I’m Dave Smith

I’m a product leader, helping design and engineering teams build things people want to use. I also teach WordPress on YouTube. Most of all, I’m a husband and dad of two.

What do I actually do?

I’ve spent almost 20 years building for the web, the last eight at Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce.

My work sits between product and engineering. I run user research and testing, build working prototypes in code, write the proposals that turn them into plans, and lead delivery through to launch.

I ❤️ open source

I’m a long-standing contributor to WordPress, one of the world’s largest open source projects and the software behind more than 40% of the web.

I’m also a core committer, one of a small group of people trusted to add code directly to WordPress. I review and approve other contributors’ work as well as my own, and help decide what goes into each release.

I’ve been using AI to engineer, design and get more done since the early days, well before most of the industry caught on. Now it’s part of almost everything I do.

  • Rapid explorations that become testable prototypes.
  • Parallel engineering streams, so work gets done faster.
  • Offloading repeatable tasks, so my attention goes on the most valuable work.

Teaching what I learn

I’ve been explaining the web for a long time, first in Smashing Magazine and .net magazine, and now on YouTube.

My channel, DaveOnWP, covers what’s coming to the block editor, hands-on tutorials and prototypes of ideas for making WordPress simpler. Together the videos have been watched around 150,000 times.

And when I’m not working?

We live in the South West of the UK.

Whenever we get the chance, we load up the van and head off, around the UK or over to Europe.

I’m also a keen mountain biker.

And I’m a musician. I have a degree in music and play the trumpet, the guitar and, yes, the ocarina.

Line drawing of our van on a road through rolling hills, with a mountain bike on the back, a guitar on the roof, music drifting from the window and four birds overhead

Say hello

Whether it’s a speaking request, a guest spot, a question about a project or a new opportunity, I’m happy to chat.