Overview
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Scotiabank Jamaica was renovating multiple branch locations across the country.
As part of this process, furniture and fixtures from each branch needed to be sold internally to staff members.
Traditionally, these sales were handled through in-person auctions, where staff could physically inspect items and place bids at a venue.
With pandemic restrictions in place, this model became impossible to execute.
I was brought in to design and build a digital alternative that would allow the process to continue without physical gatherings, while still meeting the operational, accounting, and logistical needs of the bank.
The result was an internal online sales platform that initially replicated the auction process and then, based on real-world usage and my recommendation, transitioned into a rush-sale system that proved faster, simpler, and more effective across all teams involved.
Context and Problem
Scotiabank needed to dispose of branch furniture quickly and fairly while renovations were underway.
Staff interest in purchasing items remained high, but COVID restrictions prevented site visits, in-person bidding, and centralized auction events.
The existing auction-based workflow also introduced operational complexity, including bid management, payment collection, coordination with delivery teams, and reconciliation by accounting.
The challenge was not just moving the auction online, but redesigning the entire process to work better in a digital-first environment under tight operational constraints.
My Role
I acted as Product Builder and Systems Designer, responsible for translating a physical, in-person process into a digital workflow that could operate reliably at enterprise scale.
My responsibilities included understanding the existing auction process, mapping constraints across departments, designing the user experience for staff, building the platform, and iterating on the system based on observed behavior and operational feedback.
I worked closely with internal stakeholders, including the auction coordination team, delivery teams, and accounting, to ensure the solution reduced friction rather than creating new bottlenecks.
Initial Solution: Online Auction Platform
The first phase of the solution involved recreating the auction experience online.
The platform allowed staff to view available furniture items digitally and place bids remotely. This preserved the familiarity of the auction model while removing the need for physical attendance.
The system was built on WordPress and designed for internal use, with controlled access and workflows tailored to Scotiabank’s operational requirements.
While functional, this phase revealed several inefficiencies once the process was exercised at scale.
Strategic Pivot to a Rush-Sale Model
After experiencing the auction system in practice, I recommended moving away from auctions entirely and shifting to a rush-sale model.
Instead of bidding, items were made available on a first-come, first-served basis at fixed prices.
This change dramatically simplified the process. It reduced cognitive load for staff, eliminated bidding friction, and removed ambiguity around winners.
For the operations and delivery teams, scheduling and fulfillment became significantly easier. For accounting, payment collection and reconciliation were cleaner and faster, with fewer edge cases to resolve.
The rush-sale model ultimately proved to be more efficient, more equitable, and better aligned with the internal goals of speed, clarity, and operational simplicity.
Platform and System Design
The platform functioned as an internal e-commerce-style system tailored to enterprise workflows rather than public sales.
Staff could browse available items, claim purchases quickly, and move through a streamlined checkout and payment process.
Behind the scenes, workflows were designed to support coordination between sales administration, delivery logistics, and accounting without unnecessary manual intervention.
The system emphasized clarity, reliability, and ease of use over complex features, ensuring adoption across staff with varying levels of technical comfort.
Outcomes and Impact
The digital platform successfully replaced in-person auctions without disrupting the renovation timeline. The transition from auctions to a rush-sale system eliminated friction for staff buyers, reduced operational overhead for internal teams, and simplified payment handling for accounting.
The process ran smoothly without major issues, delays, or escalations.
What began as a direct digital translation of an offline process evolved into a more efficient system than the original, demonstrating the value of rethinking workflows rather than simply digitizing them.
Key Learnings
This project reinforced that digital transformation is most effective when it improves the underlying process rather than replicating it.
Constraints such as COVID restrictions created an opportunity to simplify, not just adapt.
Internal tools benefit enormously from clarity and speed, especially when multiple departments are involved.
It also highlighted the importance of observing real usage and being willing to pivot quickly when a better operational model becomes clear.
The rush-sale system succeeded not because it was more complex, but because it respected how people actually work under time and logistical pressure.
