In this case study, I examine how American Express can improve the user experience by conducting usability testing and researching the UX standards used in other financial apps.

1. Amex Mobile App Case
Study
Cindy Tong
August 23, 2016

2. AMEX’s Current Goal
“... to create a structure that enables us to generate
growth and serve customers in the most efficient and
effective way possible, while enhancing our overall
control environment.”
Source

3. Case Study Objective
Examine how the AMEX’s mobile iOS app can
be improved to promote growth & serve
customers in an efficient and effective way

4. Meet Christine About:
● 26 | NYC | Graphic Designer
● Travels often for work and vacation
● Has 5 different credit cards
● Tech savvy; uses financial planning & tracking tools
such as Wealthfront & Mint
Goals:
● Easily pay bills & utilize benefits while on the go
● Monitor spending in order to save money to purchase
home
Frustrations:
● Remembering to pay bills across multiple credit cards
● Monitoring expenses in one place
● Making use of rewards efficiently without spending too
much time researching

5. Usability Testing

6. Finding 1
100% of
interviewees
were
dissatisfied
with the
Rewards page.
“Why is there an
entire section for
Rewards when
all it does is tell
me how many
points I have.
What’s the
point?”
- Mark, 25

7. Finding 2
60% of
interviewees
missed the
View Nearby
feature
“This is a great
feature that I
would definitely
use but
completely
missed because I
was distracted by
all of the rewards
listed below”
- Jennifer, 30

8. Finding 3: If you could add a feature to this
app to increase your engagement, what
would it be?
Use rewards points directly in the app
Leverage data to provide insight on spending
Offer financial planning tools (i.e. budgeting)

9. Competitor Apps

10. CapitalOne
Clean dashboard with
quick overview of
current balance and
available Rewards
Cash

11. Chase
Easily redeem rewards
directly from the app
through
- Statement balance
- Gift cards
- Booking travel

12. HSBC
Allows users to leverage
their data by using financial
planning and tracking tools
including:
- Saving for specific
goals
- Monitoring a budget
- Spending review
- Financial calendar
showing spending
trends

13. Personal Capital
Easily visualize
spending and set
goals with graphs

14. Proposed Changes

15. Temporary Fix to
Dashboard
While building out the
feature to use Rewards
Points directly in the app,
display available Rewards
points on the dashboard
Browser Layout Inspiration:
List Rewards
Points on
dashboard
similar to
Browser layout
Link to mobile
site to explore
more
Remove
Rewards section

16. Offers Page
Highlight the unique
feature of searching for
local offers & improve the
browsing experience by
categorizing offers
Revised
headline
stressing
curation of offers
& nearby feature
Preview of
map
highlights
search
nearby
Add categories
to search by
Trending picks

17. Leverage Data
Design financial tracking
and planning tools and
integrate into the app.
The browser version of
AMEX already provides
insights on spending. The
mobile app should
leverage this data.
Snapshot of Browser Analytics Currently Available to Cardmembers

18. Thank you for viewing.
Send an email to tongcindyy@gmail.com with
any questions
Cindy Tong
www.cindytong.me
linkedin.com/in/heytong
medium.com/@cindytong