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 since Gutenberg’s release just two days earlier.
Mullenweg began the talk by offering the audience a perspective. “With so much going on, I’d like to give WordPress a chance to reintroduce introduce itself,” he said. “WordPress isn’t a physical thing, it’s not a set of code. It’s kind of an idea. It only exists in...
Every year it can feel like the holidays sneak up on us. We assemble, we strategize, and we take the necessary precautions yet we frequently feel like we are scrambling. For ecommerce businesses, this time of year is crucial not only for generating revenue but for generating recurrent relationships
Heather’s leadership at WP Engine has been instrumental in helping the company build an enduring, predictable business, particularly after a key investment from Silver Lake last January, as well as the recent acquisition of StudioPress. Heather also heads a diverse leadership team and has
In 2015, WP Engine opened our first global office in London as a physical representation of our desire to expand our team of WordPress specialists and better serve our customers globally. Since then, we’ve worked hard to create a workplace that is collaborative, productive, and fun. Today, we
Decentralized P2P Lending Services vs Networks
As a result, borrowers can earn more than interest on deposits and other investment products offered by banks, and borrowers can get a loan with lower interest rates. That’s even taking into account the commission of the P2P lending provider itself, which it charges for its services of bringing
5 Real Life Blockchain Implementations Outside of Cryptocurrency
Medicalchain aims to use blockchain technology to securely store medical records. Using a distributed ledger for healthcare is a godsend as it allows doctors, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacists, and health insurers to have more immediate access to health records, which could help save lives
The Future of Blockchain: Technology Partnerships with AI, Bots, and IoT
Consumers can receive more transparent product information so they know exactly what they are buying and more about its origins. Smart contracts keep retailers honest about what they are doing, which builds trust and holds everyone to a higher standard. Additionally, the AI mechanism collects
The Impact of Tone of Voice on Users' Brand Perception (Nielsen Norman Group UX research)
Participants in both phases of the study agreed that Alpha (the auto-insurance sample whose tone profile was playful and informal – see Table 1) was friendlier than the more serious sample, Beta. (In the online survey, Alpha was rated as friendlier by a difference of 0.3 points ± 0.2 on a
recapping the state of the word 2018
Image-Focused Design: Is Bigger Better?
Comparing the new Southwest Airlines homepage to its previous design clearly illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. Like many airlines, before it was redesigned, the Southwest homepage had become cluttered with different promotions and programs. The background image was
Marking Required Fields in Forms
Most users, however, will not bother to look around — they will simply make assumptions. They will say – “Well, phone number – they don’t really need my phone number, do they? Maybe I’ll leave this blank”. And even if they don’t leave it blank, having to pause to decide whether a
Confirmation Dialogs Can Prevent User Errors (If Not Overused)
Saying these 2 items doesn’t tell users which files will be deleted. In contrast, the single-file confirmation shows the name of the file, as well as some supplementary info that’ll help the user determine whether the right file will be deleted. (For even better usability, display a thumbnail
Group Form Elements Effectively Using White Space
You might be wondering, "if proximity is such a problem, then why not place the labels inside the text fields?". Don't be tempted. When you place the labels inside the text field as filler text, the label disappears when users input their text and they must remember it as they fill in the field
Placeholders in Form Fields Are Harmful
In this pattern, labels are placed within the form field as placeholders until the field becomes active and the user moves the input focus into the field. At that point, the placeholder label moves to the top of the field. As a result, the floating label (also known as an adaptive placeholder) is
3 Design Considerations for Effective Mobile-App Permission Requests
Since the implementation of the GDPR requiring unambiguous consent for EU citizens, some app developers have begun implementing dark patterns to nudge users to agree to their permission requests. In some cases, app developers try to couch a permission request as an informational dialogue (like in
recapping the state of the word 2018
Popups: 10 Problematic Trends and Alternatives
Wait to present the content in the popup until it’s contextually relevant to the user. Use the reciprocity principle: give value to your visitors before asking them anything — whether it’s requesting an email address, or even the action of dismissing the popup. Run user testing to identify
In-Store & Online: Designing For the Changing Behaviors of Today’s Shoppers
Despite the observed change in shopping behaviors, we do not mean to suggest brick-and-mortar shopping is dead. On the contrary, real-world locations are still an important shopping channel. Their relevance in the retail ecosystem is simply changing. People still want to go to the store for many
Exhaustive Review or "I Can't Believe It's Not There" Phenomenon
In our 2009 “Eyetracking Web Usability” book we described exhaustive review as “unconstructive combing of pages and menus.” Exhaustive review happens when people are confused because the page content or the page UI violates users’ expectations. Only when users think that the site is the
5 Strategies for Presenting UX Remotely
In-person presenters can afford to have a slide that easily melds into the next. When you’re not in the room, giving a clear purpose to each slide will direct focus to your key concepts. Let’s face it: remote audiences are more likely to multitask (for example, by checking email or browsing the
Beware Horizontal Scrolling and Mimicking Swipe on Desktop
Even if people do notice cues for horizontal scrolling, they may not want to risk loading content that they cannot predict. Content hidden by a horizontal scroll is at a disadvantage because even salient visual cues don’t offer strong information scent: users can hardly guess what information
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, a variety of data formats and a log of records nature belong to the informational aspects. Traditional solutions are no longer suitable for capturing, storing and
The Biggest Hacking Risk? Your Employees
Just as importantly, HR representatives must be aware that negligence isn’t the only cause for an internal data breach. In fact, a significant number of cybercrimes are inside jobs — at least 22 percent, according to Shred-it’s report — so HR personnel should be on the lookout for
3 Tips to Convert a Data Science Internship into a Job
Transitioning from an internship into a high-paying career is hard. In the data science world, the competition for employment is intense. While there still are a lot of unfilled roles out there, most of them require something slightly more than just a textbook education. The best way to make the
How to Save Money Filing Patents
For example, in Size Appeal of Novalar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-4977 (2008), the SBA Size Determination Board determined that an “affiliation” with an individual minority stockholder (a venture capital firm) transformed the otherwise small medical device startup company into a large
recapping the state of the word 2018
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
4 Ways Early Stage CTOs Can Learn to Roll With the Punches
Internally, you’re the company’s technical guru who can handle anything from a QuickBooks installation to the beginning stages of product development and management. Don’t be surprised when you learn there’s no one else around to set up G Suite calendaring and payroll software
Recapping the State of the Word 2018 | Change vs. Stability in Web Usability Guidelines
Change vs. Stability in Web Usability Guidelines
Take, for example, the guideline to avoid splash screens. The best-selling Web design book in the 1990s strongly advocated splash screens, which is why I had to campaign so strongly against them in 1999. I don't bother mentioning splash screens in my current courses, however, because no decent
Page Parking: Millennials' Multi-Tab Mania
Growth in the number of browser tabs over time during one usability-testing task. The currently active tabs are shown in blue. Red represents tabs that have been closed by the user; those tabs were thus no longer present in the browser’s tab bar. In total, the study participant employed 12
Changes in Web Usability Since 1994
The dominant Web look in 1994 was a mixture of gray text and large images, as shown to the right (screens from a comparative study of sites in 1994). This has certainly changed: We have better layout capabilities and many designers have learned to minimize their use of graphics and save download
