Over 300 Participants Across the Region Joined a Free Webinar on UI/UX Design. Here Is What They Learned.

Three hundred participants. One facilitator. Three hours. And a subject that sits at the intersection of where careers are being built, where startups are competing, and where the next generation of digital builders in Northern Luzon is finding its footing.

The free UI/UX design webinar held on May 20, 2026 drew over 300 registered participants from across the region, making it one of the more substantial digital skills events the ecosystem has seen this year. Led by Leandro Rey Gepila, a Product Designer and Startup Ecosystem Operator, the session was not a surface-level introduction to a trending topic. It was a structured, practical entry point into a discipline that is increasingly foundational to how digital products are built, how startups compete, and how designers find sustainable careers in the tech industry.

What the Session Covered

The webinar was organized around four content pillars that moved from concept to career:

• Fundamentals of UI/UX design — grounding participants in the principles behind user interface and user experience work, including how design decisions affect how people interact with and feel about digital products

• How to use Figma — hands-on introduction to the industry-standard design tool used by product teams, startups, and agencies worldwide, giving participants a practical skill they can begin using immediately

• Careers in UI/UX — an honest look at the pathways available in the design industry, covering freelance, agency, in-house product team, and startup roles, and what it takes to move from beginner to employable designer

• The effect of AI on UI/UX design — one of the most relevant and least-discussed topics for aspiring designers today, covering how AI tools are changing the design workflow, what it means for career positioning, and how designers can work with AI rather than be displaced by it

The inclusion of the AI topic is worth noting specifically. Most introductory design webinars still treat UI/UX as a static skill set. Gepila's decision to address the AI question directly reflects a more honest and useful orientation: aspiring designers in 2026 are entering a field that is actively being reshaped by AI-assisted design tools, and they deserve to understand what that means for how they should learn and where they should position themselves.

Why This Webinar Reached 300 Participants

The reach of the session, over 300 participants across the region in a single free online event, reflects genuine demand for accessible, practical digital skills programming in Northern Luzon.

UI/UX design is one of the most accessible entry points into the digital economy for students, freelancers, and career changers who do not have a programming background. The tools are learnable, the career market is real, and the work can be done remotely from anywhere with a reliable internet connection, including Baguio, Laoag, Tuguegarao, and every municipality in between. For a region where geography has historically limited access to digital career opportunities, UI/UX design is a field where Northern Luzon talent can compete on equal footing with Metro Manila.

Gepila, as both a Product Designer and a Startup Ecosystem Operator, brought a perspective that is rarely available in a single facilitator: the practitioner's view of what design work actually involves day to day, and the ecosystem operator's view of what startups and employers are looking for in the designers they hire or partner with.

What Participants Took Away

Beyond the knowledge and skills covered in the session, participants received an e-certificate, a practical credential for students and early-career professionals building their portfolios and professional profiles.

More importantly, they left with a framework for a career pathway that many of them may not have seriously considered before the session, a concrete tool in Figma that they can open and practice with today, and a clearer understanding of how AI is changing the design landscape in ways that make it more important, not less, to develop genuine design thinking rather than just tool proficiency.

For the region's growing digital and startup ecosystem, events like this one are part of how the next generation of builders gets its start: not in formal programmes alone, but in accessible, well-facilitated learning opportunities that meet people where they are and give them something real to work with.

Source: Leandro Rey Gepila | UI/UX Design Webinar Series | May 20, 2026