AMEX Financial Wellness Solution for Digital Wallet Users
As the world increasingly embraces digital financial tools, young consumers are finding themselves at a crossroads between convenience and control.
American Express introduces a user-centric feature to tackle this, while also gaining an edge in traditional banking.
INTRODUCTION
Context
American Express is known for exceptional service, loyalty programs, and financial trust. However, they recognize the growing competition from Fintech companies that are attracting younger consumers, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, with innovative, easy-to-use digital solutions.
The Brief
To stay competitive and expand their user base, American Express is looking to evolve their mobile app by adding a new feature that resonates with this demographic.
What did I do?
To overturn a user problem into an impactful solution-feature I conducted primary and secondary research, utilizing the following deliverables:
The Scope
Research and identify a high-impact feature that gives AMEX a competitive edge, while adhering to the following contraints:
01.
Align feature with brand values of trust, reliability and customer-centric service.
02.
Maintain the current UI design framework of the AMEX mobile app.
03.
75 hour to develop fully prototyped feature.
Competitive analysis
User persona
User flow
Usability test
Interviews
Empathy map
Wireframes
Prototype
Quick, contactless payments encourage impulsive buying and overspending.
Increase of impulse spending
Multiple payment methods make it difficult to track spending, causing a fragmented understanding of financial state.
Losing track of spending
Convenience of digital wallets reinforces short-term gratification, leaving them unprepared for the unexpected.
struggles reaching financial goals
Lack of control leads to anxiety, guilt, and avoidance of checking finances out of fear.
Increase of emotional distress
Actual Situation
Digital wallet and fintech apps are rapidly changing the way we spend on a daily basis. Today, Gen Z and Millennial are facing this situation:
UNDERSTAND
User Interviews
As part of the Discovery stage, I interviewed both Gen Z and Millennials to understand how they manage finance, their spending behaviors, pain points, and needs.
01.
Understand spending habits & behaviors.
02.
Detect needs, pain points & opportunities.
03.
Understand how they manage their finances.
04.
Understand factors influencing spending habits.
I divided questions into 3 sections:
01.
Daily spending habits.
02.
Current management approach.
03.
Financial independence obstacles.
Number
5 participants.
Age
24-30.
Style
In-person & remote.
Duration
30 minutes each.
APPROACH
QUESTIONS STRATEGY
GOALS
How Gen Z and Millennial Manage, Spend and Feel about their Finances
Affinity Map
Categorizing feedback helped me to uncover recurring patterns in users behavior, needs and pain points, allowing me to pinpoint the most important area to inform my design direction.
01. They would like financial tools but don’t want to download external budgeting apps.
02. They often struggle to make progress towards goals due to ineffective strategy.
03. They mostly do mental math as their budget strategy, only having a rough estimate of real situation.
04. Frequently exceed mental budgets due to impulse spending and convenience of digital wallets.
Key Findings:
DEFINE
To better understand the target audience and align my design decisions around their needs, I crafted a user persona and empathy map.
These tools allowed me to step into the users' shoes, uncovering their emotions, frustrations, and motivations. This enabled me to generate creative feature ideas that also directly addressed real user problems in a meaningful way.
These tools allowed me to step into the users' shoes, uncovering their emotions, frustrations, and motivations. This enabled me to generate creative feature ideas that also directly addressed real user problems in a meaningful way.
Synthesizing Research Findings
Losing track of
small expenses.
small expenses.
Convenience of
impulse spending.
impulse spending.
Lack of progress
on financial goals.
on financial goals.
Difficulty
Maintaining a Budget.
Maintaining a Budget.
Using savings to make
up for overspending.
up for overspending.
opening multiple apps
to view finances.
to view finances.
Core Pain Points
streamlined
expense Tracking.
expense Tracking.
Financial plan
adaptable to lifestyle.
adaptable to lifestyle.
Comprehensive cash flow view in bank app.
Manageable Plan to
reach financial goals.
reach financial goals.
Insights and alerts on Spending Patterns.
Customizable Plan for goals and budget.
Core Needs
The Problem
Young adults need intuitive financial management tools within banking apps in order to obtain financial freedom and to reach their goals because they often lose control over their finances due to the convenience of digital wallets, leading to overspending and financial stress.
IDEATE
How might we... Empower young adults, who are relatively new to supporting themselves, build sustainable financial habits so they can achieve their long-term goals without sacrificing their current lifestyle?
Brainstorming Opportunity Areas
Rapid Idea Generation
To kick off ideation, I held a 15-minute brainstorming session with a goal to generate a wide range of creative feature solutions, encouraging out-of-the-box ideas while staying within the constraint of helping young adults achieve their financial goals.
This approach allowed for a free flow of ideas that could later be refined and expanded upon.
The Proposed Feature: How I Got There
I evaluated the ideas against the "How Might We" question, user personas and business goals. This helped me to identify a solution that best addresses user needs and delivers the greatest impact within the design constraints.
The Interactive Budget and Goal Planner MVP Feature Set:
The Solution
The interactive budget and goal planner is like a personal financial coach right inside the American Express app. Now users can set realistic financial goals based on their monthly cash flow and track their progress—all without compromising their lifestyle.
Income input
Home
Expense input
Goal input - empty
Onboarding
Goal added successfully
DEVELOP
User Flows
Once the proposed feature was approved, I created a user flow to better understand how users interact with the feature.
Sketches
After establishing the user flow, I quickly sketched layout concepts to set a foundation for low fidelity wireframes to use to conduct early usability tests.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Home
Goal input - filled
VALIDATE
The primary goal of this test was to ensure that users could seamlessly navigate the financial goal planning flow and to gather actionable insights to refine the design for a more intuitive experience.
By observing interactions with the prototype, I aimed to uncover any usability issues, validate the concept and to assess the information hierarchy of core screens.
Usability Test
Number
5 participants.
Age
24-30.
Style
In-person ; Moderated.
Duration
30 minutes each.
Objectives
Evaluate if users can find and initiate the process of setting up a financial goal plan.
Evaluate if users understand the Income & Expense screens' information structure.
Evaluate if users can intuitively & successfully add a new financial goal.
Measurable Results
Participants understand that recurring income is auto-added & inconsistent require manual adding.
Participants complete goal input without needing assistance or confusion.
Participants locate the "Plan Financial Goals" call-to-action without hesitation or incorrect clicks.
Pass / Fail
5/5
1/5
5/5
Approach
Participants successfully completed the task, validating the overall concept’s effectiveness. However, their feedback highlighted challenges with the information architecture, which impacted the user experience and revealed areas for improvement.
Key Insights
Confusing categorization and difficult to
track month-to-month variations in cash flow.
track month-to-month variations in cash flow.
Confusing Information Architecture
Needs visual displays of income and expenses to easily and quickly grasp financial state.
High Cognitive Load
Needs to customize income & expense for accurate tracking and to align to lifestyles.
Limited ability to tailor plan to lifestyle
Iterations
01. Income & Expense Screens
Version 1
Version 1
Version 2
02. Goal Transfer Input Screen
Version 2
User Insight
“It’s kind of hard to understand the patterns just by looking at a list of numbers. It would be super helpful if I could view the monthly cash flow in a visual way, like a graph.”
User Insight
"I want to be able to adjust the numbers myself, rather than just having a set average amount. Like I might want to be more conservative with my income estimates and set my expenses a bit higher just to be on the safe side. "
Improvements
These iterations offer users a more dynamic and flexible approach to managing their finances, ultimately leading to greater confidence and satisfaction in their financial planning journey.
User Insight
“I feel limited by the pre-set categories, which don’t align with what I would call them. I need to be able to customize everything from the name to the amount in each category.”
User Insight
“The way expenses are currently organized feels cluttered. There needs to be like sub-categorization to help quickly analyze the information.”
Improvements
These iterations enhance the user experience with customizable expense categories and clearer grouping of inconsistent and consistent expenses, which simplify personal management and gives users more control.
STYLE TILE
VALIDATE HI-FI
A second round of user testing was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the iterations and to validate whether those changes resolved the issues identified in the first round of usability test.
Unlike the first test, which focused on uncovering major pain points, this test aimed to gauge user reactions to the refined high-fidelity screens and ensure that the new graph view and adjusted content hierarchy were intuitive, useful and aligned with user expectations.
Final Round of User Testing
Number
5 participants.
Age
24-30.
Style
In-person ; Moderated.
Duration
20-30 minutes each.
Objectives
Evaluate if users understand the improved information hierarchy in the income and expense screens.
Assess whether users find the "graph view" element helpful and intuitive for understanding cash flow.
Determine if users understand the purpose of terms like savings potential and expense category names.
Outcome
2 out of 5 found the yearly bar graph inconsistent with the monthly-focused design.
All participants easily grasped the iterated terminology and content with no confusion.
All participants comprehended the content and layout more effectively compared to Test 1.
Pass / Fail
5/5
3/5
5/5
Approach
Participants successfully completed all tasks with minimal confusion, providing overwhelmingly positive feedback on the updated screens, though minor improvements were suggested for the graph view element.
Key Insights
Some felt the graph lacked visual clarity and was complex to view at a glance.
visual clarity and complexity
The graph’s yearly focus felt inconsistent with the monthly-oriented design of other screens.
inconsistent with Monthly-focus
Bar graph hinders ability to understand spending habits, wanting category breakdowns.
Ineffective in spending breakdown
Iterations
01. Income & Expense Screens
Version 1
Version 2
User Insight
“It’s kind of confusing how everything else is month-to-month but the graph is yearly. I like the concept, but I think it would be more useful if the graph broke down my monthly income or expenses by category.”
User Insight
"I feel like this graph still requires a lot of effort to process... It needs to be simpler to help digest the information quickly."
Improvements
This update improves the clarity and accessibility of financial data, allowing users to quickly identify expense categories and proportions at a glance. By integrating the graph view and list view on a single screen, the iteration reduces navigation steps, making it easier for users to compare visual and detailed data seamlessly, resulting in a more intuitive and user-friendly design.
FINAL PRODUCT
Home
Goal input
Onboarding
Goal input - filled
Income input
Goal added successfully
Expense input
Home
Goal input - empty
REFLECTION
This project was an incredible learning journey that reshaped how I approach UX design. It taught me to embrace feedback and let go of personal attachments to designs, keeping user needs front and center. Delving into financial design sharpened my skills in tackling complex domains. This was the first time I worked with data visualization, learning which graph formate works best for at-a-glance comprehension.
One of my biggest hurdles was presenting complex financial concepts simply, while avoiding over-focusing on minor details too early. This challenge revealed the importance of receiving feedback with incomplete designs.
What Will I Do Differently Next Time?
I’ll prioritize early usability testing even more to catch issues early on and continue refining my time management skills to focus on the big picture without losing efficiency.
