Centurion Coaching
A feature designed to help small business owners see their Amex products, understand their numbers, and grow — all in one place.
the purpose
build customer loyalty.
the insight
education moves the needle.
the approach
gamified, snackable lessons.
the outcome
a net-new education hub.
chapter 01
the question we started with
American Express Business Blueprint already gave small business owners a place to see their Amex accounts and apply for growth products. The question we were handed sounded simple, and wasn't: how do we keep those customers loyal?
Monetary rewards are table stakes — everyone offers points. The interesting territory was everything a card can't do on its own: confidence, know-how, the feeling that this platform is quietly helping you get better at running your business.
"make loyalty feel like growth."
chapter 02
who we're actually designing for
Business Blueprint's core user is the small business owner — the one wearing every hat, learning finance on the fly, and hoping the tools they already pay for will meet them halfway.
To keep the work honest, the persona had a name and a bakeshop: Meghan, owner of Three Sisters Bakeshop, curious about her numbers and short on time to learn them.
passion
runs the shop on love, wants finance to stop feeling foreign.
needs
visuals that actually hold attention.
wants
“show me something unique — points won’t keep me forever.”
motivation
engaging challenges over lengthy modules.
chapter 03
centurion coaching, as a system
The answer became Centurion Coaching — a net-new education hub inside Business Blueprint. Free, personalised, and built on content Amex already produces through Business Class, just reshaped into something people would actually open on a Wednesday morning.
Two goals, held in tension. Primary: give small businesses a real place to learn. Secondary: make it fun enough to come back to. Onboarding asks what you're trying to grow. Lessons stay small. Nothing takes more than a coffee.
usability session · week 08
"if it's personalised , I expect it to be about me."
— participant 02, small business owner
chapter 04
what testing actually surfaced
Thirty-minute qualitative sessions, guerrilla style, with small business owners and Amex colleagues. Users mostly got the concept on first contact — but the words we'd chosen were doing more damage than the interface.
misleading words
“personalised sounds like you already have my data.”
goals ambiguity
“am I tracking my lesson progress, or my actual goals?”
learning mediums
“I expect multimedia — articles, infographics, video.”
session length
qualitative, 1:1
30'
participant mix
owners & colleagues
SB + amex
pain points found
fixed in v2
03
credits · business blueprint
a solo project, with a patent pending.
- product & interaction designaashika parekh
- clientamerican express, GCS
- mentors & reviewersamex design team
- research participantssmall business owners
up next · 02
Spotify Flo ↗got a business worth designing for?
let's design the boring
bits beautifully.
from no where, to now here.