Product Design Lead at Voyager Innovations and Founder of DysineLab
The user interface team at Chikka has managed to incorporate a vital step in the design process. Before, sketches and wire frames were sidestepped in the process of developing web products. Now we have shared the knowledge with product developers that those are important in every project.
(more…)In November of 2009, Chikka was bought by Smart. I was only a year young in the company. Changes were for the better. Progress is always good.
During the latter part of 2014, Chikka began merging under Voyager Innovations. Our little pail of water world was suddenly thrown into a pool. Work became more challenging. Stepping up became a necessity for survival. Changes were for the better. Progress is always good.
On this day of October 2018, the pool is overflown. KKR and Tencent invest in Voyager Innovations. The future is brighter than ever. The now, more exciting with challenges.
This is a watershed moment not only for Voyager Innovations but also for the Philippines. With this investment by KKR and Tencent, we will trigger an inflection point in digital adoption and financial inclusion in the country. Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO of Voyager Innovations
Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO of Voyager Innovations
Throughout my career, I’ve met and worked with a class of talented people in the tech industry. Mentors and coaches have imparted invaluable lessons that are ingrained in my leadership values.
Changes are for the better. Progress is always good.
Our team in Chikka has officially joined Voyager Innovations!
Voyager Innovations, Inc. is part of First Pacific and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) focused on delivering disruptive innovations for the rapidly changing world.
In today’s world, the products we sell, how we do things, the way we are structured, the networks, systems and platforms that support us are all changing and evolving. Voyager Innovations, Inc. is the strategic response to the changing needs of the communities. We are an organization that is positioned for the future new business streams & evolving business models.
It’s coming together – the ultimate plan of Smart to wipe out the culture of Chikka. Well, it’s not deliberate I guess but that’s the effect of the new business direction that we’re headed. You should well know that recently, PLDT bought 10% of Rocket Internet. If you don’t know Rocket Internet, it’s the parent company of Voyager — just look at the similarity of their names and logos! Exploring the depths off this planet thru a rocket and stuff.
Just kidding. Rocket Internet is the biggest copycat there is on the face of the interwebs. But the good thing about it is that it brings internet products and services to developing markets like our country. If you ever got rescued by Easy Taxi during your morning commute towards a big boss meeting, you have Rocket Internet to thank for that. If you applauded Zalora or Lazada by their prompt delivery of that cat double bed you ordered, applaud Rocket Internet. We in this developing country need not wait for Amazon to cater to us – Rocket Internet’s business model is built this way. They will bring Amazon to our doorstep but in a different packaging under a different name. You may call it fakery, unoriginal, imitation — or class A if you may but what more can you ask for? They are serving us iPhone 6 just weeks after it was released in public. Otherwise, telcos will offer it a day before Apple releases yet a new version.
This is the reality that we’re in now, the business model of Rocket Internet is being adopted by Smart – putting Voyager in the place of Rocket Internet. Voyager will incubate ideas – a new one or an existing one and it will be spun into the hands of an “independent” company. In case you’ve noticed the quotation marks, you might have sensed my sarcasm. The independence of a company isn’t simply rooted to it’s differently-incorporated name. It’s not even in the effectiveness of it looking like it has sprung from bright ideas and hard work without any backing from big shots. It’s effectiveness lies behind its culture – it’s years and years of built-in traditions, values, and principles.
When a parent company suddenly barges in with all these new business directions, they would be like two giant feet trampling over ants mound. People and everything they built will be disturbed — some will run around like headless chickens. It will spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. Sometimes C-H-A-N-G-E spells the same. But let me be clear — change is good especially for a very stagnant and antiquated product development company like Chikka. Development is best for everyone especially in the view of sustainability and progress. But the balance between upholding a company’s culture and introducing development to it is very delicate — tip one side over and you get a very people-centric company and tip the other side over, then walls come crashing down on them. In this situation Smart did it poorly. Two giant feet.
This is all about business but the people are a company’s greatest asset. Or are they?
Recently, the design team is conceptualizing on a new Chikka Text Messenger branding. As you very well know, the phone and mouse icons aren’t up with the times already. Mobile phones have shed its antenna and keypad; the mouse, well pretty much some still look the same.
Chikka Text Messenger or CTM helps Filipinos abroad communicate thru SMS with their families and friends here in Philippines (PH). Basically, if you’re abroad, you text your mom (in PH) thru CTM app using Wi-Fi or data then she receives it as plain SMS. But if she’s also using CTM app and is online, then she receives the text thru the app like instant messenger.
We started the branding redesign by this square icon:
From here, I simply extracted the message balloon. The resulting icon, also shaped like an ear, embodies communication from end to end – you speak and the recipient listens and vice versa.
It was a very early morning at 10 a.m. I was half asleep, half awake when a phone call jolted me from sleepiness. The signal inside the apartment was so weak that I went outside to answer the call. It was an invitation from Chikka for an interview.
A mere seven months ago, I resigned from a night-shift job and ventured onto the mountains – equivalent to working freelance without a clear business plan. The offer from the other line was a real wake-up call for me to set focus once again into designing for the web. The position being offered was quite new to me – User Interface Designer. I said that as long as it’s on a senior level, I was interested.
(more…)Karin Alody Chan was part of Chikka Design Team as front-end designer. She has graduated from the position and currently pursues web design. This is her essay from an exit interview.
Working with Chikka Design Team has given me an opportunity not just to grow in terms of career but also with personal development.
Before I started working at Chikka, I didn’t have any confidence with my design and front-end skills because I know that I was a bit behind with all the new stuff that has been going on with the design industry, but because I’m passionate with what I do, I decided to challenge myself to be open to new things.
Everyone in the team has their specialization and common knowledge when it comes to UI/UX but this didn’t hinder them to learn new things and make design as a lifestyle. I like that we’re open to discussion and our team lead wants us to be innovative. I felt like I was in college because of the environment – in college we were trained to have the courage to talk about our design ideas and be able to defend our designs – like every detail should have a purpose and not just design something and put it in an empty space as filler. That’s what I felt with the team.
I am grateful that I was part of it. What I learned is that being humble is the most important thing you need to have if you’re working for a company because we learn to admit to ourselves that we’re not right all the time. I know there were times that maybe I try to defend my designs too much but it has taught me that sometimes it’s okay to just listen and accept other people’s perspective.
I think that this is, so far, the best team I have ever been to. I hope everyone the best of luck in the near future.
The year was 1998. The place, Taft Ave., Manila. Clad in plaid shirt and my khaki slacks were accentuated by a brick in the left side pocket. It was a Nokia pre-5110 model (similar to the one pictured below). I took it out of my pocket, extruded the antenna to gather some signal and called my mom.
“I just finished the exam,” I said with a sigh of relief.
“DLSU Engineering, here I come.” I smugly slid back the cellular phone into my pocket.
No doubt that kids are attracted to pretty graphics. That’s why my grade 3 classmate who owned a personal computer was more popular by owning a Gyromite device with his Nintendo.
The PC screen was black and white and sported a keyboard and a dot-matrix printer. We used it to type and print some school papers. Then we’d trade NES game cartridges and play ping-pong on their dinner table.
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The mouse in the house came a little later in ’95. It had a ball that gathered dirt. And yeah, the PC screen was colored already and said Windows 95.
We might feel that technology is leaving us behind especially if we try to keep up with it. But just like the phone and mouse, they simply evolve into more functional tools – the mouse lost its tail – the phone dropped its antenna and dissolved physical buttons – but they are still the phone and mouse we use to communicate with someone and control something, respectively (or soon interchangeably).
Maybe one day they will be totally transformed into something that we won’t recognize anymore (as compared with the pictures) — that’s how evolution goes as far as survival is concerned – you adapt and evolve or you simply perish and be forgotten.
Chikka created the world’s first instant messenger for online chat to integrate mobile features via SMS. In 2000 the very first version of Chikka Text Messenger™ was tested for launch by its very first mobile operator partner Smart Communications.
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It’s Chikka’s 14th anniversary today. Just a mere 2 years after its inception, I was jamming with Luna – simply unaware that one day I would be part of this solidly Filipino company.
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