At WP Engine, being “Customer Inspired” is a core value we rely on for our overall strategic vision as well as the day-to-day enthusiasm we put behind helping our customers win online.    

We often solicit customer feedback for our various products and offerings, as most recently seen with our updates to Smart Plugin Manager, our introduction of Atomic Blocks Pro, and the ongoing improvements we’re constantly making to our Digital Experience Platform for WordPress

In addition to all of the above, we’ve also been hard at work over the past few months adding new functionality and design elements to our User Portal, which is where WP Engine customers view their account dashboard, manage their sites, and have full access to our platform’s tools and features. 

Based on extensive customer research—including surveys, interviews, and support tickets—as well as a thorough Heuristic evaluation, our User Portal has been upgraded to reflect a modern look and feel, giving customers a more naturally intuitive way to interact with WP Engine. This first step in our update includes: updated navigation, left design alignment, improved account level visibility and search capabilities, as well as new design elements that make the portal easier to use and more accessible for all of our users.  

WP Engine’s updated User Portal provides a modern design and easier workflows which will serve as the foundation for future experience enhancements

As mentioned above, additional updates were made to the portal that focused specifically on accessibility to make sure all of our users are able to navigate the portal with ease. 

Accessibility-specific updates that were made to the portal included changing the background to a clean white display with enhanced contrast so that content on the page is more visible. The font style and density were also made thicker and larger, so text is easier to read. 

Additionally, the portal’s overall navigation now has improved screen reader support, including keyboard navigation, which is essential for those with motor disabilities and non-sighted users.

“We’re really proud of these updates,” said Keith Fafel, Senior Director of Product at WP Engine. “Our overall goal with these updates was to emphasize the user aspect of our User Portal. Customer feedback played a key role in helping us zero in on which updates to pursue first, and the technical evaluations we did helped us make sure these updates were as user-friendly as possible.” 

Customers who helped us test out the new features in beta were also pleased with the updates. 

“Your platform is amazing for people like me,” said Pierre Lawson, Founder at Wallstreet Jackboyz. “The number one thing that I immediately noticed when logging into the updated version was the layout. The new design makes it so much easier for me to dive right into my website to get to work.”

While we’re certainly excited about these new updates, we’re by no means finished. We’ll continue adding new features and functionality as well as accessibility-focused improvements to the WP Engine User Portal over the coming months, so stay tuned.  

If you have specific feedback you’d like to offer our team—about the User Portal or other WP Engine products and services—you can do so via our newly created user research group.

Interested in finding out more about WP Engine? Check out our plans page here, as well as this TCO analysis, which explains why more people prefer to build their WordPress sites with WP Engine as opposed to other, generic web hosts.