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Case study: 02

The resilience test

Delivering a flagship product with a 50% team cut

Early 2025: We were on a high after shipping Green Hub. The Design System (Cube) had worked. Then, the hammer dropped. The CEO announced mass redundancies. My team was cut by 50% (from 6 to 3), my manager (Product Director) was let go, and the bank’s highest-stakes project—Cash ISA—was put on my plate.

The organisational impact was brutal. One of my remaining designers resigned in the chaos. I fought back, writing three impact assessments to stop the bleeding and managed to save one key headcount. But the message from the top was clear: the deadline for Cash ISA wouldn't move, even if the team did.

Adaptation

With the team gutted, I had no choice but to pivot. I stepped back into the trenches as a Player-Coach. I was back in Figma, back in Webflow, and navigating the politics between Tech and the new Growth Director. I had to restructure every ritual to focus on one thing: ruthless delivery.

Proof (The Testing Club)

We couldn't afford to guess. I leveraged the Tandem Testing Club—an internal community of 3,000+ users I had built. We ran rapid unmoderated and moderated tests to validate the Cash ISA journeys. This evidence-led approach allowed us to move fast and kill stakeholder debates before they started.

Friction

As the launch approached, I hit a wall with the CTO. We needed a specialist Webflow contractor for the marketing site, or we’d miss the date. I took a hard stand, issuing an ultimatum: hire the help, or delay the product. I won the battle and secured the contractor, but it cost me my year-end bonus. I chose the product’s integrity over my own bank balance.

Success

Mid-November 2025: Cash ISA launched. It was the bank's first new product since the merger and a massive commercial success. Design was never the bottleneck; we stayed ahead of engineering every day of the build. The product was live, the users were happy, but the internal recognition never came. That was my cue: I had built a system that survived the fire. It was time for my next challenge.

Impact

On-Time Delivery: 100% adherence to deadlines despite a 50% resource cut.
Operational Speed: Design velocity remained 75% higher than manual builds, thanks to the Cube Sherwood foundation.
Research ROI: Saved an estimated £35k/year in research costs through the Testing Club.

My role

As Head of Design:

I was a shield for my team. I managed the redundancies, navigated the friction with the CTO, and took the "political hits" to ensure we had the resources to ship. I chose to prioritise the product over my own corporate standing to ensure the bank’s most important launch was a success.

As Principal Designer:

I was back on the tools. I designed key flows for the app, helped with the Webflow marketing site, and led the rapid testing cycles. I ensured that while we were "cutting fat" to meet the deadline, we never compromised on the core usability of the financial product.