Hey there! Brian Dys here — I’m a visual and visceral person at heart. Ever since my mom lent me her old film camera, I fell in love with photography. All of my creative musings were exemplified by my second brain, the computer. This journey is a topsy-turvy ride of creative pursuits — from electronic music to UX design.
I enjoy every dull and wild moments of it — yes, this life of mine that I share with a woman named Jaycelle and a boy named Bryce. Take a peek into my kaleidoscope!
How many mistakes do you make when you understand something? You don’t make any mistakes. Where do mistakes come from? They come from blind spots, a lack of understanding. Why do you need to be multidisciplinary in your thinking? Because as the Japanese proverb says, “The frog in the well knows nothing of the mighty ocean.”
ADPList is instrumental in my growth as a designer, particularly in sharing my knowledge and experience in this industry. With that, I am thankful for the founders and team of this amazing organization.
I first encountered ADPList through The Inclusion & Diversity Compendium for Designers compiled by Marissa Louie in Designers Guild on Facebook. It was just a few months since the pandemic hit the world and it was only a small contribution for me to help fellow designers during these times — that’s why I decided to offer my time for free to mentor those who need it.
Here’s to more fruitful discussions with both co-mentors and mentees!
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The tangible work done as a designer—the screens and flows, the interaction patterns and project strategies, the ability to create vision and align a team behind it—has the ability to influence and create impact just as much as that of organizational design.
This concept was introduced to me by a manager of people development from my previous organization. She opened my mind by saying we should support the growth of people who are great being individual contributors.
And from that point forward, I realized that both roles (senior IC and manager) are equally important, strategically. Thus, having parallel growth in both tracks will benefit the organization, both its business and the people.
We need to build devices that won’t force us to choose between people and our devices. These future devices will let us look up and stay in the world so that we can do more of what we are built to do as humans — to connect and collaborate.
It is, of course, much easier to complain about how things are bad rather than do anything about it, which is why people prefer to complain. 1/100th the satisfaction, but 1/1000000000000th the effort.
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Recently, we had an event in Avaloq called Open Mic Session. It was a small event for Avaloq Manila (Philippines) and Pune (India), along with the executive board. It had two topic categories which was voted for by employees. The first category was official company business and the second one were topics submitted by anyone who wished to share anything — a hobby, an advocacy, project accomplishments, or anything under the sun, really.
One of the three employee topics that was voted in was mine. It was all about my learnings and realizations in the ten months that I’ve been with Avaloq. It was timely to sit down and introspect how I’ve been in these past months — from being torn about transitioning into a different organization during the pandemic to being fulfilled that I’ve struck while the iron is hot. It was equally timely to share it with my colleagues, as well.
Here’s a transcript of my presentation:
Hello to my colleagues in Manila, Philippines (esp. to the UX design team), Pune, India, and Zurich Switzerland. And of course, to others who are in different locations. Thank you to all those who voted for my topic.
My name is Dys. I’m with Johann in the design team. I do UX design for web and mobile banking, as well as managing the design team here in Manila.
I joined Avaloq in May last year. So, I’m fairly new. In the 10 months that I’ve been here, there are many things that help me adapt in this new environment. Let me have the honor of sharing with you 10 things that I’ve learned & continuously realizing while working in Avaloq.
Around March last year, I made a leap of faith when I accepted Avaloq’s offer. It was at the start of lockdowns and the pandemic, after all. Apart from being scared, I was excited because every aspect was a step up from my previous career. Fast forward to now, the level up experience is true — there are many new things that I face and these challenges keep me learning & growing.
Avaloq’s response to the pandemic gives me confidence that despite being in this challenging times, we are in a stable and growing organization.
With a level of autonomy, we take ownership of our work. We are empowered to contribute and influence the direction of projects.
We have tools and processes in place that create a safe environment for us to listen and to be heard. We have an engaging feedback platform and my managers are open to listening and coaching.
When I joined Avaloq, the team were there to help me onboard quickly. Until now, whenever I would need help from them, they are engaged and supportive.
Meetings, virtual or otherwise, are our opportunities to contribute to plans and our voices to be heard. And also bilas (or bilaterals) — it really helps in alignments and being on the same page with people.
Rarely that we, alone, got it all figured out. That’s why when we work together, we gain different perspectives of the same thing. And that makes solving problems faster.
Whatever happens, it’s our perspective that we have control of. As long as we learn from experiences, it’s all good.
A little help from my teammate, my manager who’s coaching me. Acknowledgement of these things helps me pay it forward to others as well.
And for the most important thing…
That’s what my manager actually said during my 1st week at Avaloq.
Especially during these challenging times, looking at the brighter side of things surely helps.
Thank you everyone! Stay safe and healthy.
The presentation was only 5 minutes long and I had fun sharing it from this side of the world. If any, it was a message of inspiration to make good sense of different situations that we maybe in.
In 2 months, I’ll be celebrating my first year with Avaloq and it’s a new chapter for me. I’ll find out what’s next!
This year is brighter at Avaloq as we’re growing within UX design team and others as well.
See if there is a good fit?
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