Zhiliang — Portfolio

Over the past two years, I ran Underscore, a small design studio working with early-stage startups across Webflow builds and UIUX.

Before that, I spent nearly four years in fintech across Seedly and MoneyHero Group (NASDAQ: MNY) — growing from designer to Senior at Seedly on a personal finance product used by hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans, then leading the SingSaver and MoneyHero HK rewards journey as Senior Product Designer, and later leading design for the insurance vertical as Lead Product Designer.

In lots of parts of my work, I'm a generalist. I move between product, brand, and build, and I like teams where craft and business sense both matter. The work I do best is the work where I get to figure out what to make as much as how to make it.

Currently exploring Senior Product Design roles in Singapore.

Email: zhiliang.work@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/czhiliang
Prefer to ask instead of read? Chat with my alter ego

How I approach design

My process isn't linear. I don't run a double diamond, and I don't strictly follow a fixed playbook. Most projects start with discovery and problem-space analysis. I look at what's actually happening, what people are doing, where the friction sits. That said, if a project requires it, I am also capable of running a more traditional discovery process with user research, competitive analysis, and all the usual artifacts.

From there, I move into design exploration earlier than the textbook would suggest. I trust intuition as a working tool. Intuition isn't guessing. It's the result of years of paying attention to products, users, and patterns. When the problem is well-understood, I'd rather draft a real design and test the thinking against it than write another problem statement.

Craft matters to me. When the situation allows, I'll take the time to get things right. When it doesn't, I'm comfortable shipping at 70 percent and iterating to 95 after launch. Startups taught me that craft is iterative. The real craft often shows up in the long tail of small refinements after launch, the ones nobody assigns and everybody notices.

Find me at:
Email: zhiliang.work@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/czhiliang

I believe the future of brands belongs to those who deliver the best design experience.

Designing Design by Kenya Hara has been one of my favourite reads for rethinking how familiar things can be used and approached in different contexts.

How I work

I work best in small, cross-functional teams where designers, engineers, and PMs sit close enough to disagree usefully. I write a lot. Most of my better decisions came from forcing myself to put them in a doc before I made them. I prototype early. I'd rather build the rough thing and feel it than argue about a spec.

I move between product, brand, and build. My background doing Webflow work means I'm comfortable closing the loop end-to-end on small things, and I bring that same instinct to bigger product work.

I'm not precious about my own ideas. Show me a better one and I'll drop mine.

A bit about me

I'm based in Singapore. Outside of design work I'm building small tools with Claude and Codex, which is the most fun I've had with software since I started designing.

Elsewhere, I've spoken and been featured in a few places over the years.

Channel News Asia: Navigating Remote Work

Friends of Figma Singapore #15: Creative Synergies

Capital 958: Bilingual Design in Singapore

Friends of Figma Singapore #26: Start

Working with me

A few words from people I've worked with on product, design, and shipping.

Working with Zhiliang has been extremely valuable to my growth in UI/UX design. He is always able to condense complex client needs into a clear brief, by asking meaningful questions that get to the core issue and bringing the focus back to user experience.

I truly appreciate and look up to the way he leads, as both a founder and designer. He provides clear direction while still giving me the space to explore as a designer, and his feedback always comes from a place of reflection and intention behind every design detail. While working together on a large-scale project like Creatz3D, he taught me the importance of considering all the possible user scenarios and designing with the user journey in mind.

He is always open to collaboration and stays calm under pressure, especially when navigating client feedback while keeping projects aligned to the project goals and timelines. I'm genuinely grateful for everything | learnt from him, and any team would be incredibly fortunate to have him.

Joan Tay

Product Designer

Zhiliang was my very first manager when I entered the tech/product space as a Product Designer, and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to learn from.

He was generous in sharing his knowledge, while also giving me the space, trust and guidance to grow in my own skills and confidence. He also fostered an open and safe environment where the team felt comfortable approaching him with questions, challenges or concerns. He is genuinely one of the most supportive managers I’ve had the privilege of working with.

Apart from being a great manager, Zhiliang is also a strong product-minded designer who brings structure and clarity when things feel uncertain or complex. He has a strong ability to make sense of chaos, break down complex problems, and guide the team towards clear and practical solutions.

I have no doubt that any team Zhiliang joins will benefit greatly from his leadership, thoughtfulness and expertise.

Ka Yan Lui

UX Researcher, Ant International

Zhiliang is one of the best product designers / UX professionals I have ever worked with in my entire engineering career. He is the go-to person whenever there are any UI/UX-related problems or implementations.

He has a really deep understanding of product design, which made him a key person back in the day at Seedly / MoneyHero Group. It was a really pleasant experience working with Zhiliang. Our discussions on product design were always very productive. He takes accountability for every product design he creates and makes sure everything is implemented perfectly.

Sheng-Hong Gan

Senior Software Engineer, Stealth Startup

Skills & Tools

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