Last week, some of the most progressive marketers and innovative thinkers using WordPress came together at the 2018 WP Engine Summit. Attendees left exhilarated and inspired to push their brands and agencies forward faster. The theme of this year’s Summit was Breakthrough. Insight into the Internet’s most forward-thinking trends like AI, voice technology, AMP, and PWA energized attendees with the knowledge and inspiration to fuel their professional breakthroughs. Additionally, Becky Hammon, Assistant Coach to the San Antonio Spurs, delivered a keynote speech to help ignite personal breakthroughs.
To conclude the Summit, we heard from WP Engine leaders who offered a look into the WP Engine roadmap. This included a look...
Using the new Gutenberg post editor with Revolution Pro, developers and designers are able to create custom, reusable modules for design and content. As we continue to release new block-based themes, we hope users will find it easier to dive into their creative projects more quickly and build
Using the new Gutenberg post editor with Revolution Pro, developers and designers are able to create custom, reusable modules for design and content. As we continue to release new block-based themes, we hope users will find it easier to dive into their creative projects more quickly and build
Diversity has long been an important topic for WP Engine. CEO Heather Brunner often says “diversity attracts diversity.” This means that as a company naturally attracts and retains diverse talent, that diversity is sustained from the inside by employee referrals. Ultimately, the
CSS conversion of my Radio weblog
The hardest thing about the re-design was integrating the tableless CSS design into Radio Userland. I had to do some jiggery-pokery with the Radio Userland templates and macros, and the CSS implementation is not yet complete. I’ve had to temporarily remove my blogroll and topicroll, along
Blockchain in Retail: Changing the Shopping Experience
Examples of blockchain inventory and supply chain management systems include those developed and launched by IBM, Microsoft, and Mojix. These retail-oriented blockchain platforms are set to transform how retailers can align their inventory with end-user demand for an enhanced shopping experience
9 Blockchains Transforming the Way We Pay, Play, and Work
Look past digital currencies’ nosebleed pricing volatility, and you’ll discover a robust, decentralized, secure database. Brands and technologists are quickly figuring out how to put this powerful ledger to good use. Here are several real-world examples that demonstrate cryptos’
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
Unless you have an unlimited clothes budget, it’s unrealistic (and wasteful) to wear a new outfit for every single occasion, yet social media pressures us into it. Rent a Runway solves this tension elegantly by recycling (expensive) clothes across a large set of women. It’s an example of the
a look back at the 2018 wp engine summit
Dot Voting: A Simple Decision-Making and Prioritizing Technique in UX
Once all individuals have voted, participants can converge and discuss the outcome. When dots are used, the content will resemble somewhat of a heat map (with concentrated dots in areas that received most votes). Depending on the goal of the dot voting, participants can discuss why they have voted
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
When they call a regular cab, riders have no control — hence, all the anxieties listed above. With Uber, they suddenly get all the control they need: once they order an “uber”, they see how far away the car is and how much they have to wait, they know in advance how much the ride will cost
Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking
Aggregated empathy maps represent a user segment, rather than one particular user. They are usually created by combining multiple individual empathy maps from users who exhibit similar behaviors and can be grouped into one segment. The aggregated empathy map synthesizes themes seen throughout that
When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods
Most of the methods in the chart can move along one or more dimensions, and some do so even in the same study, usually to satisfy multiple goals. For example, field studies can focus on what people say (ethnographic interviews) or what they do (extended observations); desirability studies and card
Instructional Overlays and Coach Marks for Mobile Apps
When designing tips, coach marks, and any other types of hints for mobile applications, the main guideline to remember is to keep them as short as possible. Focus on primary user tasks or atypical interactions, and design for maximum scannability by using visuals and succinct text. Additionally
Users' Pagination Preferences and "View All"
Pagination is a necessary evil when you have too many items to easily show them all on one screen. Linear content flows — such as articles like this — should almost never be broken up into multiple screens. It’s better to show the full article on one long screen than to inflict the pain of
a look back at the 2018 wp engine summit
Touch Targets on Touchscreens
Lists of links and stacked buttons also often fall victim to touch-target errors because the spacing between the elements is too small. For example, the stacked thin buttons on the mobile homepage of Kate Spade were too close to each other. More space between them would prevent users from tapping
How to Display Taxes, Fees, and Shipping Charges on Ecommerce Sites
US customers are accustomed to shopping online or in stores, so their ecommerce mental model includes the addition of taxes and standard shipping charges at checkout. They also know that taxes and shipping rates may depend on the delivery address. If your shipping charges are not exorbitant
UX Mapping Methods Compared: A Cheat Sheet
All UX mappings have two-fold benefits. First, the process of creating a map forces conversation and an aligned mental model. Second, the shared artifact resulting from the mapping can be used amongst your team, organization, or partners to communicate an understanding of your user or service. This
Troubleshooting Group Ideation: 10 Fixes for More and Better UX Ideas
Adding structure and rules to your session can make your ideation process effective. In particular, parallel design can help you reap the benefits of both individual and group ideation. One way to implement it in an ideation session is to have team members start working on ideas solo for a short
UX Guidelines for Recommended Content
Recommendation engines are now common on a variety of websites and apps, often using some kind of artificial intelligence (AI) to drive personalized choices. With increased reliance on recommendations to direct users to items relevant to them, presenting lists of recommended content clearly, in a
Groundbreaking Tips for Managing Big Data
Big data is the type of data that is characterized by informational and technical features. A huge and ever-growing data volume, variety of data formats and log of records nature belong to the informational aspects. Traditional solutions were no longer suitable for capturing, storing and processing
As Digital Identities Evolve, Data Security Should Too
Blockchain’s distributed and decentralized ledger is the latest innovation in this space. Startups are already leveraging this technology to create and protect transactional digital identities. More importantly, the public is starting to accept this technology. Bitcoin Market Journal estimated
The Internet of Things (IoT): Is your future secure?
We’re currently on the verge of the greatest human evolution possible. Where the shift is from Information Age to the Digital Age. Where intelligent devices can feel the presence of human and ask accordingly. This phenomenal shift is due to a person’s desire to create efficiency, specifically
A Tale of Two Bubbles: Why Cryptocurrency Isn’t the Next Dot-Com
The international scope of this marketplace presents both unique challenges and an array of opportunities. Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, argues that blockchain offers particular value in parts of the world where people can’t yet trust their institutions — places such as Africa, India
a look back at the 2018 wp engine summit
How New Tech Startups Can Differentiate Themselves
You could play with factors related to price and quality as your mode of differentiation. The simplest example here is to offer what your competitors are already offering, but cheaper. If an app typically goes for $5 and you can sell yours for $3, or offer it for free while generating revenue from
7 Critical Time Management Skills to Boost Your Productivity
Finally, it’s important to realize that optimizing your time management skills isn’t a one-time event. You need to constantly analyze yourself and seek new ways to increase your productivity levels. How can you get better? Maybe you need to rearrange your work schedule to better suit your
A Look Back at the 2018 WP Engine Summit | The Roots of Minimalism in Web Design
The Roots of Minimalism in Web Design
The portfolio of designer Brian Danaher is a typical example of what many designers would call a minimalist site. When viewed full screen on a 15-inch MacBook Pro, the homepage is almost entirely white space. The site uses a grayscale color palette with a single bold accent color to draw attention
Simplicity Wins over Abundance of Choice
There is tremendous business pressure to tack on options and features to products as a way to differentiate from the competitors or to remain relevant. In designing any user interface, key decisions must be made concerning the tradeoff between feature richness and simplicity. Deciding the
Top 10 Web Design Mistakes of 2003
For example, the question of good or bad ALT text only arises for sites that care enough about accessibility to have any ALT text. Other top mistakes this year derive from sites that target fast downloads by reducing image size, that maintain good archives, or that have a broad product selection
