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Cory Watilo
Experienced Web and Product Designer
Cory Watilo is the Lead Designer and self-described "PostHog.com Webmaster" at PostHog, a position he has held since January 2021.2 Here are some key details about Cory:
Professional Background
Cory is an experienced product designer and entrepreneur with a focus on web products and user interfaces.1 His career highlights include:
- Co-founder of Brightback (acquired by Chargebee in 2020)
- First designer at Heap (acquired by Contentsquare in 2023)
- Co-founder of Preact (acquired by Spotify in 2016)
- Consulting work for companies like Kelley Blue Book and Carvana
Current Role and Responsibilities
At PostHog, Cory is responsible for:
- Everything visible on PostHog.com, including design, copy, and some front-end code
- Future visual direction and UX of the product
Personal Life and Interests
- Cory and his wife lived in an RV, traveling full-time from 2018 to 2021 before settling in Tampa, Florida.12
- He has a daughter named Reverie (nicknamed Revi) born in 2020.3
- His primary mode of transportation is a golf cart.1
Design Philosophy
Cory values a balance between design quality and efficiency. He believes in:
- Allowing team members to make direct changes to the website without a linear approval process
- Maintaining high design standards while embracing the "bias for impact" core value at PostHog
- Adapting to necessary changes that solve problems, even if they temporarily disrupt the design aesthetic4
Cory's LinkedIn username is indeed corywatilo.2
Highlights
Even if you don't need a data processing agreement with PostHog, you should probably still go try our DPA generator. Absolutely zero fun was had here. 🙃
https://posthog.com/dpa
We gave (most of) PostHog.com a 'lil facelift last week. Here's what changed:
• Site-wide dark mode (finally!) • New nav structure (geared around multiple products) • More color • Better community focus
I'm a big fan of how it turned out. Some before/afters: 🧵
Homepage
The new buttons have a nice 3D effect that makes them feel super clickable and releases a ton of dopamine onClick.
And now, of course, dArK mOdE!
Also featuring some fun new graphics in things like Hogflix thanks to @LottieCoxon. 🤌🏼
Docs
The docs navigation was getting unwieldy with how much we're shipping. (Not a bad problem to have...)
Now we have a clear subnav format that splits platform features (Product OS) from individual products.
Everything now has a place.
Community questions
A live feed of recent questions makes this section feel more alive, and the new icons (courtesy of @iconists) make it really pop.
Team page
This used to be a page in the handbook (and was one of the last remaining holdovers from when I first joined in the beginning of 2021).
We now have a grid of faces, and you can click through to a team member's bio. (Every community member has a bio now!)
Mobile, while still not perfect, has seen a ton of improvements.
Previously there was a (literal) hamburger menu at the top. It's been replaced by a fixed bar that's anchored to the bottom of the viewport (with relevant subnav). This makes things significantly easier to tap.
Other parts of mobile have been improved, too. For example, the homepage "slider" (on desktop) used to be individual slides, navigable with a select field. It's now an accordion - much more elegant and user-friendly.
And there's plenty more to come soon:
• Updated homepage • New "Posts" section that will aggregate everything we write about on the site (blog, tutorials, community spotlights, changelog updates) and things we share on Substack, Twitter, etc. • New dynamic open graph images
The site will never be finished, but I'm proud of where it's come.
Big shout out to Eli (our front end developer and Gatsby export) for the assist with this crazy project. (400 commits touching 400 files in 3 weeks, without blocking team updates to docs/handbook.)
More shout outs:
• @LottieCoxon for the great artwork that gives us a personality • @iconists for a great set of fresh icons to work with • @tailwindcss which made iterating in code a breeze • @james406 for the freedom to be creative and take our time with this one
💪
