Welcome to Automattic Women—conversations with some of the remarkable women working all over the world to design and develop Automattic software and make the web a better place. Today’s interviewee is designer Christy Nyiri.
Who are you, and what do you do?
I co-lead the WordPress.com Special Projects design team at Automattic, where we aim to showcase the best of WordPress. We’ve worked on some pretty exciting sites, including the redesign of PRINT Magazine (a very humbling honor!).
What’s a typical day like for you?
I’ll generally be deep in any aspect of the project life cycle, whether it be wireframes and content strategy, design direction, high-fidelity mockups, or QA (quality assurance). I also have a background in web development, so I’ll often jump in to help with troubleshooting other projects our team is working on; I love any opportunity to get my hands dirty with code or CSS!
What drew you to Automattic and what keeps you here?
On my team, I get to enjoy an agency-style variety of projects with the benefits of being at an established tech company. We’ve grown three-fold (!!) since I started two years ago, and I’m proud of how we’ve refined and matured our design processes, and continue to do so, as our team scales.
Automattic is also just full of thoughtful, helpful people who are super friendly (and often very funny). It’s inspiring to make work friends with designers from all over the world, and to give/receive fresh-eyed feedback on our unrelated projects. You’re also welcome to give input on any other products at the company, and I must say it feels pretty cool to see your own suggestions reflected in WordPress core.
What’s your favorite non-work activity?
I am a huge nerd for karaoke, to an “I’m not actually a great singer” degree, but also to an insufferable “I will wholeheartedly encourage anyone and everyone willing to sing” degree. (I’ve got a lot of opinions about karaoke etiquette, and cheerleading is a must-do!) Before I moved to NY, my friends and I used to host a weekly night in Vancouver, as well as make our own karaoke videos. To me, singing is akin to therapy, and nothing feels quite as cleansing as belting out a chorus at the top of your lungs while the entire bar sings along.
(And it just so happens that my favourite karaoke bar is a very convenient five minute walk from the Automattic NYC office… 😉)
Visit Christy’s website or connect with her on Twitter (@nyiriland) or LinkedIn.
That’s it for this edition of Automattic Women. Follow Developer Resources and Automattic Design to meet more great women of Automattic. And if you’d like to do more than just read about these great people, consider working with us! Join our team of diverse, global perspectives building a better web, and connect your career to the power of Open Source.
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