Don Norman debates John Maeda of Automattic, the company behind WordPress

Don Norman debates John Maeda of Automattic, the company behind WordPress

Don Norman debates John Maeda of Automattic, the company behind WordPress

In January, world-renown executive, designer and technologist, John Maeda, and a team of 25 people from Automattic joined Don Norman and the UC San Diego Design Lab for a spirited debate. Automattic is a web development corporation that powers about 25 percent of all websites – the largest of any of the content-management systems. Maeda serves as the‎ global head of computational design and inclusion at Automattic, which has 520 employees in over 50 countries and is currently valued at over $1 billion.
Reflecting on the debate, Don Norman said, “It’s always a delight to talk with John Maeda about the nature of design and how it should be moving. To John and me, design is more than making pretty things, design is a way of thinking and approaching significant problems in society.”
While Automattic is most known as the company behind the free blogging service WordPress.com, it is also the company behind WooCommerce, Jetpack, Simplenote, Longreads, VaultPress, Akisment, Gravatar, Polldaddy, Cloudup and many others. Automattic was founded a belief of making the web a better place and their goal is to democratize publishing so that anyone with a story can tell it, regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or where they live in the world.
 About John Maeda:

Maeda draws on his diverse background as an MIT-trained engineer, award-winning designer, and executive leader to help businesses and creatives push the boundaries of innovation in their markets and fields. As an artist, his early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining computer programming with traditional artistic technique, laying the groundwork for the interactive motion graphics that are taken for granted on the web today.

Maeda holds MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering + Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from Arizona State University, and a PhD from University of Tsukuba in Japan. He was the recipient of the White House’s National Design Award, the Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award for STEM to STEAM, the Blouin Foundation’s Creative Leadership Award, the AIGA Medal, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Price, the Mainichi Design Prize, the Tokyo Type Director’s Club Prize, and induction into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame.

Maeda is an internationally recognized speaker and author; his books include “The Laws of Simplicity,” “Creative Code,” and “Redesigning Leadership.”  His talks for TED.com have received cumulative views of over 2 million to date. Maeda previously served as Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), a world-leading venture capital firm. He was also previously a Full Professor and Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Lab in which he worked on advanced user interface and experience design.

Maeda is currently a board member for Sonos Inc (the leader in high fidelity wireless audio systems), Wieden + Kennedy (the world’s last independent global advertising agency), Google (advising the Advanced Technology & Projects group), and Cooper Hewitt (advancing the Smithsonian’s mission to place design at the center of the nation).

In January, world-renown executive, designer and technologist, John Maeda, and a team of 25 people from Automattic joined Don Norman and the UC San Diego Design Lab for a spirited debate. Automattic is a web development corporation that powers about 25 percent of all websites – the largest of any of the content-management systems. Maeda serves as the‎ global head of computational design and inclusion at Automattic, which has 520 employees in over 50 countries and is currently valued at over $1 billion.
Reflecting on the debate, Don Norman said, “It’s always a delight to talk with John Maeda about the nature of design and how it should be moving. To John and me, design is more than making pretty things, design is a way of thinking and approaching significant problems in society.”
While Automattic is most known as the company behind the free blogging service WordPress.com, it is also the company behind WooCommerce, Jetpack, Simplenote, Longreads, VaultPress, Akisment, Gravatar, Polldaddy, Cloudup and many others. Automattic was founded a belief of making the web a better place and their goal is to democratize publishing so that anyone with a story can tell it, regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or where they live in the world.
 About John Maeda:

Maeda draws on his diverse background as an MIT-trained engineer, award-winning designer, and executive leader to help businesses and creatives push the boundaries of innovation in their markets and fields. As an artist, his early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining computer programming with traditional artistic technique, laying the groundwork for the interactive motion graphics that are taken for granted on the web today.

Maeda holds MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering + Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from Arizona State University, and a PhD from University of Tsukuba in Japan. He was the recipient of the White House’s National Design Award, the Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award for STEM to STEAM, the Blouin Foundation’s Creative Leadership Award, the AIGA Medal, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Price, the Mainichi Design Prize, the Tokyo Type Director’s Club Prize, and induction into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame.

Maeda is an internationally recognized speaker and author; his books include “The Laws of Simplicity,” “Creative Code,” and “Redesigning Leadership.”  His talks for TED.com have received cumulative views of over 2 million to date. Maeda previously served as Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), a world-leading venture capital firm. He was also previously a Full Professor and Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Lab in which he worked on advanced user interface and experience design.

Maeda is currently a board member for Sonos Inc (the leader in high fidelity wireless audio systems), Wieden + Kennedy (the world’s last independent global advertising agency), Google (advising the Advanced Technology & Projects group), and Cooper Hewitt (advancing the Smithsonian’s mission to place design at the center of the nation).

In January, world-renown executive, designer and technologist, John Maeda, and a team of 25 people from Automattic joined Don Norman and the UC San Diego Design Lab for a spirited debate. Automattic is a web development corporation that powers about 25 percent of all websites – the largest of any of the content-management systems. Maeda serves as the‎ global head of computational design and inclusion at Automattic, which has 520 employees in over 50 countries and is currently valued at over $1 billion.
Reflecting on the debate, Don Norman said, “It’s always a delight to talk with John Maeda about the nature of design and how it should be moving. To John and me, design is more than making pretty things, design is a way of thinking and approaching significant problems in society.”
While Automattic is most known as the company behind the free blogging service WordPress.com, it is also the company behind WooCommerce, Jetpack, Simplenote, Longreads, VaultPress, Akisment, Gravatar, Polldaddy, Cloudup and many others. Automattic was founded a belief of making the web a better place and their goal is to democratize publishing so that anyone with a story can tell it, regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or where they live in the world.
 About John Maeda:

Maeda draws on his diverse background as an MIT-trained engineer, award-winning designer, and executive leader to help businesses and creatives push the boundaries of innovation in their markets and fields. As an artist, his early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining computer programming with traditional artistic technique, laying the groundwork for the interactive motion graphics that are taken for granted on the web today.

Maeda holds MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering + Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from Arizona State University, and a PhD from University of Tsukuba in Japan. He was the recipient of the White House’s National Design Award, the Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award for STEM to STEAM, the Blouin Foundation’s Creative Leadership Award, the AIGA Medal, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Price, the Mainichi Design Prize, the Tokyo Type Director’s Club Prize, and induction into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame.

Maeda is an internationally recognized speaker and author; his books include “The Laws of Simplicity,” “Creative Code,” and “Redesigning Leadership.”  His talks for TED.com have received cumulative views of over 2 million to date. Maeda previously served as Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), a world-leading venture capital firm. He was also previously a Full Professor and Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Lab in which he worked on advanced user interface and experience design.

Maeda is currently a board member for Sonos Inc (the leader in high fidelity wireless audio systems), Wieden + Kennedy (the world’s last independent global advertising agency), Google (advising the Advanced Technology & Projects group), and Cooper Hewitt (advancing the Smithsonian’s mission to place design at the center of the nation).

Read Next

Design Lab Interaction Design Scott Klemmer Mobile Web Application

Students Participate in Interaction Design Final Project Showcase

In March, UC San Diego faculty, students, and industry guests gathered to experience the final…

Uc San Diego Design Lab Design At Ucsd

Design at UCSD Students Reflect on Summer Internships

This past summer, several members of the Design at UCSD leadership team landed incredible internships alongside leading…

UX Design Tips From Experience Designer Emilia Pucci

UX Design Tips from Experience Designer Emilia Pucci | Design Chats

Emilia Pucci, Design Lab Designer-in-Residence, shares some useful tips on User Experience Research and Prototyping.

Design Chats is a video series where we sit down with design practitioners to answer questions about how they utilize human-centered design.

View our Design Chats playlist on the Design Lab YouTube Channel

Don Norman speaks on The Future of Design at the New School of Architecture

A crowd gathers as Don Norman prepares to speak on the Future of Design at the…

Nazima Ahmad is Putting People Over Profits by Connecting Art and Design at the Design Lab

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that our communities are more important than ever. The pandemic has changed the ways in which we experience and perceive community—sometimes even causing us to feel that it has vanished. The past two years have been an uncertain time for those involved in the arts, with many creative professionals being impacted by dwindling audiences and interest. Nazima Ahmad, a Designer-in-Residence at The Design Lab, noticed the crumbling connection between artists and consumers and sought to find a way to mend it. Working with fellow designer Michelle Hoogenhout, the two were able to come up with City Canvas, a concept developed in collaboration with the Arts and Commission Department of the City of San Diego that won the 2020 SCALE San Diego Urban Innovation Challenge that works to make connecting with local artists easier for San Diego residents.

“Working with the city on that project was all-around trying to figure out how to promote the creative economy of San Diego,” says Ahmad of the goal of the project. Not only was the project a great success at Design Week, but it is also what led Ahmad to The Design Lab.
Don Norman

Design a Better World, with Don Norman

UX Cake kicks the season off with a fascinating conversation about changing the world with design, with Don Norman.

"There are really creative people in all these communities. And there aren’t enough experts to go around anyway. What we want to do is go around the world and find these people and facilitate, help them, empower them, give them expert knowledge and allow them to decide how to apply that to their problems." - Don Norman
Back To Top