Yoast SEO plugin founder, Joost de Valk, shared a critical review of the WordPress user interface (UI), suggesting that its complexity may be contributing to WordPress losing market share to competitors like Wix and Shopify.
The official WordPress design philosophy aims to make the platform easier to use with every new version. Their goal is to design for the “non-technically minded” user, enabling the creation of a fully functional website within five minutes. However, the reality often falls short of this promise. Even Matt Mullenweg, the developer of WordPress, has mentioned that designing with Wix is faster than with WordPress.
### WordPress User Interface Design
Joost attributes the confusing user experience to the current WordPress admin interface, which features three different designs. This inconsistency forces users to navigate each interface separately, complicating their experience. Themes and plugins add their own interface elements, further complicating navigation and usage.
An ideal UI should offer a consistent workspace where buttons and links remain in familiar places across different screens. Joost criticizes the current state, highlighting the discrepancy between the designs of the edit post page, the posts overview page, and the Site Health page. Additionally, plugins introduce their own UI, increasing the overall complexity.
### WordPress is Becoming Outdated and Losing Market Share
Joost also notes that competitors like Wix maintain a consistent UI throughout their systems, which adheres to modern best practices. This contrasts sharply with WordPress’s outdated and inconsistent interface, contributing to its loss of market share.
Joost argues that this poor user interface is driving users away from WordPress to competitors like Wix and Shopify. He emphasizes that a consistent and modern UI is crucial for retaining users.
### Is WordPress Hard to Use?
A key feature of platforms like Wix is their ease of use, attributed to a consistent design system. In 2022, PC Magazine awarded Wix the Editors’ Choice Best of the Year, praising its minimal effort and maximum creative freedom. On the other hand, WordPress did not receive such recognition. PC Magazine’s overview of WordPress acknowledged it wasn’t particularly difficult but noted the learning curve involved.
ThemeIsle also commented that while no coding knowledge is needed to use WordPress, customizing themes isn’t straightforward. This is unlike the visual editing experience offered by platforms like Squarespace or Wix.
### Community Response on Twitter
Joost’s article received a positive response from the WordPress community on Twitter. Users highlighted the need for a consistent design system and the challenges posed by the current mismatched interfaces.
### WordPress Admin User Interface Needs Improvement
The critique underscores a pressing need for WordPress to modernize its admin interface with a coherent design system. Joost’s plea is for WordPress to adopt a standardized design approach that theme and plugin developers can follow, creating a more user-friendly experience.
### Conclusion
Joost de Valk’s analysis calls for urgent improvements in the WordPress admin interface to tackle the platform’s usability issues and retain its market position.
