Roots

Andrew Abogado is the Design Lead at Saleswhale, a Singapore-based Y-Combinator startup. It’s a B2B SaaS product that deploys an AI sales assistant, helping engage and qualify leads at scale. Previously, he was a Frontend Engineer at Viki (exited, Series B) which was acquired by Rakuten. Andrew is drawn to venture-backed tech startups where he can solve big problems as well as bring big impact during the company’s early stage. Outside of work, Andrew likes cycling and travels with his wife in different countries.

In this episode, we talk about Andrew’s roots in open source, his journey from Davao to Singapore, doing design and development at Viki and Saleswhale, and so much more.

Cedric Lee is the UX Lead at Cambridge University Press, a leading global publishing business that aims to advance education and research worldwide. Before leading the user experience team, he previously held graphic design, UI, and UX roles from the same organization. Currently he’s taking up his Masters in Communication in De La Salle University. As a student at LPU, he championed transparency reforms and constitution revision as President of the student council, and was an active debater for the debate society.

In this episode, we talked about how student-activism and debate helped him lead design, contributing to the academic research of UX, transitioning from graphic design to UX, and so much more.

Jian Adornado is a Product Designer at Netflix designing data and financial tools to shape the company’s content portfolio. He previously designed data intelligence tools for Uber and tools to control, simulate and remote operate self-driving cars for Uber’s Advanced Technologies Division. He also worked at Dropbox and Amazon. Jian is specialized in helping users monitor performance, report insights and explore data in historical, real-time and predictive timeframes.

In this episode, we talk about getting used to Silicon Valley’s hustle, finding inspiration from observations, Jian’s passion for data and design, and so much more.

Jordan Deja is an Assistant Professor in De La Salle University teaching courses like Human-Computer Interaction, Design Patterns, and Software Engineering. He is also a Community Lead of UX Philippines, the country’s largest network of UX professionals, students and enthusiasts. He helps people bridge technology and design towards better interfaces and experiences. He is also the Vice-Chair of Manila ACM-SIGCHI Chapter and the Advisor of User Experience Society - DLSU.

In this episode we talk about how he found his calling in UX, leading the UXPH roadshow, finding opportunities to study abroad, and so much more.

Oliver Bayani is a Senior UX Designer, managing user research and UX writing for digital products used by 4 million Filipinos at Home Credit Philippines. Previously, he was the Co-founder and Vice President of Product & Design of SnippetMedia, a news app boasting 2 million users. He was also a journalist for 8 years, writing about the most creative people in advertising for Marketing Magazine Philippines and Adobo Magazine. He now uses his skills to serve his user’s needs, instead of just readers.

In this episode, we’ll talk about lessons from middle-class suburbia, the people that shaped how Oliver designs, why it’s a good idea to get more sleep, and so much more.

Riel Reyes is an Associate Product Designer at Kalibrr. His design work includes the 40th Metro Manila Film Festival Souvenir Programme and Truelogic's brand redesign, where he previously worked as a Graphic and UI designer. He enjoyed tinkering with electronics and joining poster making contests as a kid, which he believes are the roots for his fondness in design. Riel is also passionate about his side project Intersections, a monthly documentary series on people with multiple passions in life.

In this episode we talk about Riel’s origins as a poster maker, transitioning from marketing to product design, how and why he joined Kalibrr, and so much more.

Janelle Hitz is a Senior Visual Designer working on the Disney+ platform. Previously, she designed for gaming companies that include Electronic Arts and Blizzard Entertainment — working on things like Origin, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, and Heroes of the Storm. She enjoys executing the entire breadth of a design process. Janelle believes that building relationships across teams and disciplines is the key to successful products. When she's not designing, you can find her surfing, snowboarding, or playing video games.

In this episode, we talk about the being a first time design manager, doing product design for games and gaming websites, launching Disney+, and so much more.

Camille Zapata is the Lead UX/UI Designer at Tailors Mark, where she is part of a team that designs innovative solutions in the world of custom clothing — namely bespoke suits. She is a team player who enjoys moving fast to validate ideas through creative experiments, design tests, and prototypes.  Previously, she designed for the growing marketplace at Carousell. She also worked with a range of brands and companies from beauty to finance, like SK-II and Credit Suisse, while at the design agency Huge.

In this episode, we talk about Camille’s decision to live independently abroad, working in tight constraints as a designer, applying for companies around the world, finding work-life balance, and so much more.

Andrei Gonzales is a Service and Interaction Design Associate Manager at Fjord Canberra, Australia, focusing on designing and delivering innovation for Government, Health, and Public Services. Previously, he was a Senior UX Designer at BCG Digital Ventures in Sydney, where he helped build  ventures that put the customer first. Before moving to Australia, Andrei was co-founder of Hugo Manila, a Philippine design consultancy, and a designer at InVision, a very popular prototyping tool, during what he describes as the “really early days.”

In this episode, we talk about designing for InVision, Andrei’s evolution in his design craft, what it means to design for a whole country, and so much more.

Jill Tiutan is a product designer who currently studies Cognitive Science at UCLA. She has been designing professionally for the last 5 years and was most recently a product design intern at Factual, a big data company focused on location. Prior to that, Jill has also interned at Fjord (Accenture Interactive) in LA, and at GoGuardian, where she built Enterprise tools for schools. Apart from being an avid designer, she also co-founded Applica.me, which became a part of Stanford’s StartX student program in 2017.

In this episode we talk about building Applica as a  student design co-founder, getting internships in LA, finding a home in a fraternity, interning in the US, and so much more.

Shannen Sapar is a self-taught Product Designer and art enthusiast. She currently works as a UI/UX Designer at Onerent, where she focuses on solving UX challenges in the real estate market and mentoring junior designers. Previously, she was a freelance designer, and also worked for companies like Oranj and Ingenuity. She’s no stranger to building design communities. Shannen is  the Co-founder and Social Media Manager of UX Davao, and a core member of the Davao Graphic Designers Community.

In this episode we talk about how Shannen learned to take care of her mental health, how she does growth design at Onerent, her design journey as a college dropout and community builder, and so much more.

Jamie Cristal is an Inclusive Designer at Airbnb —where she is helping create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. Previously, she led design initiatives at Facebook as a Design Operations Program Manager and Product Design Lead for Facebook Lite. Before, Facebook, she served as one of Yahoo’s first Design Associates, where she spearheaded cultural initiatives for the greater design community. She led the craftsmanship of delightful experiences for various parts of the business, such as Flickr, Tumblr, and Yahoo.

In this episode, we talk about leaving medicine to do design, creating inclusive design systems, operationalising and scaling design initiatives, designing for emerging markets, and so much more.

Leroy Almeida is an experience designer at ING, the Philippines' first fully-digital bank. He previously worked at Kalibrr, where he designed the recruiter platform, and Accenture, where he worked with Philippine Airlines and Globe Telecoms. Largely self-taught, he transitioned from engineering to design by reading books, asking for feedback, and learning from the smart people of the Twitterverse. Leroy believes that design can improve people's lives, transform companies, and change the culture.

In this episode we talk about Leroy’s transition to design at Kalibrr, how to respond to critical feedback, curating your own Twitter learning circle, and so much more.

Jay Demetillo is the Lead UX Designer for GrabFood. With 10+ years of experience working in New York City to San Francisco and now Singapore, Jay Demetillo has almost seen it all in the design world. Jay has worked with Twitter, Pinterest, and Yahoo. He's also worked on notable projects such as the Bay Lights, Gaspar Brasserie, and San Francisco's Park System SFPark. Jay is an adjunct professor at CCA in San Francisco and has taught/spoken in China for ACG.   

In this episode, we talk about being the challenges of being Filipino in the US, Jay’s career and John Maeda’s bamboo ceiling, empowering the youth, designing the GrabFood app, and so much more.

Justine Win is a Product Designer, UI Developer, and team player. She'll be joining Shopify — a leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform — as a Product Designer in the core product team. She recently ended her stint as the Design Lead of UBX Philippines where she had an opportunity to assemble a team, establish a design process, and design products for financial inclusion. Justine's mission is to help organizations realize the value of design by facilitating design sprints, writing articles on design and tech, and mentoring fellow designers and developers.

In this episode, we talk about Justine’s top tips for designer job hunting, creating a stellar portfolio that gets you noticed internationally, her story in landing a job at Shopify, and so much more.

Christine Balatbat is a customer experience officer in JG Summit Holdings Inc., one of the biggest conglomerates in the Philippines. A normal weekday for her is moderating research studies, synthesizing qualitative data and communicating findings to stakeholders. Over her 7-year career she became the UX research manager of OLX Philippines, did experience design for On-Off Group, and co-founded UXPH in 2014.

In this episode, we talk about UX research in an agency, product company, and conglomerate, specialising as a user researcher, how to communicate user research results, and so much more.

Patrick James Lim is a Senior Product Designer for SplitmediaLabs Inc. With over 4 years of experience, he was able to work for companies of various types and sizes like NetSuite, Accenture and First Circle before finding his love for esports or competitive gaming. Now, he currently utilizes his UI and interaction design skills for Challonge, an application for managing competitive activities like esports or traditional sports.

In this episode, we talk about discovering UX through meetups, joining the Philippine Startup Challenge, becoming a designer in the $1.1B eSports industry, and so much more.

Boggs Labayen is the User Experience Lead at Home Credit Philippines —a self proclaimed emotional designer and guardian of the users. Armed with 10 years of experience in designing products that enrich people’s experiences, he uses his emotions as a key ingredient in the design process. He held various roles from different industries and companies such as ABS-CBN, ASPAC Creatives Incorporated, QUIDDITY, and now leading a great pool of UX unicorns at Home Credit Philippines.

In this episode, we talk about creating a digital product against transportation crime, moving away from service-based design to in-house design, the challenges of being a lead designer, and so much more.

Vj Francisco is the Head of Experience Design for NuWorks Interactive Labs. He brings with him 12+ years of design experience and expertise in design leadership, usability analysis and human-centered design. An experience strategist by practice, his most recent stint before joining NuWorks was with Globe Telecom where he was also the Head of Experience Design. There he championed human-centricity while using design thinking as a method. Prior to this, he has assumed design  leadership roles at Hewlett Packard (HP) and Citibank.

In this episode, we talk about going up the leadership ladder, convincing businesses of the value of design, what job is a designer supposed to do, and so much more.

Mikey Ilagan is a Product Manager on the Comcast Accessibility Team. He's spent the past decade building digital experiences using a lifetime of passion for technology. He is a former web designer and frontend developer. He's spent his career working in and around his hometown, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Today, he uses a diverse background to work with product teams to ensure Xfinity's offerings are usable and well-designed for customers using assistive technology. Mikey is also a co-organizer of the Philly Accessibility Meetup.

In this episode we talk about dealing with the effects of a global recession, working as a product manager in accessibility, starting a meetup in Philadelphia, and so much more.