Tribal Worldwide bolsters technology team with two senior hires

Tribal Worldwide has appointed Lu Jue (pictured left) as practice head of user experience (UX) and Ong Hon Tat (pictured right) as head of mobile solutions. This is in a bid to bolster its 50-strong technology team, based locally, as part of its strategic growth plan for the region.The appointments follow the launch of DDB’s Equator, which serves as a global centre of excellence for creative technology and innovation. Equator will be operated by Tribal Worldwide’s Singapore office, for the DDB Worldwide network and its clients. It will also see Lu and Ong being part of the new Equator team that will provide consultancy for both regional and global clients.Lu joins Tribal from SapientNitro, where she spent six years leading omni-channel user experience design, and mobile strategy. Prior to her stint at SapientNitro, Lu spent five years in Motorola’s consumer experience design centre in Chicago. She brings with her 12 years of specialised experience, having worked with brands such as American Express, Hyundai, Unilever, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre and Metlife.Meanwhile, Ong comes with over 15 years of experience in software and product innovation. Prior to his new leadership role at Tribal, Ong served as assistant vice president for mobile at OCBC bank where he launched OCBC Bank’s API platform - Connect2OCBC. He also ran his own mobile and front-end consultancy business for six years and helped to create mobile apps such as DBS Bank's PayLah, Singapore Grand Prix and GIC’s mobile library, to name a few."The launch of Equator signals a strong commitment for us to accelerate the digital business transformation agenda for our businesses globally. Both Lu and Ong’s leadership will not only level-up our service offerings to our clients but also attract the best like-minded talents locally and regionally,"  Leslie Goh, managing partner of Tribal Worldwide Singapore, said.“We have serious clients who are investing to enhance user experience across all their touch points. My challenge is to create new and sustainable experiences; combining art and science that will align with their business goals – not flights of fancy,” Lu said.“I’ve worked with Tribal many years ago when I ran my own consultancy. The agency has been consistently delivering technology products that make a lot of us jealous. So I’m thrilled to now be part of this team and with Equator at Temasek Polytechnic going operational at the end of the year, I am looking forward to work with the young technology talents,” Ong said.