Business Essentials

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As a lead UX designer, I helped the team launch U.S. Bank’s Business Essentials, a financial solution for small businesses that streamlines checking, payments, and POS (Point Of Sale) tools into one experience. The redesign led to 92% improved navigation scores and 60% faster onboarding, helping businesses get set up faster and with less friction.

Role

Role

Lead UX Designer

Lead UX Designer

Platform

Platform

U.S. Bank, Elavon, talech

U.S. Bank, Elavon, talech

Time

Time

April 2023 – April 2025, GA Launch

April 2023 – April 2025, GA Launch

Problem

Small Business Owners (SBO's) often manage several disconnected experiences for payments, invoicing, banking, and accounting. This leads to duplicated effort, errors, and limited visibility into their overall financial health.

Solution

We designed a unified banking experience that brings banking, payments, and bookkeeping together in one simple product. From a single digital dashboard, business owners can track cash flow in real time, access funds the same day they’re received, and seamlessly sync with their accounting and budgeting tools.

My Role

I led the design for the shop experience and co-led the application and (post - onboarding) dashboard experience for a unified banking platform that brings together shop exploration, digital application, and dashboard into one seamless experience.

o1

Shop experience

The shop experience was the entry point for Business Essentials, where small business owners explored checking packages, understood the value of integration, and decided which plan fit their needs. My goal was to reduce friction in decision-making and present product differences in a clear, confidence-building way.

The shop experience was the entry point for Business Essentials, where small business owners explored checking packages, understood the value of integration, and decided which plan fit their needs. My goal was to reduce friction in decision-making and present product differences in a clear, confidence-building way.

The shop experience was the entry point for Business Essentials, where small business owners explored checking packages, understood the value of integration, and decided which plan fit their needs. My goal was to reduce friction in decision-making and present product differences in a clear, confidence-building way.

My role & responsibilities

My role & responsibilities

Leading the design effort for the shop experience from discovery through implementation redesigning information architecture, page flow, and interaction patterns.

Leading the design effort for the shop experience from discovery through implementation redesigning information architecture, page flow, and interaction patterns.

Modernizing AEM components to meet new Shield Design System, accessibility standards, rebuilding and redesigning key components for future Business Essentials (BE) scalability.

Modernizing AEM components to meet new Shield Design System, accessibility standards, rebuilding and redesigning key components for future Business Essentials (BE) scalability.

Establishing UX infrastructure to strengthen collaboration, streamline delivery, and ensure design-to-development consistency

Establishing UX infrastructure to strengthen collaboration, streamline delivery, and ensure design-to-development consistency

IA restructuring

The original IA separated products across multiple disconnected pages, forcing users to jump between tabs and lose context. Business and technical constraints included legacy AEM structures, accessibility compliance, and the need for content authors to manage updates without design support.

92%

92%

92%

success in f

inding the right plan

success in f

inding the right plan

1.4×

1.4×

1.4×

faster

decision time

faster

decision time

60%

60%

60%

higher engagement

vs. previous flow

higher engagement

vs. previous flow

dashboard
dashboard

Establishing UX infrastructure

As the lead experience designer for the Business Essentials Shop Experience, I was responsible for shaping the end-to-end user journey that introduced small business owners to U.S. Bank’s new integrated product.

As the lead experience designer for the Business Essentials Shop Experience, I was responsible for shaping the end-to-end user journey that introduced small business owners to U.S. Bank’s new integrated product.

As the lead experience designer for the Business Essentials Shop Experience, I was responsible for shaping the end-to-end user journey that introduced small business owners to U.S. Bank’s new integrated product.

Created a centralized design documentation system

Created a centralized design documentation system

Implemented new team rituals and handoff workflows

Implemented new team rituals and handoff workflows

Defined ownership and accountability structures

Defined ownership and accountability structures

Modernizing AEM components

Transforming a rigid table into a scalable design pattern used across business lines.

As part of the shop experience, I was initially asked to add Business Essentials to an existing comparison table. However, I recognized this as an opportunity to rethink the component as a modular product selection interface that could serve multiple offerings across the enterprise.

As part of the shop experience, I was initially asked to add Business Essentials to an existing comparison table. However, I recognized this as an opportunity to rethink the component as a modular product selection interface that could serve multiple offerings across the enterprise.

View full case study

o2

Apply experience

The Apply Experience was the most critical moment in the Business Essentials journey. Because no prior experience existed, we had to define the entire flow from scratch: logic, UI structure, and dependencies between U.S. Bank’s authentication, business verification, and identity-creation systems.

The Apply Experience was the most critical moment in the Business Essentials journey. Because no prior experience existed, we had to define the entire flow from scratch: logic, UI structure, and dependencies between U.S. Bank’s authentication, business verification, and identity-creation systems.

The Apply Experience was the most critical moment in the Business Essentials journey. Because no prior experience existed, we had to define the entire flow from scratch: logic, UI structure, and dependencies between U.S. Bank’s authentication, business verification, and identity-creation systems.

My role & responsibilities

My role & responsibilities

Co-led end-to-end design for the MVP, from defining user flows and structuring the application journey to prototyping and usability testing.

Co-led end-to-end design for the MVP, from defining user flows and structuring the application journey to prototyping and usability testing.

Collaborated cross-functionally with product, risk, and engineering teams to align design decisions with compliance, security, and technical constraints.

Collaborated cross-functionally with product, risk, and engineering teams to align design decisions with compliance, security, and technical constraints.

Grounded every iteration in research and validation, ensuring the experience remained transparent, intuitive, and scalable for future business-banking applications.

Grounded every iteration in research and validation, ensuring the experience remained transparent, intuitive, and scalable for future business-banking applications.

Discovery

To ground the design in real customer needs, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 8 small business owners across industries such as professional services, retail, construction, transportation, and wellness. From these interviews, several key themes emerged:

Integration and Simplicity

“My ideal financial partner, and I’m sort of thinking of something like a tech partner, an app, or you know, something like that I could use would bring together all the functionality of the different apps.”

Brad, 45, Attorney, california

“I would love a management system that’s digital, centralized, and powerful. I’m doing too much on paper, and it’s a hassle to have two systems for online and in-store payments. The online tools I can afford just don’t cut it.”

Business Owner

Business owners emphasize the need for a unified platform that integrates all financial tools into one seamless experience, eliminating the frustration of juggling multiple systems.

Holistic Financial Support

“I would love to have a bank that looks holistically at the health of my entire business when reviewing a loan application, not just a few out-of-context numbers on my tax return.”

Anonymous Business owner

“I would love a management system that’s digital, centralized, and powerful. I’m doing too much on paper, and it’s a hassle to have two systems for online and in-store payments. The online tools I can afford just don’t cut it.”

Savio, 45, Wellness Coaching, New York

These insights highlight the desire for personalized, holistic support from financial institutions, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach

Innovative Financial Solutions

“Instead of the bank just handling money and making loans, I would love for it to sort of turn into an investing model where you opt in, and banks invest on your behalf, and everyone wins. I would be more than happy with sharing a portion of my profits.”

Nicole, 33, Apparel & Accessories, California

This quote reflects a growing demand for innovative financial solutions that go beyond traditional banking services, such as automated investing or profit-sharing models.

Challenges in Funding and Support

“It was a little challenging trying to get capital to fund my business. So I had to have my husband step in on a couple of occasions to help me out. But it is challenging, and I’m learning the ropes in this male-dominated industry..”

Lynette, 49, Transportation, Georgia

This quote underscores the difficulties small business owners face in accessing funding, especially in industries where they may be underrepresented.

User flow

defined the end-to-end apply flow to reduce friction and increase completion confidence. The design focused on minimizing cognitive load while ensuring compliance and accuracy at every step.

defined the end-to-end apply flow to reduce friction and increase completion confidence. The design focused on minimizing cognitive load while ensuring compliance and accuracy at every step.

defined the end-to-end apply flow to reduce friction and increase completion confidence. The design focused on minimizing cognitive load while ensuring compliance and accuracy at every step.

Pre-filled known data from business lookups to reduce repetition

Pre-filled known data from business lookups to reduce repetition

Grouped steps logically (Business Info → Account Funding → Review & Submit)

Grouped steps logically (Business Info → Account Funding → Review & Submit)

Displayed clear progress indicators to help users track where they are in the process

Displayed clear progress indicators to help users track where they are in the process

Tailored paths for different business needs, such as merchant services or multiple deposits

Tailored paths for different business needs, such as merchant services or multiple deposits

Enabled review and edit before submission to reinforce confidence and control

Enabled review and edit before submission to reinforce confidence and control

dashboard
dashboard

Exploration

I co-led design explorations to define the MVP structure, balancing clarity, compliance, and user confidence. We introduced a guided-wizard flow and progressive disclosure to simplify complex steps and keep the experience approachable. I built and tested mid- and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma, refining patterns through usability insights to improve comprehension and flow.

I co-led design explorations to define the MVP structure, balancing clarity, compliance, and user confidence. We introduced a guided-wizard flow and progressive disclosure to simplify complex steps and keep the experience approachable. I built and tested mid- and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma, refining patterns through usability insights to improve comprehension and flow.

I co-led design explorations to define the MVP structure, balancing clarity, compliance, and user confidence. We introduced a guided-wizard flow and progressive disclosure to simplify complex steps and keep the experience approachable. I built and tested mid- and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma, refining patterns through usability insights to improve comprehension and flow.

90%

90%

90%

of testers completed the prototype without assistance

of testers completed the prototype

without assistance

of testers completed the prototype without assistance

dashboard
dashboard

o3

Post - Onboarding experience

The Dashboard Experience completed the Business Essentials journey. Designed from scratch, it served as the central hub where small-business owners could track cash flow, manage payments, and connect their bookkeeping tools.

The Dashboard Experience completed the Business Essentials journey. Designed from scratch, it served as the central hub where small-business owners could track cash flow, manage payments, and connect their bookkeeping tools.

The Dashboard Experience completed the Business Essentials journey. Designed from scratch, it served as the central hub where small-business owners could track cash flow, manage payments, and connect their bookkeeping tools.

My role & responsibilities

My role & responsibilities

I built and tested mid- and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma to validate hierarchy, data grouping, and interaction patterns.

I built and tested mid- and high-fidelity prototypes in Figma to validate hierarchy, data grouping, and interaction patterns.

Reflection

Designing Business Essentials from the ground up taught me how to lead through ambiguity, align multiple teams under a shared vision, and design scalable systems that connect across complex ecosystems. If I were to revisit the project, I’d conduct earlier validation of information architecture and involve AEM authors sooner to streamline implementation and reduce rework.

Sara Jalilian

Product Designer

Sara Jalilian

Product Designer

Sara Jalilian

Product Designer