Chapter 5

Drawing on behavioral science research and human-centered design, the ideas42 team and CCA partners generated a list of design ideas to address barriers to repayment. We then developed prototypes of the design ideas and conducted multiple rounds of user testing with 29 clients, obtaining feedback on the resonance, relevance, and relatability of each intervention. Finally, we partnered with a New Jersey–based credit counseling agency to test the designs with DMP clients who had missed a payment between March 4 and April 5, 2024.

The pilot included four designs when clients missed payments:

1. Text messages that encourage payment
2. Action-oriented emails
3. Video testimonials of past clients
4. Digital reminders and plan-making prompts

Each of these designs is detailed below, accompanied by quotes from actual clients who were exposed to the designs. We then detail the results of the pilot.

The results of the pilot were encouraging. The behavioral designs resulted in substantial client engagement across several measures:

• As many as 64% of the sample opened the email, and 16% engaged with at least one of its features.
• Only 5 (of 343) clients unsubscribed from the CCA’s texting list, suggesting that the messages were perceived as authentic and relevant.
• While the landing pages received relatively few visits overall, the clients who visited the site engaged meaningfully, spending an average of more than five minutes on the page.

Importantly, the designs also increased client repayment; though small, these bumps suggested that more clients successfully submitted a payment during the pilot month.

Somewhat counterintuitively, the CCA actually saw a decrease in phone call volumes during the pilot (2,938 and 2,968 phone calls were received in January and February, respectively, but only 2,788 were received during the pilot month of March). Although these trends appear counter to our desired help-seeking goal (e.g., for clients to reach out to the CCA), staff surveys revealed that the content of calls improved during the pilot. Staff indicated that callers were more clear and direct in their requests for assistance. The same trend was noted in help-seeking behavior conducted via text message (48 and 44 text messages in January and February, compared with 39 in March). This suggests that clients may have taken more action-oriented steps, such as completing or rescheduling payment with fewer interactions, thereby leading to these slightly lower volumes.

The pilot also revealed areas for further exploration and testing. By analyzing client income and expense data, we found that customers with the most extreme financial constraints (those whose expenses equaled or exceeded their incomes) clicked or opened messages most frequently—but actually reached out at lower rates. This finding suggests that although these individuals may have been interested in finding solutions, barriers like time constraints, shame, and stigma may have discouraged them from moving further. Further, they simply may not have had the funds to make payment. Considering not just behavioral barriers but also structural and systemic barriers is necessary to the broader effort to improve client success. Similar insights around structural and systemic barriers to repayment were evident in the second two pilots, as discussed in more detail below.

Engagement and help-seeking were lowest for those with the highest number of days past due. In other studies on loan repayment, we found that as time passed and the past due amounts grew, clients required greater assistance. Reminders appear to work best when people feel like they can cure their past dues. Identifying those who do not reach out for assistance or make a payment can allow CCAs to reach out more proactively using designs that are behaviorally and trauma-informed.

Building off the learnings from the first pilot with the New Jersey–based CCA, ideas42 partnered with two other CCAs in Minnesota and Seattle.

The goals of this second round of piloting were to:

• Adapt designs to the unique agency context and refine interventions to further impact repayment behavior for a variety of DMP clients;
• Assess the impact of behaviorally informed solutions to improve and facilitate timely DMP repayment;
• Scale impact by (1) increasing the volume of consumers reached by our designs, (2) building capacity in behavioral design with piloting CCAs, and (3) sharing learnings with the wider CCA community.

Our team user tested designs with clients from the two CCAs. This iterative design process produced the following three interventions, which were tested between February and April, 2025.

Overall, all of the redesigned communications were well received by clients. The payment reminders provided a convenient, hassle-free way to make payments, especially with the payment platform link being easily accessible. The reminders also helped clients plan for their payment in case they were going to have an issue meeting the due date.

Missed payment communications gave clients the opportunities to take action. A popular feature in the emails and text messages was the payment platform link. Clients shared that in the past they had a hard time finding the links directly on the website, and appreciated the access links to the messaging center and online payments embedded in the messages.

Missed payment communications also helped shift clients from being reactive to proactive managers of their DMP. Many clients told us they liked learning that they could make partial payments, and liked having easy to use links so that they did not need to contact a CCA representative. That being said, others appreciated the encouragement to reach out for support, knowing that there were options available.

The pilots showed positive engagement rates with the payment reminder emails, with one CCA seeing 70%–80% of clients opening their reminder email, and as many as 30% clicking on features in the email. Among both CCAs, one of the more popular features was the payment platform links. Clients indicated that they wanted to get reminders and found them useful, especially by providing convenient, hassle-free ways to make payments without searching for the right links, and by helping them plan ahead for their payment.

Similarly, there was positive interaction with missed payment communications. One CCA saw 75% of clients open the first missed payment email and 50%–65% open the second one.

For the CCA that redesigned their landing page and featured it in the missed payment communications, they saw increased traffic as shown in the graph below, with visits to the page reaching on average 57% higher across the pilot months than the same months in the previous year. The landing page also helped facilitate an increase in new client communication through the new “Message Us” button that was added to the page during the redesign. There was a steady increase in the number of people who clicked on that button throughout the pilot months, suggesting that more people were relying on the landing page as a channel to get in touch with the CCA, a channel they did not have access to in the past.

Figure 5.8

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Increased visits to ‘Payment Support’ landing page

We measured engagement not just in terms of interaction with the designs themselves, but whether the designs led to increased engagement with the CCA in the form of clients seeking support. Overall, inbound client outreach increased during the two pilots. One CCA saw a 151% average increase in messages through the message center and a 17% average increase in calls across the pilot months. Interestingly, call volumes started dropping in the final month of the pilot, indicating perhaps that the channels used by clients to contact the CCA may have started shifting as they became more aware of and familiar with other outreach options, like the messaging platform. These other options also provided clients with greater flexibility in how and when to contact the CCA.

Both CCAs also observed an increased quality of their interactions with clients. Conversations were longer and more in-depth, which suggests that when the CCA highlights repayment options and makes help-seeking channels more visible, it can deepen trust and lead to more transparent, honest conversations. Indeed, many counselors felt that clients seemed more comfortable talking with them about their payment challenges because of the communications they had received. 

Despite the well received communication and high engagement rates, there was no effect, either positive or negative, on clients’ likelihood to make a payment on time or submit a recovery payment.

One CCA did see an improvement in the number of clients who got back on track during the pilot after missing a payment. Clients were 5%–6% more likely to have made up their payments 15–29 days after having missed the due date. The piloted designs, however, may not be fully responsible for these increases. While the number of people who rectified payments was on average higher during the pilot, this seems to be part of a larger trend related to earlier changes by the CCA.

These neutral repayment results prompted us to talk with clients to understand more fully their financial reality. What we learned was that while clients were highly motivated to repay their DMPs, most clients who missed payments were facing severe structural barriers. The desire was there to meet their debt obligations, but the money was not. The most consistent and significant factor influencing repayment behavior was cash flow stability. If clients had the money, they paid. If they did not, they either delayed or missed a payment. In these situations, there was little the CCA could do that would result in payment if clients simply did not have the funds.

Reminders are insufficient to overcome these structural barriers, and CCAs may require exploring additional avenues for client support at the program level.

DMP payments were a top client priority even if they were late or missed:

Despite no effect on repayment behavior, client surveys showed that the DMP payments were a top priority for clients. Respondents were asked to rank 10 expenses in terms of how they prioritized paying each. DMP payments were the 5th most prioritized, right below basic necessities like rent, utilities, groceries, and transportation, and ahead of things like medical expenses, childcare/schooling costs, and savings.

Figure 5.9

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Average ranking of expense prioritization

Planning was well intentioned, but often not enough:

Similarly, over 70% of clients stated that they always planned ahead to ensure money was set aside for their payment. However, this was not enough to combat more immediate structural issues, such as a lack of income/employment, unexpected expenses, and having to prioritize essentials, like housing.

Unexpected expenses created significant payment challenges:

Among clients with unexpected expenses, 40% said that they made repaying “very difficult" and “impossible.”

Similarly, 76% of clients who paid late and did not make up payments reported that unexpected expenses had affected their ability to repay.

The project reaffirmed the important service that credit counseling agencies (CCAs) and debt management plans (DMPs) provide in helping clients overcome burdensome debt. It also highlighted how behavioral science can help clients face the challenges of their daily financial lives.

By understanding the impact of scarcity, how hassles prevent follow-through, and that stigma and shame lead people to hide, behavioral science can help us design impactful communications that resonate with clients and lead to action. A collaborative encouraging tone, low-touch communications channels, and judgment-free language can encourage people under financial stress to reach out for help.

Clients shared further opportunities to promote success. They would appreciate financial tools like budget templates, financial planning videos, and practical money-savings tips, and features like progress bars, “interest saved” trackers, and milestone celebrations that show concrete signs of progress and increase motivation.

As we saw in the pilot results, reminders alone can’t overcome the structural barriers faced by many clients. If clients had the money, they paid. If they did not, they either delayed or missed a payment.

As a result, ensuring clients are aware of all of their payment options available for those facing cash flow issues is imperative. Despite concerns that offering partial payments or allowing for a skipped payment would derail DMP clients from their goals, we saw no evidence of clients abusing these options. In conversations and in surveys, clients expressed pride in paying their DMPs, and were highly motivated to do so. Those that needed payment options were likely facing real emergencies and cash flow imbalances.