On this episode, we have Ryana Que, Jaime Hing III, and Dominique Villafuert joining us to discuss "Empathy by Design" and how human-centered tech drives meaningful change.

We dive into the philosophy of human-centered design, where technology is built with the user's real-world context and needs in mind. This episode explores how empathy leads to more inclusive and impactful products, discussing the difference between building something that works and building something that genuinely serves humanity.

How can engineers and designers actively build empathy for users whose backgrounds are vastly different from their own? (Generalization)

Engineers and designers can actively build empathy through immersive research and intentional exposure. This involves moving beyond simple surveys to conduct field studies, contextual interviews, and "shadowing" users in their natural environments. Another effective technique is persona creation that includes socioeconomic, cultural, and technological access details, forcing the team to design for constraints they don't personally share. Furthermore, incorporating diverse users into the testing and feedback loops—not just at the end, but throughout the design process—is crucial for recognizing and mitigating personal biases.

What is one non-obvious example of a product where a lack of empathy led to a critical failure? (Generalization)

One non-obvious example is the early design of some biometric or facial recognition systems that exhibited much higher error rates for individuals with darker skin tones. The failure wasn't malicious, but a lack of empathy in the training data—the developers, often unconsciously, used datasets that disproportionately featured lighter-skinned individuals. This lack of inclusive data empathy led to a critical failure where the technology was effectively less functional and inherently biased against a significant portion of the global population, causing ethical and practical failures.

In the race for speed, how do teams ensure they don't sideline inclusivity and accessibility checks? (Generalization)

To prevent sidelining these checks, teams must integrate them as non-negotiable, automated steps within the development pipeline. This means adopting a "shift left" approach, where accessibility and inclusivity are baked into the definition of "done" for every feature, not treated as a final-stage QA step. Utilizing automated accessibility tools in continuous integration and making compliance with global standards (like WCAG) a core requirement for code review ensure these checks are a fundamental part of speed, rather than a separate hurdle.

What role does thoughtful design play in mitigating the negative ethical or social impacts of new technology? (Generalization)

Thoughtful design serves as the first line of defense against negative ethical and social impacts. It involves proactively considering the "worst-case scenario" or unintended consequences of a product—not just how it can be used, but how it could be misused. By employing ethical design principles (e.g., designing friction to slow down harmful actions, prioritizing privacy by default, and making AI decisions transparent), designers can build guardrails into the user experience. This helps steer user behavior toward positive outcomes and minimizes opportunities for misuse or social manipulation.

On this episode, we have Ryana Que, Waffen Sultan, Paolo Mahomuri, and Josan Astrid Dometita joining us to discuss building for impact beyond the 9-to-5 through passion projects and community-driven innovation.

Not all great tech starts in the office — sometimes it begins as a personal itch to solve a problem. In this episode, we explore how passion projects, volunteer work, and community-driven innovation can evolve into tools that impact citizens, businesses, and government. Hear how simple curiosity, grit, and a desire to help can scale into mission-driven technology with real-world influence.

How open-source and volunteer developers are reshaping digital governance in the Philippines.

The Philippines' digital infrastructure has long been a source of frustration for its citizens, with outdated websites and confusing processes creating barriers to essential services. We explore the BetterGov Movement, a grassroots, volunteer-driven initiative using open-source technology to build a more user-friendly and transparent national government portal. We talk to these civic tech advocates about turning citizen frustration into collaborative action.

Winning isn't the only goal. This episode is for everyone who is nervous about joining their first hackathon. While most people talk about how to win, we're focused on what you can learn from losing. We'll share our own stories of not winning and explain why it's not a failure, but a crucial step toward building new skills, expanding your network, and setting yourself up for future

Highlighting expertise in early-stage product dev, market fit, prototyping, and AI.

On this episode, we have Jon Prado, Grahssel Dungca, Andresito De Guzman and Luis Maverick Gabriel joining us to discuss the tough but rewarding process of finding product-market fit and the keys to early-stage product development in startups, especially those leveraging AI.

Startups succeed or fail on whether their product actually meets a market need. This episode explores the tough but rewarding process of finding product-market fit, especially in AI and tech-driven products. Guests share stories about prototyping, iterating, and pivoting—plus insights on what early teams often miss.

What’s a mistake you’ve made (or seen) in chasing product-market fit? (Generalization)

A common and costly mistake is building too much, too soon, based on assumptions rather than validated customer needs. This is often called "solution looking for a problem." Startups might spend months polishing a comprehensive feature set without properly validating whether customers would actually pay for the core value proposition. This leads to wasted resources and a painful realization that the market doesn't value the complexity. The right approach is to focus on a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to quickly test the core hypothesis.

How does AI change the prototyping and product design process? (Generalization)

AI dramatically accelerates the prototyping and product design process by providing powerful new capabilities. It allows teams to prototype features that were previously impossible, such as real-time personalization, predictive user flows, or complex data analysis. AI tools also enable rapid iteration on design itself by generating wireframes, code snippets, or content variations. However, it also introduces complexity, requiring designers to think about data input, model explainability, and ethical implications from the earliest design stages.

For startups, how do you know when it’s time to pivot vs. persist? (Generalization)

Knowing when to pivot versus persist often comes down to analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) and the conviction of the founding team. You should persist if your core hypothesis is sound, but your execution or market timing is slightly off, showing gradual positive traction. You should pivot if you are seeing continuous low engagement, high churn, or if your customer interviews consistently reveal that your solution doesn't solve a high-priority problem for them. The decision to pivot is generally made when the data shows that the current path is financially unsustainable or leads to a dead-end market.

What’s one tool or framework you recommend for early-stage teams? (Generalization)

The most highly recommended framework for early-stage teams is the Lean Startup Methodology. This framework emphasizes the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop, which is essential for quickly achieving product-market fit. It forces teams to prioritize validated learning over pure feature development. Key tools that support this framework include simple prototyping tools for quick MVPs and robust analytics platforms for accurately measuring user behavior and validating or refuting core assumptions.

Work Smart, Not Harder: The New Rules of Tech

In this episode, we're diving into the ever-evolving world of tech and how our ways of working are changing with it. It's a crucial conversation for the Philippines, where we've seen a slower adoption of new work styles. We'll explore the often-unspoken topics that truly shape a tech career, from the intricacies of corporate politics and how to navigate them with grace, to optimizing working agreements to ensure your team not only collaborates, but also hits its product goals. Join us as we unpack these challenges and share practical insights to help you thrive in the modern tech landscape.

Why the future of innovation depends on understanding what people feel, not just what they do.

Technology doesn’t just solve problems—it makes people feel safe, frustrated, empowered, or excluded. This episode explores how emotional intelligence in design can be the difference between a product’s failure and success. Guests will share how emotions shape adoption, trust, and the user’s overall journey.

It's our anniversary, and we're dedicating this episode entirely to the Kakacomputer community! We're diving into the Spotify comments to read your feedback, shout out your usernames, and share the posts that made us smile. This is your episode, packed with direct audience interaction and appreciation. Thanks for a fantastic year!