challenge
DBS set out to launch an industry-first: a digital simulation tool for CFOs and Corporate Treasurers to model and optimize global cash management strategies. But while the concept was bold, the execution had stalled: The team was stuck in a theoretical model, unable to operationalize or prototype meaningfully. No user research had been conducted: CFOs’ real needs, mental models, and workflows were unknown. Internal misalignment created decision paralysis: too many stakeholders, unclear ownership, and competing agendas. The tool risked being too complex for adoption or too simplified to provide real value. The bank’s own team lacked confidence in designing outside traditional banking UX norms. → The real challenge wasn’t product development. It was turning ambiguity and politics into clarity, traction, and trust.
Client
DBS
Format
Platform
ACTION
Brought in as a design leader with a mandate to “make it real,” I intervened at the intersection of product, politics, and perception. My approach: Unblocking Through Alignment Ran cross-functional interventions to reset direction, translating stakeholder opinions into testable hypotheses Created shared understanding frameworks: clarified what was grounded in evidence vs. assumption Defined roles, goals, and constraints to avoid endless revisiting of scope or “innovation theater” cycles Designing with Experts, Not Just for Them Led discovery with Treasury and Corporate Finance SMEs to extract mental models, patterns of trust, and decision behaviors Mapped cognitive load for CFOs and designed around their workflow rhythms—not banking's legacy interaction norms Innovating Interaction & Information Design Pushed the platform beyond traditional banking UIs: modular simulations, progressive disclosure, and dynamic visualizations Avoided data overload by staging complexity, allowing users to learn through doing, not being dumped on Positioned the product as an enablement tool, not a sales pitch, creating adoption through credibility, not push Systemically Bridging Tech, Brand & Strategy Kept design in proximity to DBS’ brand but distinctly useful, neutral, and advisory in tone Helped internal teams shift from feature debates to customer scenario discussions Connected platform decisions to business viability and CEO-level visibility
RESULTS
What began as a stalled PoC became a living, scalable product with enterprise value, human-centered trust, and commercial impact: Launched DBS Treasury Prism, the world’s first online AI simulation tool for treasury optimization Platform became a flagship example of customer-centered digital innovation at DBS Used actively by CFOs and corporate treasurers to co-design financial strategies with DBS—not just consume them Elevated DBS’s role from provider to partner—transforming how transaction banking engages with enterprise clients Winner of multiple innovation awards across financial services and design categories Internal recognition: referenced as a culture-shifting project for design-led delivery inside DBS
LEADERSHIP LENS
This wasn’t a design project. It was a rescue mission with executive attention. I showed up with: Clarity – Brought rigor to ambiguity. Translated assumptions into artifacts. Turned noise into choices. Cadence – Rebuilt momentum by breaking cycles of indecision. Designed decision points and validated fast. Care – Protected the customer in a room where no one spoke their voice. Made complexity usable without watering down its power. The success of Prism wasn’t just in its launch. It was in how design made innovation possible in a space where complexity, ego, and inertia usually win.
