When it comes to WordPress themes, there’s a crowded marketplace out there that can often feel difficult to navigate. Yet, at the end of the day, all site owners want to have is a stunning, functional website and an easy path to get there. Sifting through the thousands of themes in existence today is a
In an effort to help the WordPress community grow and prosper as well as expand and add value to the WP Engine Digital Experience platform, WP Engine recently acquired StudioPress. For our customers, this means, in addition to the Genesis framework, they’ll have access to 35 premium themes. All StudioPress themes are built using the Genesis
Today, over a hundred companies celebrated the Day of Understanding, a daylong discussion on understanding within each of their respective companies in order to further embrace difference in our organizations, educate employees, and build more inclusive cultures inside and outside the workplace. WP Engine was proud to take part in this event sponsored by the CEO
Matt Mullenweg delivered the State of the Word in Nashville, Tennessee this past weekend. The speech was almost immediately following the release of WordPress’ new editor, Gutenberg. The editor’s progress and release have been much anticipated by the WordPress community. This State of the Word was the first time Mullenweg had addressed the WordPress community
Are you ready for 2019? More importantly, is your website? Web Week is designed to help you take advantage of low traffic and inactivity by encouraging you to make changes to your site, try out new things, and revamp for the new year. During Web Week, we encourage our customers to take advantage of this
This year, WP Engine partnered with The Lovie Awards to bring Lovie For Good, a project highlighting digital experiences bringing positive change to the world. From an algorithm to promote compassionate leadership to campaigns recognizing the importance of fresh air, these winners are using the
People of all skill levels are welcome to join in contribution to WCUS 2018 Contributor Day. The event will be held Sunday, December 9th at the Music City Center in Exhibit Hall B. Teams include Accessibility, Community, Core. Design, Documentation, Gutenberg, Hosting, Marketing, Meta, Mobile
When it comes to facilitating a truly enjoyable and productive workplace, it takes more than just the promise of perks and ping pong. Employees want their workplaces to reflect what they value and expect out of the company they work for: trustworthiness, morality, and the opportunity to grow both in
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
She explained that the original design of the Internet was driven more by considerations of interoperability rather than security, and as a result we are now faced with almost insurmountable issues. Some examples include online criminals who steal our information, mass bandits who have the ability
Sharing Economy 2.0: Technology is Removing the Need for Single Asset Ownership
The Internet expanded the reach of connecting potential buyers to lenders — and everything else. It gave rise to tech giants like Airbnb and Uber that allowed everyday individuals to monetize their unused rooms, houses or cars. The Internet provided people with more choices — affordable
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Finally, Hathaway sees this as a unique opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world, and with organizations on an extremely local level. “We cannot succeed if our government works in isolation,” she added. It requires “leading from the top” from
Design Thinking 101
Imagine your goal is to improve an onboarding experience for new users. In this phase, you talk to a range of actual users. Directly observe what they do, how they think, and what they want, asking yourself things like ‘what motivates or discourages users?’ or ‘where do they experience
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Unmoderated User Tests: How and Why to Do Them
For extremely large qualitative studies, consider tools which can collect some quantitative measures or which offer automatic transcription. These features don’t eliminate the need to carefully review your recordings, but they can certainly expedite the process by directing your attention to
Banner Blindness Revisited: Users Dodge Ads on Mobile and Desktop
Because desktop ads typically appear at the top of the page or in the right rail, web users sometimes ignore the content placed there. In our most recent eyetracking study, 26 test participants visited the same webpage as they worked on a task to find the best method for removing a label from a
Overloaded vs. Generic Commands
For mobile apps, it's usually a good idea to have an "application home" that users can return to as a safe base after exploring the apps various areas. This is particularly important for content-rich apps, such as magazines or newspapers. Used this way, the "home" button serves as a generic
6 Tips for Successful Personalization
Be cautious with the source of the data used for personalization. For example, when you personalize information by location or role for an intranet, the database that stores this information must be kept up-to-date. We’ve heard several intranet teams complain that they would like to implement
UX Research Cheat Sheet
When deciding where to start or what to focus on first, use some of these top UX methods. Some methods may be more appropriate than others, depending on time constraints, system maturity, type of product or service, and the current top concerns. It’s a good idea to use different or alternating
Store Finders: Why People Still Need Locator Links
FAQ pages are also often an appropriate place to turn users toward the locator tool. For instance, when researching how to print a photo on canvas on the FedEx website, a study participant read through the FAQs for the print-on-canvas service and found a link to the locator within the answer to the
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The Slow Tail: Time Lag Between Visiting and Buying
Dr. Alan Rimm-Kaufman from the Rimm-Kaufman Group recently tracked one million clicks on search ads on Google and Yahoo. These advertising clicks eventually translated into 41,377 conversions on the target websites. Although the clients in question must remain anonymous, they presumably have
When and How to Create Customer Journey Maps
First and foremost, choose the “actor” of the story. Who is this journey map about? For example, a university might choose either students or faculty members, both of which would result in very different journeys. “Actors” usually aligns with personas, if they exist. As a guideline, when
Consistency in the Omnichannel Experience
One study participant was a member of a meal-delivery subscription service. When she received the wrong ingredient in her most recent delivery, she called customer service to complain and also update her delivery schedule over the phone. The representative gave her a credit and adjusted her
UX Guidelines for Recommended Content
Of course, marking items as unwanted or irrelevant is not limited to advertisements. While browsing personalized show recommendations on Hulu, one study participant noticed several reality shows that did not match his interests. He was wasn’t sure why they were recommended to him. When asked what
Journey Mapping 101
A user story map is a visual version of a user story. For example, take the user story above (“As a checking account holder, I want to deposit checks with my mobile device, so that I don’t have to go to the bank.”) and imagine writing out the different steps that the team plans for the user
Smart Hospitals: the Next Step in Healthcare IT
Yet, we already have countless apps and connected devices that collect information about our movements. With the ability to monitor everything from heart rate to the number of steps, blood pressure, and other vital signs, data healthcare providers can make more informed choices about treatment and
Is more IoT driving more cyber attacks?
For general users like us, right now, there are two kinds of cyber attacks: inbound and outbound. Inbound cyber attacks target our smart devices like phones, tablets, or cameras directly. DNS Amplification Attacks are common outbound attacks, with over 80% of family level cyber attacks resulting
Data Lake vs. Data Warehouse: Which Is the Best Data Architecture?
But for most companies embarking on big data initiatives, structured data is only part of the story. Each year, businesses generate a staggering quantity of unstructured data. In fact, 451 Research in conjunction with Western Digital found that 63 percent of enterprises and service providers are
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
She explained that the original design of the Internet was driven more by considerations of interoperability rather than security, and as a result we are now faced with almost insurmountable issues. Some examples include online criminals who steal our information, mass bandits who have the ability
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A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
Why the Gig Economy is Coming for Architects, Engineers
It’s official: The gig economy is coming to construction. While other industries have been quick to adapt to freelance employment, architects and engineers within the construction sector have lagged behind — and that is beginning to change. Here’s why the gig economy is coming for architects
Others | Minimize the Need for Customer Service to Improve the Omnichannel UX
Minimize the Need for Customer Service to Improve the Omnichannel UX
Although web-based customer journeys may seem simpler than the journeys of the past, they can actually be quite complex. Today’s customers interact with organizations across various devices and digital channels. Therefore, to deliver a seamless and uninterrupted omnichannel user experience
Four Bad Designs
My bet for biggest business loss is the content-poor jazz page. Our user testing of product pages shows that people are much more likely to buy when a page answers their questions about its offerings. With virtually no information, it's pretty much guaranteed that this Jazz at Lincoln Center page
3 Design Considerations for Effective Mobile-App Permission Requests
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Venmo for iOS, a cash app for sending and receiving money from friends, shows this screen to users after they’ve declined the permission to access their camera. The text communicates the existing state of access and provides a link to the exact place in the device’s settings where the user can