Matt West’s Blog

Tag: Automattic

  • Sketching For Communication

    Sketching For Communication

    I shared some thoughts over on automattic.design about how I use sketching to communicate ideas in my day job working on WordPress.com.

    While design tools like Figma make it easy to assemble polished mockups using a design system, high fidelity can sometimes work against you—making ideas feel too refined, and limiting open-ended feedback. Sketching, on the other hand, invites collaboration. A rough, hand-drawn sketch feels more flexible, encourages broader discussion, and often leads to new and unexpected ideas. Here’s how I use sketching to communicate design ideas when working on products at Automattic. Read more

    How Sketching Helps Me Develop Ideas
  • Studio: The fastest way to build WordPress sites locally

    Studio: The fastest way to build WordPress sites locally

    This week we launched Studio, a local development app that makes it super easy to spin up WordPress websites locally. Under the hood Studio is using WordPress Playground to run sites without the need to install a bunch of other dependencies (no Docker!). The app is free to use and open source.

    Studio was one of my first big projects since joining the WordPress.com team at Automattic. It’s part of a renewed focus on building great developer tools that make WordPress.com the best place to host your WordPress sites.

    The team moved really quickly on this one. This initial release is the result of just a few months of work by a small team. We have a lot of ideas for where to take Studio next, but want to hear your feedback! What would you like to see in Studio?

    Get Studio

    Studio is currently available for macOS, with a Windows version coming soon.

  • Hello Automattic

    Hello Automattic

    This week I joined the WordPress.com design team at Automattic.

    To kick things off I flew out to Munich, Germany 🇩🇪 for the annual WordPress.com division meetup—how about that timing! It was a little overwhelming to begin with, but ended up being the perfect way to start.

    Working remotely makes it harder to get to know the folks you work with. So Munich was great opportunity for me to hang out with the WordPress.com design team and get to know the engineering teams I’ll be working with a bit.

    After getting a glimpse of what’s planned for WordPress.com, I’m fired up and ready to get stuck in.