akismet – Dan Hauk

February 3, 2015June 17, 2016

Reflections on meetups

A big perk of working for Automattic is the meetups. A couple times a year each Automattician gets the chance to meet up with colleagues in various places around the world. The location can be anywhere from Utah to Hawaii to Cyprus.

At the time of writing, I’m sitting on a flight returning from the annual Akismet team meetup. This year we chose Destin, FL as the location. Over the past week we have spent time invaluable time together, and I wanted to share some thoughts and experiences on what makes these weeks so special.

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January 23, 2015January 23, 2015

Akismet in Destin, FL

Last week I spent a week in Destin, FL for our annual Akismet team meetup. Since everyone at Automattic works remotely, teams get together once or twice a year to get some face-to-face time. This year we all converged in Destin, Florida. The resort where we stayed was really nice, with a small village of … Continue reading Akismet in Destin, FL

December 31, 2014March 31, 2015

Designing a new checkout page for Akismet

A product’s checkout page is one of the most important things for both the user and the product team. It’s important for the user because it’s the page that will instill trust in the product. It’s important for the product team because it’s the last barrier of acquiring those users and all-important revenue.

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December 2, 2014June 17, 2016

Akisbot lives!

Our story starts in March 2014. Akismet needed some stickers to hand out at a spam conference. So I took an earlier concept by my partner in swag, Nick, and updated the design. What I designed would subsequently create an entire world where good and evil robots battle for victory over the Internet. Ok, so … Continue reading Akisbot lives!

May 31, 2014June 17, 2016

Akismet Goodies

For a while now, my colleague Nick Hamze and I have been in cohorts developing ideas for Akismet swag (aka promotional items). Mostly stickers on our own dime and one-off things he makes in his home created with my designs. All for fun. About two months ago Nick came to me excitedly saying we were … Continue reading Akismet Goodies