Product design lead specializing in complex systems, product strategy, and cross-functional alignment.

I design clarity for complex systems

I’m a product design lead who helps organizations turn ambiguity into aligned product direction and scalable systems.

Over the last 15+ years I’ve worked across startups and global enterprises including IBM, NTT, and Hitachi Digital Services. Trained at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), I approach product challenges through a systems lens—clarifying complex problem spaces, aligning stakeholders, and designing solutions that scale.

My work often begins where teams feel stuck: fragmented decision-making, unclear strategy, or complex systems that are difficult for users to understand. By addressing the underlying system—not just the interface—my work has driven 3x revenue growth, 80% efficiency gains, and 30% reductions in bounce.

When teams bring me in

  • A product opportunity is clear, but the path forward is not

  • Teams are making fragmented decisions without shared principles or direction

  • Complex technical capabilities need to be translated into understandable products

  • Organizations are scaling but lack the systems needed to ship consistently

  • Early product ideas need to be shaped into coherent user experiences

In these situations, I help teams clarify the problem space, align stakeholders, and design systems that enable teams to move forward.

Menaka Thillaiampalam, Former CMO, Hitachi Digital Services

"Sylvia excels at bringing clarity to complex, chaotic environments. She organizes and sequences the work thoughtfully, helping teams move forward with focus and confidence.”

Impact at a glance

  • Helped grow division revenue 3x

    Revenue growth, NTT cybersecurity

  • Achieved 80% reduction in manual effort

    Less manual effort, Context Nature

  • Achieved 50% faster production cycles

    Faster production, Hitachi DS

  • 30% bounce rate reduction

    Bounce rate reduction, Hitachi DS

  • Scaled user experience team from 3 to 30

    Scaled user experience team at SocioFabrica

  • from ) to 3M in revenue

    Studio revenue grown as CDO & Co-Founder

What I do

My work sits at the intersection of product design, strategy, systems thinking, and organizational alignment. Across projects I typically help teams:

Clarify the problem space

Translate research, data, and stakeholder perspectives into clear product opportunities.

At Hitachi, the real issue wasn’t visual inconsistency—it was fragmented governance. At Context Nature, I diagnosed a structural incentive misalignment between accounting firms and SMBs and redesigned the product economics. At NTT, I reframed the challenge from “visualize data” to “make intelligence actionable for two different audiences.” Upstream thinking is where the highest-leverage work happens.

Design scalable systems that drive business outcomes

Develop product experiences, design systems & decision frameworks that enable teams to ship consistently and evolve over time.

I don’t just ship products—I build the conditions that let teams keep shipping. At Hitachi, I established governance, a scalable ADA-compliant design system, and AI workflows that cut production time ~50%. At NTT, a content layer I designed drove 3× revenue growth in year one. At CapeZero, I defined 0→1 strategy and built a design system exported to Figma Make so the internal team could keep building independently.

Expertise

Product & Strategy  0→1, PMF validation, incentive design, platform thinking

Design & Research  UX, AI-enabled product UX, design systems, customer discovery, data visualization

Leadership  Stakeholder alignment, design org scaling, governance, cross-functional collaboration

Domain  B2B SaaS, enterprise, climate fintech, cybersecurity · Native Spanish speaker

Align cross-functional teams

Create shared frameworks and principles that allow product, design, and engineering teams to make better decisions together.

The hardest design problems are coordination problems.I’ve aligned 15+ stakeholders across 4 agencies (Hitachi), bridged cybersecurity researchers and business decision-makers (NTT), and validated product-market fit with IRS and U.S. Treasury stakeholders in a regulated fintech environment (Context Nature). At SocioFabrica, I grew the studio from 3 to 30 and secured Fortune 500 accounts including IBM, NTT, and Nespresso.

Manish Hebbar, Chief Executive Officer, CapeZero

"From understanding the role we play in this industry, and how our brand strategy needs to bring this to life, to helping narrow what customers segment we should be focusing on given the stage of our product, Sylvia has added a lot of value."

A bit about me

Background

I grew up in Puerto Rico, an experience that shaped how I approach problem solving. Living on an island teaches resourcefulness, curiosity, and optimism — qualities that continue to influence how I work with teams facing complex challenges.

I’m particularly interested in work that helps organizations build more thoughtful systems — whether in technology, climate solutions, or the way teams collaborate.

Outside of work

I regularly mentor early-stage founders and designers and speak about the evolving role of design in business and product development.

Let’s collaborate! Drop me a line or connect with me via LinkedIn.

Recognition

–    ERA Accelerator — 1 of 16 startups selected, Context Nature (2024)

–    DMN 40-Under-40 — UX contributions for marketing audiences (2017)

–    Silver Davey, Communicator & Creativity Awards — NTT Global Threats Platform

–    Shorty Social Good Award — Farm From A Box (2019)

–    Featured in: Webbys, Ad Age, Communication Arts, GDUSA, Rebrand


Speaking & Media Appearances

–    Y Combinator Startup School Climate Startups — Lightning Speaker, “3 Lessons from a Startup that went Bust” (2022)

–    Horasis Global Meeting — Panelist, “Being Determined to Meet Net-Zero by 2030” (2022) & “Creating a Legacy of Giving” (2019)

–    Más Cartagena — Keynote, “Design’s Evolving Role in Business” (2019)

–   Television interview at Univision’s Despierta Área de la Bahía 2019, San Jose, CA

–    Stanford University Breakthrough Conference — Keynote, “Leveraging Your Personal Brand to Effectively Lead” (2018)

–    Talent Land — Keynote, “Key Elements to Start a Business: Vision, Talent & Energy” (2018)

–    San Francisco Design Week / SheLeads — Organizer & Facilitator, “Prototyping Leadership: A Workshop for Women in Design” (2017)

–    America’s Summit, Women Entrepreneurs Day — Facebook HQ — Keynote (2016)

–    Wonder Women Tech — Panelist, “Design Engineering: How Innovators Create Solutions” (2016)

Awards & Press