Devrims #TechTalk 017: Estela Rueda Discusses UX, WordPress and AI Preparedness

WordPress is thriving because it has a generous community doing amazing things. If you want to see the true spirit of WordPress community in a person, Estela Rueda would be one of them. By profession, she is a WordPress Consultant and User Experience Strategist. However, her work on WordPress.org is worth mentioning. She’s also known for her great understanding of user experience and product design.

In this interview, we chatted with Estela about WordPress community, AI, and her favorite travel destinations. We hope you will love this candid TechTalk with Estela Rueda.

Devrims: Hey Estela, how are you? What’s going on these days?

Estela: Hi, 2023 has been a very busy year for me which I am loving all the way.
Many goals accomplished so far, like being an organizer for WCEU and becoming a speaker in WordCamps. I am so lucky to have friends that help me and support me as they pushed me to finally speak. My talks so far have been focusing around the work we did in the WordPress documentation site. (TL;DR: We recategorized the end-user documentation to improve search and make it easier to understand for non-developers.) Now, I am focusing on the importance of translating that documentation. Look for more about this in the Make blogs in WP.org.

Devrims: How important is a good UX design for a reliable WordPress website?

Estela: If you want to sell your products or services, if you want visitors on your site, you must provide the best user experience that you can. Users will return to your store repeatedly if they can buy products quickly and easily.

Devrims: You are a UX strategist. What are the KPI that one should look for while working on a UX design?

Estela: There are business KPIs, performance KPIs and design KPIs. They should all go beyond Google metrics and help support the business goals of a company, in the short and long period.

For instance, sales conversation may be as valuable as knowing when was the first purchase, which equals to client loyalty, etc.

Devrims: Have you tried CMS other than WordPress? In your opinion what advantage does WordPress have from other CMS that gives it the upper hand?

Estela: TBH, I have only worked with WordPress and SharePoint. I tried Joomla once a very long time ago.
Between WordPress and SharePoint, these are two very different systems for a different audience. Still, I think building websites in SharePoint is unnecessarily painful.

Devrims: How about a rapid fire round:

Devrims: You have been to WordCamps. How important is the role of community in WordPress?

Estela: The community is what makes WordPress what it is. The support and knowledge that everyone shares is amazing, regardless of whether you are helping your competitor. If we can help someone be better, then the WordPress community benefits.

Devrims: Working with WordPress, you know how hosting has an impact on the performance of your website. For you, what are the key factors while considering a Managed WordPress Hosting for your site? 

Estela: I have been with the same hosting for 10 years but if I would have to change now, I would look for performance, reliability and customer support. Of course, the type of hosting depends on the type of website, one has to take into account traffic, purpose, goals, growth, sustainability and location. Cost shouldn’t be a decision factor as there are plenty of hosting companies for all budgets.

Devrims: Can we see your working station?

Devrims: Have you used any AI tool for your UX projects? And how do you think AI will benefit in this field?

Estela: I tried ChatGPT when it came out to write some articles but it turned out to be too stiff. I didn’t like the language. It didn’t sound like me. The articles read more like school papers with perfect grammar then easy-going conversational posts.

I decided to give AI some time to develop, but I am looking forward to trying some of the imagery AI tools out there.

Devrims: You are a traveler. Name a place that has your heart?

Estela: Too many places but at the moment, there are 2. Trieste, Italy: the most magnificent small town in the north of Italy. The other one is Santander, Spain. It’s been said that my family comes from Santander and I have not had a chance to visit it yet.

Devrims: Lastly, name two people that you would like us to interview next, who have helped you in your journey?

Estela: That would be Tammie Lister and Ellen Bauer.