Global Search

End-to-end design of a mobile app feature

American Express iOS | Android

 

My Role

Design Lead

 
 

Background

In early 2020, the American Express Mobile Design team was exploring a redesign of our app’s information architecture in response to an ever growing list of features and content. Search became a key piece of the redesign as it could help surface features that were otherwise buried several levels deep.

 

Outcome

  • Improved discoverability of nested journeys

  • Increased self-servicing journey completion

  • Decreased call volume

Design Strategy

The big idea was one search bar to rule them all. All app content would be searchable with one bar — features, transactions, offers, etc. To design it, we began at the end and worked our way backward by first creating a long-term vision, testing it with users, then breaking it down into multiple small releases.

Step One: Inventory

Our first step was to map all possible search scenarios. In many cases we had no native journeys to match a likely query.

Browse > Search > Chat > Call

We established a hierarchy of servicing methods from cheapest to most expensive. By creating a journey extension from search to chat, we could bridge the gap between a customer’s search and unavailable native journeys.

Prime Real Estate

Given the potential for Search to become a primary navigation tool, we moved the entry point from the top of the Home Screen into the Main Navigation — giving it its proper place at the top of the hierarchy. 

Pre-search

With search as a landing screen, we could bubble up relevant content before users even searched. Helpful actions were based on common reasons customers called in after having used the app.

Vision

Phases

With a vision tested, critiqued, and iterated we proceeded to breakdown the feature into feasible chunks for release. We would measure user activity then adjust the roadmap accordingly. 

 

Most Searched

Expectedly: users were primarily searching for merchant names

Unexpectedly: users were searching for content related to marketing campaigns.

Since this content was not available in the app, we prioritized a marketing placement on the Search landing screen for early 2022. 

Outcome

 

+30%

Increase in chat rates

+5%

Increase in servicing journey completions

-6%

Decrease in app first call rate

At the end of 2021 we had feature, transaction, offers results, along with the handover to chat. The preliminary metrics showed promise. Adding search with an integrated chat feature could significantly lower servicing costs. The next step would be to expand to a larger population, continue measuring, and further refine search accuracy.