Roots

Jake Nuñez is an experienced Senior Product Designer at Maya, focusing on enhancing the merchant experience by designing their Business products. He brings over 9 years of diverse work experience in fields such as Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, Art Direction, and User Experience. Additionally, he is dedicated to mentoring aspiring designers and equipping them for the industry through his involvement with ADPList - a global mentoring community committed to democratizing mentorship. In this episode, we talk about taking risks and investing in education, learning UX design during the pandemic, and going from aspiring disc jockey to senior product designer.

Frances To is an Independent Designer who specializes in creating bespoke websites, digital products, and interactive stories for fast-growing companies. Previously, she co-founded UX+ University, a learning platform that empowers career shifters to become User Experience professionals in 16 weeks. She also designed digital products at First Circle and Maya. Since the start of Frances’ independent design practice her work has been recognized by Awwwards, CSS Design Awards, Typewolf, and Buried Signals. In this episode we talk about owning your background and past as a designer, exploring the boundaries of design through interactive storytelling, and learning to be an independent freelancer.

Jarell is an intermediate product designer currently working on enterprise software for Copperleaf who helps utility companies make better decisions that make a better world. On the side he volunteers at ADPList and BCIT as a mentor, regularly hosts or speaks at local meetups and events, and started a local design community in Vancouver on April 2020 with over 600 members worldwide for casual bi-weekly calls. In this episode, we talk about the power of community and building it from scratch, helping other people succeed, doing enterprise design, and so much more.

Jen Enrique is a Staff Product Designer at Slack. With over 14 years experience, she has worked at agencies, startups, and big companies. Today, she champions building design culture and teaching designers how to self-advocate at work. As a 2nd generation child of immigrants, she had to learn how to navigate corporate cultures without insider expertise or formal mentors. In the last year, she has parlayed that experience into mentoring 100+ designers. In this episode, we talk about starting and formalizing design community work at Slack, going through the interview circuit, finding balance through travel, and so much more.

Ray Sison is a Senior Design Director for Product Design for SNKRS at Nike, designing for a niche community of sneakerheads. Before that, he was the Head of Design at Clarity Money, which was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2018. He was previously a Design Director at both Work&Co and R/GA, and worked on top brands like Google, Apple, Facebook, Playstation, Fortnite, Aesop, Nike+, Nike Basketball, Samsung, and a lot more. In this episode, we talk about what it’s like to design for a brand like Nike, how to be an effective design director, why making it harder to buy shoes makes sense, and so much more.

Pia Zaragoza is a creative technologist, researcher, and educator exploring the current use cases and future possibilities of emerging technologies. She is the former Vice President of Accessibility Research and Insights at JP Morgan Chase and is currently a Presidential Innovation Fellow. Pia’s Google Home once told her that the meaning of life is all about finding a way. In this episode, we talk about how Pia found her way into inclusive design and research, finding your voice as a designer, contributing to civic tech, designing for accessibility and inclusion, and so much more.

Leonardo Raymundo is a content designer and content strategist from Seattle, Washington—where he was born and raised. He currently works at Orca Pacific, a MightyHive company, as the lead content strategist, helping some of the leading brands optimize their content across multiple eCommerce platforms such as Amazon, Target, and Walmart. In his spare time, he mentors up-and-coming UX writers through the UX Writing Hub, and is particularly passionate about helping those in the BIPOC/AAPI community. In this episode, we talk about shifting to a UX writing career, systemic racism and the BLM movement, the challenges and privileges of being Filipino-American, and so much more.

Ian Sagabaen is a UX Designer at Google, building Google Cloud's enterprise tools. If you've ever been described as shy and need that nudge to break out of your comfortable shell, Ian’s travel stories might motivate you. He started as the quiet kid from San Jose, when on a whim challenged himself to live on the other side of the world, then applied his newfound courage he discovered while abroad to build up his body of work at different Silicon Valley tech companies. Progressing from graphic to interaction design, moving to Japan to study, designing for internal tools, enterprise vs consumer design, UX mentoring, and so much more.

Francis Estrada is an Interaction Designer at Google, currently working on YouTube Music Ads. As a fan of taking the scenic route, Francis gained experience working in marketing, software quality assurance, and web design before finding his way into UX. Over the years, he's picked up a side hustle as a UX instructor, having taught both undergraduates and adult learners at several institutions including The University of Washington, Bellevue College, and the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. In this episode we talk about starting out as a web designer, designing for Amazon Key and its delivery experiences, working on Google Cloud design systems, joining the Youtube Music Ads team, and so much more.

Krizia Lim is a Senior Graphic Designer at Kalibrr by day, a Freelance Illustrator and Designer by night, and a photographer, web designer, and more in between. She was previously an intern at Pepper.ph and an art director at Elevation Partners, where she worked with Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf — developing her interest in designing for F&B brands. She believes that her love for design, food, music, games, and k-culture fuels her to create, illustrate, and explore other trades of design. In this episode we talk about creating a narrative for your illustrations and designs, how deep interests and hobbies help Krizia create, starting out in an industry you’re not used to, and so much more.

Mike Walkusky is a Senior Content Designer at Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, Mint, and QuickBooks. Prior to joining Intuit, he was the editor-in-chief of http://EDM.com and a sports journalist for Bleacher Report. Mike lives in San Diego, California with his wife, daughter, and three dogs. He loves spending time with his family, discovering new music, basketball, sneakers, Asian food, K-dramas, and movies. Also, he's passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this episode, we discuss the difference of content writers and journalists, breaking into tech as customer service rep, becoming a lead content designer, fostering inclusion and equity through content design, and so much more.

Riel Mosqueriola is a Product Designer at LiveMore, a personal development app whose goal is to provide the right tools and knowledge in achieving one's personal goals . Previously, she worked in Grab, designing for GrabFood and GrabExpress. She greatly believes that in order to get better in anything you do, you should never be afraid to ask. She is currently based in Singapore, where in apart from being a Designer, she’s a “chef” at her own kitchen experimenting new dishes. In this episode we talk about starting a design agency right after college, building your first design system, going from agency to in-house product designer, designing in small versus big startups, and a lot more.

Alysa Trinidad is a Senior Visual Designer at Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, QuickBooks and Mint, based in Mountain View, California. As a California native, she grew up in nearby Wine Country where her love for art, music and digital media led her to a fulfilling career path as a multidisciplinary designer. She has lived many creative lives, from leading the very first social media department at her college radio station, to working as an in-house designer at high profile startups in Silicon Valley. In this episode, we talk about her personal experiences growing up in the North Bay Area as a first generation Filipino-American, the importance of speaking up and advocating for yourself in the workplace as a WOC, and so much more.

Sheryl Cababa is the Vice President of Strategy at Substantial, a design and technology consultancy in Seattle, and has more than two decades of experience as a multi-disciplinary design practitioner. With a background in human-centered design research and strategy, she has worked as a design consultant at companies like Artefact, frog, and Adaptive Path. She is an international speaker and facilitator, and has developed methods for designers to integrate systems thinking with their practices. In this episode, we talk about design consulting, Filipino representation in tech, ethical decision making and systems thinking, the consequences of designing products at scale, and so much more.

Rannie Teodoro, Ph.D., is the Head of Design at Thumbtack, an online marketplace that matches customers with local service professionals. She is one of the few researchers in the world leading a design organization, including the Product Design, Experience Research, and Creative teams. Prior to Thumbtack, she was leading a team of UX researchers at Facebook. Her work has informed strategies for news-based platforms, search products, local services, and emerging markets. In this episode, we talk about going from academic research to UX research, creating ethical products, management and representation in leadership, fighting ingrained Filipino mindsets, and so much more.

Ed Salvaña is a Product Designer at Facebook. After long stints on Facebook Ads, Instagram and Events, he now designs experiences for new platforms and devices at Facebook Reality Labs. While growing up, he thought he would become a priest, a pilot, or even a scientist. He ended up becoming an animator, engineer, then eventually a product designer. He still has trouble explaining what he does to his parents. Ed is also a voracious carnivore, appreciates fine brews and well-made video games. In this episode we talk about going from flash developer to product designer, designing for FB Ads, Events, Reality Labs, and Instagram, delivering impact through product incubation, and so much more.

Niki Torres is the founder, producer, and host of Chief Best Friends, a podcast helping women succeed in work and business through meaningful friendships. She also writes BFFs, a bi-weekly email for Asia’s female founders, bringing together resources on growing a business, cultivating friendships, and seeking opportunities for funding. Niki has 12+ years of experience in communications, growth, and digital marketing, and was most recently the Director of Product Growth at a Sequoia-backed startup. In this episode we talk about pirate metrics and growth loops, changing a team’s mindset from doing marketing to growth, building a community for content and UX writing, and so much more.

Francis Alturas is the Co-founder and CDO of Abstract Digital—a digital product design agency with expertise in doing design sprints for venture-backed seed stage startups in Southeast Asia. He worked with brands like 500 Startups, Rocket Internet, The World Bank, and The Presidential Communications Office. He enjoys designing interfaces, writing frontend code, and co-organizing local design events like the UXPH Roadshow, Visual 4 and Sketch & Dribbble Meetups. In this episode we talk about Francis and his early days with the web, wearing multiple hats as a designer and manager, building his company as a Chief Design Officer, and so much more.

Erika Sibal is a Senior Designer and UX Lead at ExxonMobil’s Modern Applications & Platforms team. Before joining Exxon, she was a 2D Senior Project Lead at The Studio of Secret 6, a game development company based in the Philippines. Erika merges her passion for design, culture, and games by transforming experiences through gamification. Outside of design, she enjoys playing video games, reading books, and illustration. In this episode, we talk about how Erika went from architecture to game design to evangelizing UX, navigating design politics, gamifying corporate onboarding, and so much more.

Jonathan Remulla is a Product Design Manager at SurveyMonkey, leading design for the core surveys experience for self-serve and enterprise customers. Since 2015, he's been an educator at General Assembly, teaching UX at the San Francisco campus. Jonathan also runs Supafrenz, providing clients with both traditional graphic and product design. A Bay Area native, he loves watching anything fighting, forever the Warriors, and the 49ers and Giants, only when they're good. In this episode, we talk about leading north star redesigns in tech companies, learning to be a UX instructor, being an open and authentic design manager, and so much more.

Kervin Tan is a freelance product designer and a mountain seeker. He is currently a product designer consultant at Hometime, a property management startup based in Australia and at BioMark, a health-tech startup based in Singapore. He is focused on working with companies that are building their MVPs, redesigning their platforms, and scaling their systems. Kervin loves to hike and appreciate nature in its raw form but due to the current pandemic situation, he became a plant daddy. In this episode, we talked about using his programmer background to his advantage, designing in the health and travel industries, deciding to be a freelance designer, and so much more.

Carla Taruc Porticos is the UX/CX Research Lead and Managing & Founding Partner of Influx Research Philippines. Before her ABCs, she learned research terms from her parents who worked in market research for over 30 years. Shifting from market research to UX was seamless for Carla, having worked on UX projects since 2006. She also rides a 1200cc BMW RNineT motorbike which she calls “Beast.” Now, Carla is building an agritech start-up to uplift the lives of Filipino farmers, and dreams to be the first Filipina unicorn. In this episode we talk about golden nuggets of wisdom for user researchers, starting a profitable remote-first research company, the differences between marketing t and user research, and so much more.

Grey wanted to be a UX Designer way before it was cool. After spending more than half a decade as digital product manager for the banking and fintech industry, she is now a Product Design Lead for UBX Philippines. She loves conducting design sprints/workshops and user research and testing. — anything that will allow her to talk to and learn more about people. She also regards herself as a serial solo backpacker. Having seen how cities/towns in other countries are like, her dream job is to become a globetrotting urban designer for the Philippines. In this episode, we talk about transitioning from product manager to product designer, being a T-shaped specialist, how to work in the financial and banking industry, and so much more.

Jennifer Suazo is the UX Lead for Singlife Philippines, a digital insurance company that embraces technology to help Filipinos manage, grow, and protect their money. She took her Master's of Science in Interaction Design and Computing at University of Westminster in London with a Merit Award Class, which previously helped her land her first UX role in AXA Philippines. She’s an avid reader and a self-proclaimed Axure fangirl who enjoys turning complex and manual processes into efficient and delightful digital experiences. In this episode, we talk about transitioning from web designer to UX designer, Jen’s life as a masters student in London, the challenges of designing in the field of insurance, and so much more.

Miramark Diaz is a Designer who creates digital products for brands, companies, and startups. Currently he’s a Design Manager at one of the largest airline companies in the Philippines, Cebu Pacific Air, where he looks over the process, people, and the optimization of their work. His drive to learn, do, and create is fueled by his hunger for the mastery of the process, and the continuous cycle of problem-solving. Outside of work, he fiddles around with learning how to brew good coffee. In this episode, we talk about Miramark’s journey and insights as a freelancer, how he built his network and presence through Dribbble, learning to become a Design Manager in a corporate environment, and so much more.

Alex Atienza is a Senior Product Designer working on the “Carina” Design System and the Hospitality Cloud platform at Cvent. Previously, he was a designer at gaming companies like Bethesda Softworks and Zenimax Online Studios shipping https://Bethesda.net and leading design for the game platform shipping The Elder Scrolls Online. Alex believes that transparent UX processes, cross functional teams, and a delivery driven work ethic will result in shipping great products. Currently, he juggles a good father and playing FF7 Remake. In this episode we talk about designing interfaces for mobile before mobile existed, doing design systems for government and beyond, how to design for a game platform like Elder Scrolls Online, and so much more.

Tim Quirino is a Product Designer on Facebook's News Feed & Stories. In over 6 years at the blue app, he helped launch Facebook Watch, Facebook Live, and Music Sharing. Not one to miss the opportunity for excellent wordplay, Tim lives by the ethos of Ray and Charles Eames. “The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests.” He's also a Chef and Co-founder of Carb Your Enthusiasm, a pop-up dinner series based in San Francisco. In this episode, we talk about Tim’s journey from Manila, New Jersey, and Philadelphia to San Francisco, how Tim evolved his career at Facebook, how he manages to spin so many plates at the same time, and so much more.

Jamie Cabaccang is an award-winning Product Design Leader, Inventor, a Certified Reiki Master and Founder of Techies + Wellness. She led product design at Microsoft for over 10 years for Office on the Apple platforms and invented new technology for the Windows Incubation team. She is currently a Product Design Lead at Pinterest. By designing holistic wellness experiences and transformative retreats, she connects individuals to their own inner wisdom. Helping them on their path to self discovery, authentic self expression and honoring their true calling. In this episode, we talk about leading design at Microsoft, working on secret future technology, building communities, going inward and following your heart, and so much more.

Jeremy Dizon is a Senior Production Designer at Lyft, where he maintains and evolves the Lyft Product Language design system, supporting the entire Product Design organization. He honed his production design skills at companies like Google and Airbnb, where he advocated for production design as an integral part of building products. Balancing work and life as a dad of two, Jeremy also enjoys dressing up in plastic armor on the weekends as part of the worldwide Star Wars group, the 501st Legion. In this episode, we talk about Jeremy’s production design process, doing design QA, creating component libraries, the different approaches to design systems, and so much more.

Everett is a Bay Area transplant and failed musician who exchanged the Los Angeles smog for the San Francisco fog. Raised in the LA skate punk scene of the 80s and 90s, he was naturally drawn to the counter culture epicenter that was the Bay Area. He’s currently a documentary filmmaker at Stripe, and is wrapping up Stripe Press’s first feature length release. Prior to Stripe, he was a Brand Creative Manager at Pinterest, Co-Founder of the Facebook Analog Research Laboratory, and was an Exhibition Designer at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. In this episode, we talk about being a museum designer, using your network to get career direction, being a provocateur in the Facebook office, working with film to tell stories , and so much more.

Lacey Sabado is a UX Program Manager at Google, where she helps improve people’s everyday lives through meaningful user experiences. She completed her Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Maryland, where she was the Graduate School Commencement Speaker and Most Outstanding Graduate Assistant of 2018. She also co-founded the first student UX organization, UXTerps, at UMD. She interned as a UX Researcher for The New York Times. Before that, she spent most of her 9-year career as an IT Manager at Procter & Gamble. In this episode, we talk about her student career at DLSU, her first UX Design role at P&G, choosing the right graduate school, UX program management at Google, and so much more.

Camille Villanueva is a Brand and Marketing Designer at Square, bringing product marketing campaigns to life through different media, such as illustration and photography. Four years ago, Camille took a leap of faith and left her job as a high school teacher in Los Angeles to become a designer in San Francisco. In her spare time, you'll usually find Camille juggling personal projects like puppetry, printmaking, photography, and cosplay. In this episode, we talk about the fundamentals of critique and feedback, Camille’s journey from teacher-photographer to designer and manager, building an illustration style guide, and so much more.

Andrew Tolentino is a Senior Product Designer at Credit Karma designing experiences that help people make financial progress and buy their first home. His passion lies in mission driven, user-facing products that help people make progress towards their goals. At a young age, he started building his own websites, eventually transitioning to product and UX design through his internships at agencies like MWWPR and fullSIX. In his spare time, you can find him in a pottery class throwing clay on a wheel, hand lettering, or in the kitchen, baking regularly. In this episode, we talk about how Andrew spent 8 years designing at Credit Karma, handling multiple product managers, evolving his design process, why designers should be more vocal, and so much more.

Arvi is Dad, Superman fanboy and Product Designer living in San Francisco. He has over 20 years of product and brand design experience. He is currently a Sr. Product Design Manager at Glassdoor helping people to find a job and a company they love. Previously, he was a Design Lead at Fitbit, leading the Activity and Exercise team to help people lead healthier lives. He was also a former Product Designer at Facebook with the Insights and Measurement team, building products for over a billion users worldwide. In this episode we talk about how Arvi designs for people, his work on preserving the legacy of those who passed away, designing for analytics, prioritizing work-life balance, tips for new design managers, and so much more.

Kylie Timpani is a Product Designer in Silicon Valley working on the way people consume and experience TV. Previously, she was the Senior Designer at Humaan, an Australian digital agency with an aim to make technology and the experiences that come with it more human. Kylie loves to give back whether that’s by mentoring early-stage designers, organising conferences like Mixin, or sharing knowledge freely. When she’s not designing, she’s falling off a skateboard and watching Filipino soap operas as a way to learn Tagalog. In this episode, we talk about how Kylie taught herself design, how to find opportunities through Twitter, why being responsible for your privilege is important, and so much more.

Anj Garong is a developer turned designer, now an Innovation and Creative Entrepreneurship student at Thames International. She loves seeing other people happy and successful, which is why she decided to focus on teaching and workshopping, and thus, started Ang Design Co. Before that, she spent 3+ years at Sprout Solutions, where she grew the Product Design team and spread the design culture. She has also been teaching at iACADEMY for several years now and sharing UX knowledge with communities and private companies since 2016. In this episode, we talk about how Anj found her focus in design, why teaching in an important constant in her life, becoming a creative entrepreneur, and so much more.

Dan Mall is the Founder & CEO of SuperFriendly, a design collaborative that helps in-house teams make better digital products with design systems. Having worked with clients like United Airlines, Harvard Business School, athenahealth, Capital One, Apple, dotdash, Google, Reader's Digest, The New York Times, ExxonMobil, and more, Dan has a passion for playing matchmaker between surprising art direction and intuitive interaction design and building teams that are finely tuned to the solutions clients are looking for. In this episode, we talk about Dan’s design roots in Philly, how working with Jeffrey Zeldman shaped his career, fostering trust as a design director, his inclusive approach to building teams, and so much more.

Neil Bantoc is a UX Engineer on the Design Systems Engineering team at Facebook where he supports the Facebook Design System by creating standardized UI widgets that conform to the FDS design patterns and guidelines. Before this, he was a software engineer at Venmo — a PayPal company, and Freelancer.com Manila. As a student, he obtained his Bachelors in Computer Science at University of the Philippines at Los Baños and his Masters in Human Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. In this episode, we talk about Neil’s journey to becoming a UX engineer, his time at Carnegie Mellon, Facebook’s internal tooling for design systems, and so much more.

Archie Riva is an Enterprise UX Designer and Manager at Procter and Gamble. From being a systems analyst and project manager in the Financial Solutions department, Archie transitioned to be a UX practitioner and became successful in incorporating UX methodologies and techniques tailored fit to the enterprise environment. As a UX manager and having obtained master certification from Nielsen and Norman group, Archie continues to evangelize UX in his organization and seeks to reapply best practices from outside in. In this episode, we talk about project management for designers, learning to get buy-in from stakeholders, measuring the business impact of UX, and so much more.

Nelson Gomez is a Product Designer at Holotech Studios designing an app called Animaze where people can make fun videos on their phone with avatars that imitate their every expression. Moreover, he has designed lifestyle web and app experiences spanning from weddings (through the Knot) to fitness to name a few. After hustling to start his career and graduating from college in the Philippines, Nelson also volunteers for ethical non-profits and organizations that cater to LGBT, women, and homeless communities. In this episode, we talk about Nelson’s design education through UX Society, building a career in the US, finding community as a non-binary designer, and so much more.

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.

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. Having experienced a lot of challenges in the past and overcoming them made her a gritty designer that she is now. 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.

Tari Rosario is the Lead UX Product Designer for Sprout Solutions, where she designs for HR and Payroll software systems. Previously, she held UX Designer positions in various startups before finding her love for research upon entering On-Off Group, where she worked as a Lead Experience Strategist. She graduated with a degree of BFA Information Design from the Ateneo de Manila University and spent her Junior Term Abroad in the National University of Singapore. In this episode, we talk about going on exchange at NUS, learning culture through her Information Design thesis, the differences between agency and product UX, and so much more.

Jiggy Villanueva is a fresh Management Information Systems graduate from Ateneo de Manila University. For the past year, he served as the Executive Vice President of User Experience Society, the first student-led UX organization in the Philippines. He also led the branding team of JFFC, the biggest student web design conference in Asia. He interned as a UX Designer for companies like Make Technology and Kalibrr. In a few months, he will return to Kalibrr, as an Associate Product Designer. In this episode, we talk about designing a brand for a conference, dealing with impostor syndrome as a designer, connecting Management Information Systems and UX Design, and so much more.

Aris Acoba is a product designer and developer. He is currently the Head of Design at LawAdvisor, a legal technology company founded in Australia. He has been tumbling around Manila, Melbourne, and London, designing legal tech enterprise solutions. He has worked with companies like Mashup Garage, IdeasXMachina, Toyota Philippines, PAREF Southridge School, Lorenzana Food Corporation, and Eastwest Banking Corporation. He held positions in various industries such as banking, advertising, and currently startups. In this episode, we talk about moving forward from doing advertising, working on your first product as a designer, flying to a different country and immersing in a different culture, and so much more.

Paul Sabandal is the Head of Product Development at Qwikwire, a multi-awarded startup that provides cross-border payment solutions for real-estate — they handle international online payments for clients AyalaLand, Century Properties, Double Dragon and other top real-estate companies in the Philippines. He leads the end-to-end processes related to product discovery. He also co-founded Figma Philippines, helping teach the collaborative design tool Figma through meet-ups for the community. In this episode, we talked about working while finishing school, raising funds for an ICO, starting a community group for a design tool, and a lot more.

Chi Señires is a UI/UX Designer at TrueMoney Philippines, where she designs products to help the underbanked and underserved in our country. When not doing design work, she does front-end web development. Before graduating with a degree in Computer Science in 2016, she co-founded User Experience Society, the first student-led UX organization in the Philippines. She also served as the Associate Vice President for Publication at the Computer Society of the Ateneo, the home organization for Computer Science majors. In this episode, we chatted about being the first and sole designer in a team, documenting your processes, aligning teams around outcomes, and so much more.

Charz Mendoza is the Head of User Experience at Mynt. His main responsibility is to ensure the products and services of GCash deliver good user experience across all its channels. Previously, he was a Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of B3Solutions. Before that, he was an Experience Design Specialist at Smart. He also held design and copywriting roles at top ad agencies like Publicis Groupe, McCann Worldgroup, and Ogilvy & Mather. In this episode, we talk about shifting careers from graphic design to UX design, being a design co-founder for a startup, pursuing your passion, designing for omnichannel experiences, and so much more.

Paolo Malabuyo is a Director of User Experience for YouTube Advertising at Google, where he leads an international team of designers and researchers responsible for enabling a healthy ecosystem for YouTube and its billions of users worldwide, and an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley, where he teaches a graduate-level course on Human-Computer Interaction & User Experience. He has led Product UX teams at Netflix, Mercedes-Benz, Zynga, Xbox, and more. In this episode we talk about fighting career inertia, progressing from frontline manager to senior design leader, how design can mature further in the Philippines, and a lot more.

I interviewed Job Buenazedacruz, a graphic designer at Canva. She’s the founder of Inclusive PH, a small online community of professionals who want to share and learn more about inclusive practices in different fields like design, engineering, copywriting, education, and medicine. She’s also a design consultant with two design firms: CIA Bootleg Manila and Godmother PH. She handles design research, design strategy, experience design, branding, and Industrial Design projects. In this episode, we talked about solving social problems through design, helping clients understand customers and front liners, how to get started with accessibility and so much more.

I talked to Brian Tan, a UI/UX designer and merit scholar from the Ateneo De Manila University. He’s about to graduate in June with a degree in IT Entrepreneurship. Brian has done 6 internships already, including being a Product Design Intern at Kalibrr and a UI/UX Apprentice at Stampede, a Malaysian UX agency. He’s also the co-creator of HangTime, a web app built to help students compare class schedules. In this episode, we talk about how to find internships, how to maximise your college experience as a UX designer, and getting started with effective altruism.

I interviewed Jasmine Ty, a seasoned UX content strategist and marketing copywriter with over a decade of experience working in Silicon Valley. She has worked at small startups like JustAnswer to big brands like Gap and Facebook. Her expertise includes finding brand voice and tone, marketing, e-commerce, UX, and machine learning. Soon, Jasmine will be joining Netflix as a Content Designer. In this episode, we talk about why Filipinos should stop downplaying their achievements, being ethical and inclusive in design, working on products that billions of people use, and so much more.

I chatted with Avery Si, a UI/UX Designer in Mynt — a subsidiary of Globe Telecom, Ayala, and Ant Financial. Avery took up Management Information Systems in Ateneo de Manila University and was a founding member of User Experience Society--the first student-led UX organization in the Philippines that educates the next generation of design leaders. As a student, he was able take on UX and Product Design internships in Globe Telecom, Apical Design, and OnlineJobs.ph. In this episode, we talk about building a UX organization, hustling to find internships, taking a break after graduation, working as a designer in Mynt, and so much more.

I interviewed Ely Apao, Customer Experience Manager at JG Summit Holdings. He founded UX Philippines, a non-profit organization that hosts the Philippines' largest community of individuals passionate about the realm of User Experience. The organization aims to help spread awareness and raise the bar for design practices all over the Philippines. Previously, he also held UX roles at companies like OLX and US Auto Parts as a UX and Product Development Manager. In this episode, we talk about building the UX community, designing at an old and traditional company, understanding the key skills of a UX designer, and a lot more.

I interviewed Niaw de Leon, the author of Microcopy and co-founder of Cognible, a design consultancy that helps startups, IT firms, and development teams nail the right language and interactions to make sexy apps that sell. Starting out as an enterprise web developer at a CMMI Level 5 IT firm, she’s been a trainer, RFP writer, and product marketing manager until she found herself in the passionate embrace of interaction design and UX writing. In this episode, we talk about learning how to negotiate, how Filipinos can become world-class thought leaders, gaining authority through creating, and so much more.

I interviewed Chrys Francisco Laguitao, a Senior UX Designer at Google currently based in Zurich, Switzerland. She has designed for both consumer and enterprise products such as Google Flights, Assistant, and AdWords. Her career journey has taken her from being an IT Associate Manager in P&G in Manila, to taking up Master's in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University abroad, and finaly pursuing her aspiration of becoming a UX Designer at Google. In this episode, we talk about looking for a graduate program in UX, getting into and working at Google, becoming a full-time working mom, and so much more.

AJ Dimarucot is a self-taught graphic designer who is known for his iconic work on t-shirts--having designed for brands like Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, to a multitude of independent brands. His work has delivered millions of dollars worth of sales all over the world. He has designed officially-licensed tees for athletes in the NFL, MLB, and the NBA, as well as for properties like Coca-Cola, Star Wars, and Marvel. From US to Japan to his hometown of Manila, his t-shirt designs are worn all over the world.

Tisha Ibasco is the Experience Design Lead at Accenture, helping build the capability of UX in the Philippines. She leads a team of 20 designers based in Manila and Cebu. Before that, she was a Product Design Lead at Stratpoint. As an experience designer, she likes to dive deep into her projects and its uncertainties to help design thoughtful products. She puts considerable thought in understanding and modelling user and business needs to make product ideas happen. In this episode we talk about things like taking criticism, being comfortable working in the unknown, building the skills to be empathic, and so much more.

I caught up with Dan Matutina — a graphic designer and illustrator. He is a founding partner at Plus63 Design Co. and the Hydra Design Group. He has worked on projects for brands such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Pinterest, Airbnb, Samsung, WIRED Magazine, Fast Co., Wallpaper*, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Coca-Cola, Havaianas, Heineken, Uniqlo to name a few. At Plus63 Design Co., he develops graphic design identities and systems for brands. In this episode we talk about how Dan started his design journey, building a design social enterprise, forming a diverse design group, and a lot more.

I interviewed Tata Yap, she's a creative director for digital agency Code and Theory Manila — working with clients like Doctors Without Borders (MSF.org), the World Health Organisation, C40 Cities, and the International Crisis Group. She works to teach, and teaches to work, juggling her roles with 8 years of being a lecturer of type, web and graphic design at the Ateneo de Manila University where her students are always a source of optimism, inspiration, and energy. We talked about learning design through fandoms, why typography is important, how we can improve design education, and so much more.

Denise Haak is the Chief Experience Officer at QUIDDITY, an end-to-end User Experience design and consultancy firm with clients like CebuPacific GetGo, Banco De Oro, and the Department of Trade and Industry. She was previously at Google as an Agency Business Lead and also worked as part of the inaugural team that launched the Google Philippines office. She was the Founder and Managing Director of AltENGINE, and worked at the top ad agencies in the country. In this episode we talk about how Denise got into Google, harnessing company culture, being a Chief Experience Officer, and so much more.

I talked to Birdie Salva, the co-founder and general manager of Curiosity, a Manila-based design research agency. He currently leads user-centered research projects for companies like Globe, Sun Life Financial, and Ayala Corporation. He has been part of an industrial design startup, a brand manager for L'Oreal Philippines, and a lecturer in Ateneo de Manila University. As an avid gamer, he’s now trying his hand in game design. In this episode, we talked about building a design research company, thinking about design consequences, creating a party game, and a lot more.

I interviewed JP de Guzman, the Chief Creative of Frost Design. He is an entrepreneur by heart, a full-time life student by day, and now a father of four. He led various creative projects from top local and global organizations like International Organization on Migration (IOM), Globe Telecoms, Asian Institute of Management, AboitizLand, TV5, and Solar Network. In this episode, we talked about running a creative company, treating clients like partners, the quality talent problem in the industry, and a lot more.

I interviewed Michael Dela Cruz, affectionately known by his peers as “Miggy,” is the former Director of Customer Experience Design at Globe Telecom, the leading telecommunications company in the Philippines. His professional experience in Globe lasted 10 years, starting from his humble beginnings as an intern back in 2007 and management trainee in 2008. In this episode we discuss what it’s like to lead design and change at Globe, how design can change lives, obstacle sports racing, and a lot more.

I interviewed Samantha Rose Cruz, Senior UI Designer at Effective Digital. She has held roles as a Product Designer and Front-end Developer working at Make Technology by Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, Challonge at SplitmediaLabs, and Proudcloud. She is the founder and community manager of ManilaCSS, an organization aiming to promote the latest CSS practices. In this episode, we talk about being a lone designer vs being in a design team, coping with carpal tunnel syndrome, managing a CSS community, and a lot more.

I talked to Aldrich Tan, the Design Director and Co-founder of Vessel Innovation Design Group. He previously held Design Roles at Remitly, Getty Images, Artefact, and IMS Health. His design journey has taken him to the US and Canada, before he decided to go back to the Philippines to build impactful startups, design cultures, and mindsets, while mentoring younger designers.

I talked to Angela Obias-Tuban, Design Strategy Lead at Metrobank. She has been a quantitative research analyst, qualitative researcher, User Experience Design manager, digital strategist and teacher over her 12-year career. Now, she turns her focus onto banking, plus learning how to parent. In this episode we talk about design research, interaction design, job titles, consulting, teaching, and a lot more.

I talked to Marianne Ho, a Hong Kong-based UX Designer reimagining the way people think about money at HSBC. She previously held design roles at Cathay Pacific, L3 Bioinformatics, On-Off Design Technology, and Save22. In her spare time, she enjoys discussing about culture, identity and being a plant lady. In this episode, we talk about her time in ASES Stanford, hustling your way to a job, navigating bureaucracy, and a lot more.

I talked to Mika Aldaba, an international design consultant with experience doing branding, web design, UX consulting and data visualization for clients in Asia, Europe and the US. She has given talks on design in Manila, Singapore, Montreal and Vienna. Being passionate about world issues, she brings her global perspective into her craft. In this episode we talk about her student exchange in San Francisco, combining computer science with design, working and studying abroad, and a lot more.

I talked to Sophia Lucero, the co-founder and president of the Philippine Web Designers Organization, a volunteer grassroots group that organises the Form Function & Class conference, plus other activities that nurture the local community. When she’s not busy organizing, her actual day job is crafting interfaces and writing front-end code as an independent consultant for local and foreign companies. In this episode, we talk a lot about the early web, blogging, Sophia’s passion for community building, and a lot more.

I interviewed James Cabrera, a self-taught User-Centered Visual Designer formally educated in Math and Physics. He is currently the Design Director at Gimlet Media, having previously held design roles at Refinery29, Say Media, and Foot Locker, Inc. He has also given talks at various design conferences across the world. We talked about turning a side gig into a full time job, how he started out designing templates, negotiating design offers, marrying UX and business goals, and a lot more.

I talked to Philip Cheang, the co-founder of By Implication, an award-winning independent software & game development studio he and his friends created after becoming the Champion of the Microsoft Imagine Cup. He is the product lead of Sakay.ph, a navigation tool that gives the best commute directions in Metro Manila. We talked about Phi’s journey, the origin story of By Implication, and how they refocused all efforts to work on Sakay.ph.

I caught up with Roxy Navarro, the co-founder and creative director leading a small, young, and passionate creative group called Works of Heart. Her studio aims to provide design for all, especially for impact-driven organizations to catapult their advocacies forward. We talked about her humble beginnings as a designer, the origin story and challenges behind Works of Heart, how she finally chose to focus on her passion full-time, and a lot more.

I interviewed Christian San Jose, the Managing Director of Make Technology, a UX and technology subsidiary of Ace Saatchi & Saatchi. Before that he was Head of Digital of MullenLowe Group Philippines and the Head of UX and Design at Jump Digital. At 21 he bootstrapped his first digital startup, Create.ph, and worked for clients like Usher, Kanye West, Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt, James Harden, Dwyane Wade, and Big Sean. We talked about career growth, creating and scaling a design studio, client servicing, and more.

I Interviewed Mark Lacsamana, a product designer working at Kalibrr. He previously worked for OLX as a product designer for mobile apps. Before that, he was at Shift Interactive, The Forge, and SOLUS Interactive. Mark studied Communication Technology Management in Ateneo de Manila University. We talked about things like leadership, communication, ownership and more.

I interviewed Jem Rosario, a user experience specialist and educator based in Toronto, Canada — who was a journalist in his previous life. He studied New Media Studies and Philosophy at the University of Toronto and is a volunteer at Canada Learning Code teaching Wordpress and digital design.

I talked to Allan Caeg, the founder of Northstories.io, previously at Migme, Save22, US Autoparts and Netbooster.asia (Movent). In this episode, we discuss interaction design, product management, digital marketing, storytelling, career shifting, and more.

I caught up with Andrew Aquino, a Filipino product designer who just started working at Facebook. In this episode, we discuss design education, mentorship, university courses, internships, product design and a lot more.