Intro/Background
Applying for a credit card is usually a straightforward digital process. But one major point of friction occurs when a user has placed a freeze on their credit report — often as a security precaution — and forgotten about it. Since 2018, federal law has allowed consumers to freeze and unfreeze their credit for free at all three major bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. While this is a helpful tool for preventing identity theft, it can also unintentionally block legitimate applications.
When U.S. Bank or one of its co-branded credit card partners attempts to access the user’s credit file during the application, the request fails if a freeze is in place. From the applicant’s perspective, this can be confusing, jarring, or just plain frustrating — especially if they weren’t aware their credit was still frozen. What should be a quick and seamless process suddenly becomes a bureaucratic tangle of forgotten credentials, external bureau sites, and unclear next steps.
To make matters worse, the bank’s previous system would terminate the application entirely, forcing users to start over from scratch. Most people encountering this roadblock simply abandoned the process. That meant millions in potential lost revenue opportunities for the bank from cardholder fees, interest, and everyday usage.
In 2022, U.S. Bank launched a new platform called React Cloud Apply. This modernized the application flow and allowed users to resume where they left off instead of starting over. But improving the tech alone wasn’t enough. The end-to-end experience also needed better UX, clearer messaging, and more thoughtful design.
This UX case study focuses on solving that exact problem: How can we support users in unfreezing their credit and continuing their application without confusion or friction?
The Problem
From the business side, this results in a measurable drop-off and lost acquisition opportunities. While specific internal figures were unavailable, industry data relevant to the 2020-2021 fiscal year on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) for credit card holders provides a strong indication of the financial impact. The average CLV for a credit card customer generally estimated to be in the range of $1,000 to $2,500. Considering the average interest rates of 16-17% APR during that period, a conservative CLV of $1,500 per customer is a reasonable estimate. The estimated loss of 15-25% of applicants due to frozen credit files translates into a substantial forfeiture of potential long-term revenue. Even a moderate volume of applications could result in tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue annually for U.S. Bank, encompassing foregone annual fees of around $95/year, interest income on balances, and crucial interchange fees (typically around 2% of transaction value) over the lifetime of these unacquired customers.
When a user with a frozen credit file attempts to apply for a credit card online, the application process abruptly halts once the credit check fails without telling the applicant the reason. While the freeze in this edge case is user-initiated — typically for security reasons — most applicants forget that it’s still in place. This creates several friction points:
❌ The system doesn’t always clearly explain what happened or what to do next.
❌ Users are redirected outside the application flow to deal with the credit bureau themselves, but they aren't redirected back to the application.
❌ Many users abandon the process entirely, rather than unfreeze and return.
From the business side, this results in a measurable drop-off and lost acquisition opportunities. While specific internal figures were unavailable, industry data relevant to the 2020-2021 fiscal year on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) for credit card holders provides a strong indication of the financial impact. The average CLV for a credit card customer generally estimated to be in the range of $1,000 to $2,500. Considering the average interest rates of 16-17% APR during that period, a conservative CLV of $1,500 per customer is a reasonable estimate. The estimated loss of 15-25% of applicants due to frozen credit files translates into a substantial forfeiture of potential long-term revenue. Even a moderate volume of applications could result in tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue annually for U.S. Bank, encompassing foregone annual fees of around $95/year, interest income on balances, and crucial interchange fees (typically around 2% of transaction value) over the lifetime of these unacquired customers.
Our challenge was to design a better way to handle this moment of friction — both by clarifying the situation and empowering users to resume their application with minimal frustration.
Research Goals + Methodologies
At this stage of the project, I partnered closely with a UX Researcher who led a qualitative study focused on understanding how users interact with credit card applications when their credit report is frozen. The goal was to learn what people experience in that moment. We wanted to understand what confuses them, what causes them to drop off, and what kind of guidance would help them recover.
At this stage of the project, I partnered closely with a UX Researcher who led a qualitative study focused on understanding how users interact with credit card applications when their credit report is frozen. The goal was to learn what people experience in that moment. We wanted to understand what confuses them, what causes them to drop off, and what kind of guidance would help them recover.
The research study consisted of seven 60-minute remote interviews over Zoom and a post-interview survey with participants who had previously frozen their credit through one or more of the major credit bureaus.
These users had either encountered friction while applying for credit or were proactively managing their credit due to concerns about fraud or identity theft. While I didn’t conduct the interviews myself, I worked closely with the researcher to extract meaningful insights from the findings and apply them directly to my design decisions.
I also collaborated with a content specialist to ensure that the language used in alerts, modals, and follow-up messages felt clear, human, and appropriately reassuring. Many participants described feeling anxious or confused when the application suddenly halted due to a freeze, so tone and clarity were just as important as layout and flow.
Together, the research findings and early content guidance helped shape a clearer picture of the user journey. This involved identifying where things were breaking down, what needed to be better communicated, and how we could reduce the likelihood of users abandoning the process altogether.
My Role
➡ Product Designer and Experience Architect (XA)
➡ Collaborated with a dedicated UX Researcher, Content Designer, and Accessibility Specialist
➡ Interpreted research findings and messaging into application flows, interaction patterns, and system behavior
➡ Designed IA, user flows, and mid-fidelity wireframes for the frozen credit and resubmission experience
➡ Worked within a regulated enterprise banking environment with compliance and system constraints
➡ Tools: Figma, Jira, PowerPoint, Zoom
➡ Product Designer and Experience Architect (XA)
➡ Collaborated with a dedicated UX Researcher, Content Designer, and Accessibility Specialist
➡ Interpreted research findings and messaging into application flows, interaction patterns, and system behavior
➡ Designed IA, user flows, and mid-fidelity wireframes for the frozen credit and resubmission experience
➡ Worked within a regulated enterprise banking environment with compliance and system constraints
➡ Tools: Figma, Jira, PowerPoint, Zoom
This data comes from the qualitative UX research study that included user interviews, design feedback sessions, and a follow-up survey.
Participants generally felt confident unfreezing their credit unless they had experienced prior issues like unauthorized charges or credit bureau errors. Most responded positively to the idea of a saved application and said they would resubmit immediately. Although some preferred to double-check with the bureau first.
Participants generally felt confident unfreezing their credit unless they had experienced prior issues like unauthorized charges or credit bureau errors. Most responded positively to the idea of a saved application and said they would resubmit immediately. Although some preferred to double-check with the bureau first.
Users also expressed a strong preference for clear, friendly messaging. They wanted to know which bureau caused the freeze, whether their credit was affected, and appreciated status updates and reminders to return.
Challenges + Learnings
One of the biggest adjustments for me in this project was working within a highly specialized UX team in a large enterprise banking environment. This was my first time collaborating across dedicated or specialized roles: a UX researcher, a content designer, an accessibility specialist, and myself as the product designer — also stepping in as an experience architect after our team's dedicated XA went MIA early in the project.
One of the biggest adjustments for me in this project was working within a highly specialized UX team in a large enterprise banking environment. This was my first time collaborating across dedicated or specialized roles: a UX researcher, a content designer, an accessibility specialist, and myself as the product designer — also stepping in as an experience architect after our team's dedicated XA went MIA early in the project.
Coming from smaller companies — or even large companies with smaller fragmented design groups where I often wore multiple hats — it was a learning curve to operate at a more siloed, role-specific structure. At times, this led to friction around ownership and communication. For example, I wasn’t involved in the research directly and had to rely on summaries and feedback loops to extract what I needed for design. It taught me to ask better questions, advocate for visibility, and stay aligned without overstepping.
That said, it was also a chance to grow. I learned how to work more intentionally with other specialists and how to design within an enterprise-scale system where accessibility, compliance, and handoff structure all matter deeply. It helped me become a stronger collaborator, especially when clear ownership and timing weren’t always in place.
Working at U.S. Bank was also my first real exposure to accessibility in an elevated, structured way. It was eye-opening to realize how many companies don’t account for even the basics like contrast, alt text, or scale. Since then, I’ve carried that awareness forward into every design I touch — and this will be one of my biggest takeaways.
While I didn’t have access to long-term engagement or conversion data after handoff, this project laid a clear foundation for reducing drop-off due to frozen credit. By addressing a frustrating and often-overlooked edge case, the design helped improve continuity and clarity for users who might otherwise abandon their application entirely.
This work also strengthened alignment across teams. Collaborating with a UX Researcher gave me deeper exposure to how user narratives and behaviors can directly shape interaction flows. Working alongside a content specialist reinforced the importance of tone, clarity, and timing — especially in high-friction moments like financial applications.
For me, this project was a reminder that solving edge cases isn’t just a support task. It’s often where real loyalty and trust are built. Designing for moments of confusion or uncertainty can have just as much impact as optimizing for happy path or best-case flows.
And finally, another challenge was adjusting to the slower pace of work. Coming from fast-moving tech environments, it was an adjustment to wait weeks for feedback or progress one screen at a time. With over 200 UED teams and layers of legal, compliance, and accessibility review, things moved slowly carefully by design. It took patience, but it taught me how to stay flexible and keep momentum going in a more complex system.
Impact/Results
✅ Reduced user friction during the credit card application process caused by frozen credit files
✅ Reduced user friction during the credit card application process caused by frozen credit files
✅ Streamlined the unfreezing and resubmission experience, enabling faster task completion
✅ Created a more supportive and recoverable application flow, reducing user drop-off
✅ Contributed to a projected multi-million dollar increase in potential annual revenue through higher application completion and long-term customer value
✅ Estimated impact based on industry benchmarks: Each approved credit card can generate ~$500-$1,200 in annual CLV — even a small increase in completions could represent several million in YoY revenue
Note: My role at U.S. Bank was part of a contract position, and I transitioned out slightly ahead of schedule to pursue a full-time opportunity with PortX. While I delivered the core UX architecture, flows, and wireframes, I wasn’t involved in the final visual design, QA, or post-launch tracking.
If I had stayed, I would have prioritized user testing, followed by iteration based on behavior and engagement metrics. Still, the work was grounded in clear research and user behavior, and I believe the solution would have meaningfully reduced credit card application abandonment.
