America needs more inclusive credit, here's why and how.

MoreThanFair

Overview

MoreThanFair is an initiative that galvanizes financial institutions in America around the need to make credit access more inclusive to all. Millions of Americans are financially underserved, and without access to fair credit, they are robbed of opportunities to improve their lives. This is especially true for young adults, recent immigrants, and low-income Americans, especially those from Black and Hispanic households.

We were tasked by our client, Upstart, with building an interactive microsite to highlight these disparities and bring awareness, as well as partner with other institutions to bring change.

Launch project

Software and Frameworks

Figma Logo
svelte logo (JavaScript Framework)
Tableau logo

My Role

I was tasked with helping to develop the visual branding, typography, color scheme, and flow of information for the microsite. I collaborated with my team to streamline and iterate on these elements throughout the design and development process.

My Team

Sam Vickars (Design Management), Jack Beckwith (Creative Director, Data Analytics), Michael Hester (Web Development), Sawyer Click (Data Viz Development)

Project Partners

upstart-logo

Process

Data

The data used in this project was sourced from various financial institutions, open-source data, as well as data studies conducted by Upstart in collaboration with other entities. 

Branding

Typography scale and color for the More than fair website. Shades of blue, grey, and orange as the accent color.

The design language for this site was created from scratch and iterated upon several times before landing on an aesthetic that our stakeholders liked. We started out with completely different color and typographic choices at the onset, but changed gears to a more modern and relevant look and feel. 

Inspiration

We gathered inspiration from various places on the web for data viz types, website design, type styling, and more. We wanted to keep the target audience in mind and evoke a feeling appropriate for finance and technology. There was a lot of blue and green, as expected.

Iteration

The More Than Fair designs went from a stark white, green and red palette to a vibrant deep navy and tonal blue palette with a touch of orange as an accent color. The typography is sleeker and more modern.

As I mentioned, we iterated a few times on the aesthetic of the site, but we also did so with the data visualizations we wanted to display. It was important to our client to make the information easy to understand and not overly complex. This lengthened the scope of the project dramatically, however, all parties felt it was best to get the aesthetics just right.

What are my takeaways?

  • As someone who grew up with a lot of financial barriers and a lack of financial education and access, being able to work on a project like this was deeply meaningful to me.
  • Sometimes the iteration process is long, especially when branding an experience from scratch. There are aspects of that which are fun, but others that are deeply challenging.
  • Soliciting client feedback isn’t always a simple process.
  • When an aesthetic doesn’t quite work the first time, try try again. Scrap a bit and leverage what’s working to propel the design forward.

Evaluating Metrics

  • The MoreThanFair community has seen growth in partners since its launch. Here is the tweet.
  • Continued work is to be done on propelling the initiative into the broader conversation about fair and equable credit in the U.S.
Next Project: STAATUS Index 2022

Using data storytelling to galvanize change in the fight for Asian American equality and against stereotyping and prejudice.