Last week, WP Engine employees from our Limerick and London offices came together for the bi-annual All Hands event in Limerick. All Hands is a 2-day event where employees come to engage with, collaborate, and strategize with employees from other offices. This year’s theme was “Boldly Go” in honor of the famous sci-fi sagas Star Wars and Star Trek. In addition to discussing goals for the upcoming year and new strategies for success, the team took moment to have a good time.
Events on the agenda included team lunches, Q&A sessions with executives, information sessions, and a company party with a talent show. Next week, employees in US offices will come...
At the end of September, we held our 2018 WP Engine Summit in Austin, Texas. Last week, agencies, brands, and digital innovators from EMEA came together in London for the WP Engine EU Summit. Attendees discussed the future of digital experiences, Gen Z’s perception of the Internet, and the
Next, in a series of lightning talks, Steven Moy, Chief Technology Officer at R/GA (US), showcased real-life use cases of world-class digital marketing and communicating a way that is culturally relevant. In one example, Moy referenced the branding of A/R Jordans. To remind the young
WP Engine was proud to take part in this event sponsored by the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion. Each company was encouraged to customize the events during the day according to the needs, nature, and geography of its workplace. At WP Engine, multiple company-wide workshops were held in
JS-Kit Score: Turn Your Site into a Localized Digg
Of course, because this is the only page on ReadWriteWeb that is running a Score widget, it won’t have any data on which content is the highest rated site wide. But the ease of installation is what really catches the eye. JS-Kit is building a suite of tools for web publishers that are modular
The Future of Blockchain: Technology Partnerships with AI, Bots, and IoT
With more companies looking to undertake digital transformations, cities have also started considering what this same process might mean for key issues related to infrastructure, crime and security, energy consumption, and social issues. As The Hill explained, “Smart cities can reduce
JS-Kit Score: Turn Your Site into a Localized Digg
Widget provider JS-Kit has released their latest widget this morning, Score. Score adds a thumbs up/thumbs down-style ratings widget to any page content, and then aggregates the data across the entire web site into an info box that can highlight a site’s top content. It can also integrate
Marking Required Fields in Forms
Both these sites used the asterisk to mark required fields: UPS (left) displayed the asterisk at the end of the label and USPS (right) showed it at the beginning, in red. Showing it at the beginning in a different color makes it slightly easier to identify the required fields, which may prove
wp engine all hands spring 2019: emea
Better Link Labels: 4Ss for Encouraging Clicks
Notice that this quality of good links is last in the list. Concision is important, but it must be balanced with the other priorities (specific, sincere, substantial) in link-label writing. There is no maximum word count for links. They can be as long as they need to be to achieve those other three
Experience Design: Bridging Brand Intention and Brand Interpretation
Designers extended these elements to create user interactions that aligned with Google brand attributes. The dot animations that reflect the “expressions” of listening, thinking, replying, incomprehension, and confirmation not only serve as a way to indicate system status (remember, this is one
Mobile: Native Apps, Web Apps, and Hybrid Apps
Maintaining a native app can be complicated not only for users, but also for developers (especially if they have to deal with multiple versions of the same information on different platforms): Changes have to be packaged in a new version and placed in the app store. On the other hand, maintaining a
Beyond Usability: 3 User Experiences Reshaping Their Industries
Airbnb makes it easy to satisfy the needs of these travelers by connecting them with owners who want to make an extra dollar by renting out their property. Before Airbnb, sites such as Home Away and property-management agencies used to connect owners with interested renters, but these were focused
Instructional Overlays and Coach Marks for Mobile Apps
The Makr iPad app uses a series of tips each time the user reaches a new section of the app. Unfortunately, these tips are overly wordy, and present a multi-step workflow before the user has been able to do anything. Rather than learning-by-doing, users must memorize all of the steps before being
Applying Discounts and Promotions on Ecommerce Websites
Shoppers love deals, whether in the form of site-wide sales, select sale items, or coupons. However, for users to be successful using promotions, a website must do two things well: (1) it must communicate these various promotions effectively throughout the site, and (2) it must also make it easy
wp engine all hands spring 2019: emea
Why Personas Fail
To avoid this pitfall, you must include the persona end users in the process of creating personas. Invite stakeholders to sit in on a research session. Send out a daily recap of the activities undertaken to create the personas. Help people see how your research uncovers the customer segments early
Does User Annoyance Matter?
Knowing a better design exists made it painful to sit, day after day, and watch users fight with the mouse to scroll through the huge menu. Sometimes users selected the wrong menu option and then had to waste even more time with the drop-down. And, in this study, we mainly tested young, able-bodied
Variable Fonts and Wide-Screen Layouts: Adopting Data-Driven Progressive Enhancements
But a cautious approach to trends doesn’t mean rejecting all innovation. We’re picky about which bandwagons we join, choosing only trends that provide true UX value. Less scrolling and more content for large-screen users is a clear winner. And although variable fonts are not yet widely adopted
Using Prioritization Matrices to Inform UX Decisions
If the outcome of the prioritization activity has significant repercussions, build additional rigor into the process. For example, have team members rank their voting dots (for example, by writing 1, 2, and 3 onto their 3 dots). When placing their votes, team members must determine the weight of
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
In an Experiential-Obsessed Marketplace, Surkus Uses Tech to Stand Out
This sheer volume helps every activation under Surkus’ umbrella — as its base grows, so does its data collection. This enables Surkus to give first-timers a head start by giving them insight into what’s worked well for similar types of events or which types of audience members responded best
What Does the Repeal of Net Neutrality Mean for Your Data Security?
Repealing net neutrality is part of a larger ongoing shift that includes new technology and revolutionary ways to use the Internet. With this shift, decisions need to be made about data privacy, human rights and personal freedoms. For the time being, it is important to protect personal data by
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
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
wp engine all hands spring 2019: emea
Business Loan vs Equity Financing: How to Fund Your Startup
On the other hand, the investors don’t simply walk away from your business after offering the capital. In fact, in most cases, the investors have an active role in mentoring you through building your business. They become part owners of your business and will subsequently have a word in how you
What Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs can Learn from the College Admission Scandal
Being authentic doesn’t always come naturally in the business world, especially when you’re a startup and your small size works against you. Most entrepreneurs recall a moment where they need to connect an early customer to the accounting department, only to hand the phone to their co-founder
WP Engine All Hands Spring 2019: EMEA | Flat-Design Best Practices
Flat-Design Best Practices
Google’s Material Design, which has been around since 2014, took an admirable stab at this concept. The best thing about Material Design was that it defined a carefully considered framework with specific rules, behaviors, and visual properties. Unfortunately, it’s not always implemented
Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design
Links that don't behave as expected undermine users' understanding of their own system. A link should be a simple hypertext reference that replaces the current page with new content. Users hate unwarranted pop-up windows. When they want the destination to appear in a new page, they can use their
Ensure High Contrast for Text Over Images
A well-chosen visual adds interest and can set the tone of a website, in addition to (hopefully) conveying some meaning. Eyetracking research has shown that people are attracted to information-carrying photos, when the images are related to the user’s current task. (If instead the images appear
