While it is World AIDS day, I wanted to share something a bit more specific to the experience of HIV positive people. This is not exhaustive and partially from my perspective as a south east asian PLHIV.
- “How did you get it?”
One of the first things that really gripes my nerves when people find out about my status is they ask “How did you get it”. There are extremely rude permutations of this like “Did you bareback?” and “Who gave it to you?”. At this point I don’t know if I should or need to explain why this is a…
This was taken in 2011. I was sitting in a ministop waiting for my job interview. Mini stop then had little computer kiosks that you could pay 20 pesos (if I’m correct) to go online for a short ten minutes to message friends and check email messages.
A guy came in used that kiosk quickly and left with around 5 or so minutes left he left. A few seconds later a child walked in. Her clothes we’re old her face a little dirty from the street. …
About Privilege in Tech and talking about Inclusivity in Asia’s Technology Industry.
The topic around Diversity, Inclusion and Ethics has become commonplace in the world of technology and design industry over the past couple of years. Though they may be popular talking points, the issue has rarely left western shores. Considering how important and close to home these topics are to us, it is rarely talked about in majority of formerly colonised Asia.
Before I start, I will preface that nothing I’m about to say is new especially if you follow design twitter. What surprises me is how there are very few voices from Southeast Asia speaking about these problems. Considering the…
It’s been almost two years since I started working for Kalibrr. We’ve grown from a one man design operation to a five-strong design team working across different products and processes in the organization.
Suddenly being thrusted into a mentorship position has forced me to really tap into both the good and bad experiences in my career and find a way to best keep young and new talent engaged, challenged and growing.
One thing I’ve particularly been adamant about with my new hires is creating a side project to work on besides the day to day work we have in the…
Every now and then I get asked about what kind media I consume and what I could recommend for young designers to watch. It’s quite easy to get lost in a pool of design articles and books to read through. Films are a great way to break the monotony while still learning and getting inspired at the same time.
In the first of a series, I’ll be sharing a list of great films that should be on every UX Designer’s watch list.
1. Design and Thinking (2012)
A documentary a lot of people would expect in this list. Design and Thinking takes a look…
An interesting intersection between the empathic and the fabulous.
Pride season comes every year, that one season where rainbow flags fly proud and tech companies try their best to show their LGBT friendly with rainbow-colored versions of their logos. As a gay man working in a very heteronormative and masculine industry, finding a space for my queerness has always been a struggle. Little did I know that putting on that wig and foundation would be the most UX thing I could ever do.
Drag queens, the keepers of queer history
It was RuPaul’s drag race winner Sasha Velour who said drag queens are the keepers of queer history. It’s through the magic and performance of these…
From the founding of Kalibrr and through its multiple pivot points, the design philosophy of our product was always on giving a Great Candidate Experience — and by extension, to help recruiters create that great candidate experience.
We explored this idea vigorously during my first few months at Kalibrr. Though we were excited by this focus, we had no idea where to start.
What we did know was how helpless being a jobseeker felt being totally dependent on how fast or recruiters work. From that, we definitely wanted to create a feature that would empower jobseekers.
1. Creating a Solution
Inspiration from Net Promoter Score
A measure common to…
Observations on Designing Conferences for and in South East Asia.
It’s been more or less a month since I came back from Bangkok. While I’ve written most of my favorite moments from the conference with Alex at the Kalibrr Design Blog, there’s still so much more about the conference that I observed that is probably best suited to something outside my day job.
Warning this may contain views that may piss off some people so take it with an open mind.
Panel Diversity
Mentorship has become a big part of my growth and career as a designer. Though I have books on User Experience and Design, I’ve always found it hard to absorb any information I have from just plain reading. Majority of my learning was through conversations with friends and elders in the community.
Mentorships are an important part of career growth. While we’ve spoken before on how to get a mentor there’s also important things to remember when you want to mentor.
1. Have the time
Mentorship takes a lot of commitment. Young designers are counting on you for advice and help. This is something…
On October 3, 2016 our product and engineering teams released a new version of the OLX mobile app for iOS and Android. This new version not only contained performance improvements but also included new features and new interface
Creating a completely new experience is no easy task. With almost ten years of legacy design and development, we had to find a process to help us make sense and prioritize what we needed to do.
Research
The goal of design research is not to do research for it’s own sake. The point is to make sure everyone working towards the goal is…
Mark Lester C. Lacsamana
I’m a Product Designer at Kalibrr.com mumbling around UX and Design Research. Resident Party-boy of UX where I dance around queer issues in technology.
