Outcomes
The implementation of this moved quickly since we used the existing design system. By moving the Broker Calculator to the newer internal platform, engineers would save time by not needing to manage this older code. The internal Sales team felt heard throughout the whole process.
0%
support tickets or complaints from brokers about the new Broker Calculator
0%
support tickets or complaints from brokers about the new Broker Calculator
0%
support tickets or complaints from brokers about the new Broker Calculator
4%
decrease in average time to send a deal (this was a bonus)
4%
decrease in average time to send a deal (this was a bonus)
4%
decrease in average time to send a deal (this was a bonus)
10K+
contracts have been sent out without issues using the new Broker Calculator
10K+
contracts have been sent out without issues using the new Broker Calculator
10K+
contracts have been sent out without issues using the new Broker Calculator
Outcomes
The implementation of this moved quickly since we used the existing design system. By moving the Broker Calculator to the newer internal platform, engineers would save time by not needing to manage this older code. The internal Sales team felt heard throughout the whole process.
Outcomes
The implementation of this moved quickly since we used the existing design system. By moving the Broker Calculator to the newer internal platform, engineers would save time by not needing to manage this older code. The internal Sales team felt heard throughout the whole process.
0%
support tickets or complaints from brokers about the new Broker Calculator
0%
support tickets or complaints from brokers about the new Broker Calculator
4%
decrease in average time to send a deal (this was a bonus)
4%
decrease in average time to send a deal (this was a bonus)
10K+
contracts have been sent out without issues using the new Broker Calculator
10K+
contracts have been sent out without issues using the new Broker Calculator
Interested in working together?
© Courtney Sabo, 2025