Matt is the founder of Wordpress, a highly acclaimed and open-source blogging platform that is quickly up a strong position in the market. He is also a partner at Verve Creative Partners, a 2 year old web design firm in Huston, Texas.

In my discussion of current topics in the web, I asked him about several topics of my personal interest, discussed the future of the web, and of course WordPress. However, throughout the whole conversation (of only 20 minutes) the most important question, and more so the answer to it, was:

"What do you believe are the 3 most important skills for someone who wants to get into web design and development?"

The skills that Matt thinks all up-and-coming web folk are going to need are...

Communication

He stresses the importance of being able to speak to clients. Not only to sell them, but to be able to educate them. Also, to be able to deal with not only clients, but other team members is essential. A big part of running Verve and Wordpress has simply been talking with people and mitigating disputes and tempers. Part of communication, that came up later as we talked, is also being able to give useful critique - and take it in return. Critiques are a vital part of working on the web, get used to it.

Standards Compliance

Matt truly believes that the future of web is embedded in coding and designing with web standards such as XHTML, CSS, Semantics, Validation, XML, 408, WAI, and other such facets. He practices what he preaches too - his website, his software, and his company all run sites that are compliant and up to specification with standards. I have to agree with him on this too. Standards are smaller, faster, easier to update, more compatible, and more accessible than previous methods of coding. Having lived the XHTML/CSS dream for something around a year now, I can whole heartedly agree with him on this point.

User Experience

The final thing that Matt believes is important for new comers to learn is about understanding the user experience. By being able to place yourself in the users shoes, and being able to step away from the design&programming of a site, you will be able to create more effective and compelling sites - not to mention more useful. This is a whole field of study for many people called a number of things from 'Information Architecture' to 'User Experience' or 'Human Computer Interactions'. Regardless of the title, having an understanding of how people will use and interact with your site will help you to build a better one.

One last thing, actually

The other important thing I got from this interview was how important networking is - inside, and outside, your own industry. Matt himself admitted that, "at one point my programming skills were becoming quite mature, but my designs had reached a plateau." At that point he got together with Greg Thibodeaux, originally a print designer, and they began Verve. He also spoke about how contacts in fields like usability and information architecture really helped him mold and improve Wordpress in ways that he never would have on his own. Each instance an example of how important it is to make contacts.

Meeting Matt was, to me, what it must be like for a 13 year old girl to meet Britney -- but with a lot less screaming. Seriously though, it was a pleasure to talk with some one on the leading edge of where the internet is going.