An exciting adventure for a new designer at Agoda

Introduction 

About six months ago, I never had thoughts about moving to a foreign country 2,533 km away from home. Other than living with roommates during college, I never lived alone. At least for me, it’s hard to move and imagine a home without my beloved family. Can you imagine the chores your mom usually do for you?

Additionally, this was also my first time working in a big organization of more than 5000 employees—50+ designers compared to 4 in an agency where I was at before.

“Will there be more things to do?”
“Will it mean extra hours working at Agoda?”

Many questions came to mind and these concerns really affected my decision to move to Bangkok. After all, it will be life-changing—making new friends, living in a new city, and forming new memories.

Starting a new life in Bangkok

Thankfully, Agoda’s Onboarding team eased most of my worries. I appreciated how the team comprehensively answered my questions and provided me with all the support I required. I didn’t have to worry much; I just followed instructions provided and I was able to settle down rather quickly. 

I had a lot to prepare before moving to Bangkok. These included tasks such as applying for a work visa, packing and shipping my stuff, and finding time to say goodbye to old friends took time.

I still remember the day I arrived in Bangkok, I was alone with a 30kg suitcase and a 10kg backpack, heading to the apartment Agoda arranged for me as part of the relocation package.

‘What a relief’, I thought to myself when I saw the comfortable apartment I will be staying in for the next month. 

It was still going to be a busy first month—I still had to go for a medical check-up for the work permit application and start apartment hunting for a new place in the next few days. Apartment hunting took the most time as I had to contact several agents and visit more than twenty condos to find a place I’d call home. Thankfully, during work I didn’t feel so much pressure because everyone gave me time to adapt to the new environment.

Working in a big organization

In the beginning, I was surprised to learn that our design team had more than 50 people!

To get to know everyone, my manager gave me a list and suggested that I schedule 1:1s with designers, researchers, and product managers to learn more about their projects. To my surprise, everyone was willing to spend their time sharing with me and I felt so welcomed. I didn’t have to worry about bothering anyone, because it’s common here and everyone is willing to answer your questions and help out.

After these meetings, I built a proper understanding about the structure and working culture in Agoda and understood why our team is huge (Initially I didn’t know why we needed that many on our team). I really appreciated having this time during onboarding to learn more about the Online Travel industry and our products which is a really important foundation for any of my future tasks.

Communication is key

As this is my first time to work in such a big organization, one of my takeaways is that communication and cooperation are going to be your key to success. As we have many designers and product managers working together on the same product, you always have to align with other teammates first to prevent miscommunication and duplicate work. One way is by taking initiative and talking to as many people as possible, because it broadens your design thinking.

Furthermore, it’s also a great opportunity to learn from others—such as business strategy from product managers, and learning how to read a product dashboard from data analysts. It’s also good practice to discuss with engineers often to prevent extra work. 

If you don’t know who to connect with, ask your manager! My 1:1’s with my manager were always a good time to share opinions, ideas and concerns which made my onboarding smooth and easy. We also chat about challenges and solving problems all the time!

Embrace cultural differences and learn from each other

Always be open-minded is my first advice about the Agoda culture. 

As a new joiner, I had a lot to learn—Agoda’s work culture, workflow, scrum, data, and the travel industry. We all need time to adjust to a new environment and working styles. So if you face obstacles at the beginning, don’t get frustrated. I even encourage you to keep a mindset of being willing to make mistakes and to ask stupid questions even after passing probation. You will definitely benefit from this.

Flat hierarchy is another quality I admire in Agoda. It’s easy to reach our design director or any managers. Even though their schedules may be crazy with meetings, they will always find 30 minutes to chat about your ideas—which is exactly how I started writing this article.

I believe you’ve also heard about Agoda being data-driven. But what does that actually mean? I find it interesting, but it’s also a long journey to learn more about it. I consulted my PM about experimentation and found that there were many platforms where we monitor data! I’m still exploring ways to get data more involved in my design, but that will take some time. I’m glad that we have an objective way of measuring results to evaluate if it’s user-friendly or not, rather than following instinct randomly to make a business decision.

Embrace cultural differences and learn from each other

Joining Agoda was a milestone for me—it’s not the end of improving and learning about yourself. In the past five months, I joined several ideation workshops and presentation workshops within the design team where we always find ways to learn new things or sharpen our skills. We also have a monthly design sharing session to sync up with everyone which is also a great opportunity to share your hard work.

Beyond work, I also got to learn Thai and Business English sponsored by Agoda. I found this as a great chance to get to know other colleagues outside of the design team. The teachers were so supportive and great at building your confidence!

I really appreciate the work-life balance at Agoda. Though it can be intense during work hours, Agodans also take good care of their personal lives. After all, we are in the travel industry and the best way to know about our users is through—you guessed it—travel. I’m also planning to take up cooking classes and get a massage, all by using Agoda’s flexible benefits program. Lastly, I would say Agoda really cares about your career progression and mental health. Can’t wait to explore more and share more stories!

A Growing Design community in Bangkok

Before moving to Bangkok, I noticed that there were many creative illustrations and design products from Thailand. My friends always bought me tote bags, stickers, and postcards with lovely illustrations from their trip to Thailand. But what about digital design? I had no idea. Except for Agoda, I’m not familiar with any digital products here, needless to say the design community in Thailand.

I learned that our design team just held a project to build a relationship with local designers through an educational program. We ran a 10-week program for Thai universities and mentored students to create an end-to-end app experience, which benefited both sides greatly. In December, we also sponsored the Savvy UX Summit 2019, an annual UX and insights conference in Bangkok. I’m so glad that our design team was able to emphasize the power of the design community outside of Agoda. I believe there will be more activities in this community, which is a growing power in Southeast Asia.

Inspired to join the Agoda Design team? Apply to join us!

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