live your life by design, not default.

In 2022, Sivan was promoted to Senior Design Director where she is leading User Experience design across a broad spectrum of digital projects at Absa bank. Her circle of influence consists of key senior and executive business stakeholders across the organisation. 

In 2017, Sivan was head hunted for this role at Absa, one of the largest banks in South Africa with over 10 million retail customers. Since joining Absa she has played an instrumental role in the design leadership team that have turned the Absa Design Office, now with over 200 full-time designers, into one of the best large-scale teams of its’ kind in the world. In the last two years, Sivan herself spearheaded design for Absa’s most cutting edge technology programmes. She develops design-led digital strategies that meet business objectives through compelling propositions and desirable customer experiences. 

In this time, Sivan completed a Masters in Management in Strategic Marketing and elective courses on the MSc Innovation and Design Thinking from the Kedge Business School in Toulon, France. Her Masters thesis on the Humanisation of Brands has been twice published internationally. As a school alumnus, she has also lectured in Creative Brand Communications and Design Thinking at Vega School of Brand Leadership. Sivan remains passionate about teaching, mentoring and giving back through talent development and upliftment in the local design industry. 

A boutique design agency that specialised in sensory brand experiences for blue chip clients. Under her leadership, the team delivered high quality work for local government, tourism and financial service clients. At this time, Sivan also ran a second business in spatial and interior design services. It was in these years that she discovered her love for customer experience design. 

Starting out as a freelance designer and working across everything from brand design to web design and animation, Sivan learnt key skills in understanding and executing an entire process from design to delivery - these valuable years made her the all-rounder she is today.