New data.blog is here: Designed for Discovery

I’m excited to announce that the new data.blog is now live! This is the first visual/UX/logo/color refresh since the original site was built 10 years ago.

Why the Redesign?

Our original data.blog was like a brilliant but cluttered data scientist’s desk. Valuable insights were everywhere, but it was not always easy to find what you needed. After analyzing our metrics and discussing usage behaviors (yes, we practice what we preach!), we identified two key opportunities:

1. Enhanced Navigation and Discoverability: The original layout hid the search bar and categories, making it hard for visitors to find relevant content. Our recirculation rate showed a 12% recirculation rate compared to benchmarks closer to 20%.
2. Modern Design: After 10 years, it was time for a visual refresh to reflect our changing data community.

What’s New?

Working with the Automattic Special Projects ✨ team, we’ve implemented key improvements to enhance the site’s usability:

• Prominent Search Bar: No more searching for the search function. It’s front and center.
• Improved Category and Tag Pages: A better‑organized taxonomy helps you discover related content.
• Cleaned‑up Taxonomy: We’ve updated our categories and tags for more intuitive navigation. An upcoming post dedicated to this process will explain more.
• Enhanced Team Page: Improved visibility for our community of authors.
• Gravatar @mentions: Hover over mentions to see Gravatar profile, enhancing the sense of community.
• Fresh Logo and Design: A contemporary look that better represents our data community.
• Random Sorting on Tag Pages: This improves content discovery beyond traditional alphabetical sorting.

This Is a Place for All of Us

Ultimately, what makes data.blog special isn’t the design or functionality — it’s the content and the discussions. This platform belongs to our data community, and I’m hoping the redesign will inspire:

• New authors to share their distinct data journeys and insights.
• Existing authors to contribute fresh perspectives and stories.
• Everyone to explore the site and discover valuable content.

What’s Next?

We welcome all feedback, especially on navigation and discoverability. 

After over a year of planning and building, I find it incredibly satisfying to see this vision come to life. The project’s success will be measured by our strengthened community, shared knowledge, and the conversations we spark together.

I hope you enjoy the new data.blog as much as we enjoyed creating it! Explore the site, share the fresh insights you discover, and reach out in the comments!