Rebranding, redesigns? Viki had already gone through a few of them by the time Howie Chang was brought on board to head UX and design (rather, redesign). In the tiny subset of designers within Singapore's still-small startup community, Howie had some fame. But working alongside him on tough projects was still a revelation. I just read an article titled "Execs Who Can’t Attract Former Coworkers Are Red Flags." I agree, and especially so on the implied reverse of "Execs Who Can Attract Former Coworkers Are Keepers." I'd happily work with Howie again.
Last Friday I had the fortune of attending a Hackers & Painters talk titled "Shipping - Principles Worth Pondering" by Howie. Here are five things I learned from him:
- Personal growth is uncomfortable. Howie plucked himself from a comfortable role at Viki and moved into the tangential area of Product Management in an industry he wasn't familiar with (online groceries). But I could tell he had grown his skills just in the months I haven't worked with him - in part because he had to in order to thrive in the new environment.
- Reading is also useful. He quoted a lot of wisdom from books and articles. Startup folks understandably value actual experience and execution, but we often forget to supplement our growth by reading.
- Asking is a great way to know. Howie emailed e-commerce experts questions he couldn't find answers to. This sounds so obvious, but we don't do it enough.
- Empathy is key. It is tough to build things or provide customer service for things you don't care enough for.
- Patience is underrated. In our instant-gratification world where concepts like 'agile' are trending, being patient helps puts things in perspective, especially over the longer-term, and in retrospect.
The talk was recorded in full, so instead of reproducing all the content, here are some lovely quotes from him:
- Product Managers are servants and exist to serve tech / business / UX. Some can't wrap their head around that, but it's the truth.
- E-commerce is like a return to mom-and-pop shops because these online stores offer a personalised experience.
- Major on a major. Ignore verbal abuse of a few strongly opinionated people who write in but instead focus on what pains most users.
- Going mobile first is a great way to build the simplest thing that can possibly work.
- Be humble always. Less ego goes a very long way.
And one of my favourites, having seen two sides of the Product Management role by now: "You ship what you have, not what you want."
In response to my question of how he earned trust and respect of teammates who had been at RedMart for much longer than him, his tips were simply everyday things like giving them a ride because he drives and they mostly don't - "we're dealing with humans after all".
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Photos by Michael Cheng
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