Case Study
AICO
AI Creative Optimizer
Revolutionizing American Express's creative review workflow through AI-powered optimization and streamlined user experience.
Team
Cross-functional
Company
American Express
Role
Lead UX Designer
Timeline
2019 – 2023 (at Cognizant)
85%
Faster Reviews
95%
Compliance Rate
60%
Less Manual Work
Overview
AICO — the AI Creative Optimizer — is a tool that gives marketers at American Express a faster, more reliable review process with automated brand and compliance checks.
The Challenge
Problem
The prior review process for marketing creative was sluggish and inconsistent. It had become a bottleneck for campaign launches and created avoidable human error in brand and compliance checks.
Goal
Streamline the approval workflow for marketing teams and improve the creative submission experience.
Design Process
Research-driven, user-centered approach
Phase 1
User Research
Conducted deep research to understand daily marketer hurdles and bottlenecks in the creative review process.
Phase 2
Journey Mapping
Translated insights into user-centered workflow, task structure, empathy maps, and journey maps.
Phase 3
Wireframes & Flows
Built wireframes and user flows grounded in research findings, aligned to AMEX design standards.
Phase 4
Prototype & Test
Created interactive prototypes, ran usability testing with repeated refinement cycles.
The Solution
Designed AICO from the ground up — an AI-powered creative review tool that provides faster content review across large volumes, better accuracy against brand and compliance rules, reduced manual error, and immediate feedback that improved iteration speed for marketers.
Faster content review across large volumes of creative.
Better accuracy against brand and compliance rules.
Reduced manual error and redundant editing steps.
Immediate feedback for marketers to improve iteration speed.
Impact
~50%
Faster Campaign Launches
85%
Faster Creative Reviews
60%
Less Manual Work
- ✓Reduced campaign launch time by approximately 50%.
- ✓Accelerated path to market for customer engagement campaigns.
- ✓Scalable review without matching increases in manual effort.
Why It Matters
This project demonstrates 0-to-1 AI product design — building a completely new tool from research through launch that directly improved business velocity.
Next Case Study