Binate Thoughts

I was fortunate to give a talk at the Page Builder Summit last week. In my presentation, I shared a summary of my thoughts on the subject. I have many ideas about this topic, and having the chance to organize them into a talk was a valuable opportunity for me. I wanted to share these insights as a reference for myself to revisit as my understanding evolves. I also hope to spark a conversation with others, so please feel free to reach out.

You can read the script here or go watch the video at end. My slides are also available with all notes here. As this is a transcript, expect it to be written as someone would speak.

Page builders are powerful—but right now, they’re walled gardens. Every tool has its own way of doing things, its own patterns, and its own limitations. What if instead, we built with portability in mind? This is building with the lego principle at heart. Today, I want to look at both the current situation, the good and the not so great of page builders and then look at how this can improve. How looking at systems, such as lego builders can create where something is used on one builder but easily portable – using a common language, a system. 

In part this is about having import/exports, but it goes beyond that. It isn’t about making every builder the same—it’s about giving them a common language, while still leaving room for unique features, design choices, and creative flair.

Building smarter, together

It’s not about having more pieces—it’s about building smarter, together.

As I explore in this talk I am going to share both the principles of play and lego’s core values, looking at how they might apply to page builders. Before though. Let’s have a look at the current state of builders and analyse where we are.

These thoughts are my own and come from someone that has both worked in core and with builders, editors over a decade. This talk is illustrated thanks to AI and a few moments of pondering by imperfect lego pieces. Because our current state is imperfect. The hope of this talk is we can together perhaps start to find a better way to build.

An editor is a tool or program to create, modify, and manage digital text or content. On the other hand, a page builder is a visual design tool, often a plugin for platforms like WordPress, that allows users to build web pages without writing code. It typically offers a drag-and-drop interface for structuring content and customizing the appearance of pages.

Let’s start with some definitions.

Well, that is a definition, but what does it mean? In this case, I think of jobs to be done and what people want to achieve. An editor is something to ‘edit’ content, and a page builder is to visually create. Now, this all gets rather interesting when we are creating visually complex content, which we want more and more from our pages. Typically, the definition falls around simple writing, laying out the page and adding styling. Forming the entire page is ready to go to press, so to speak.

This means there is absolutely a place for editors and page builders; both should be companions. It also means that you don’t want to use a page builder for every single task, something we all too often forget when using them.

Why use a page builder?

Historically, a page builder was used for a few reasons. They include so you didn’t have to learn code and often to typeset a page or form apart from the content. This process has been known since the first digital publishing began from Quark to the site editor—we think like this separation. Even before setting the printing press page was done, it made sense. It gives us superpowers, weapons to use against content blocks.

Today

Today, we have an editor, a block editor, and a site editor at the core. That is a great foundation, but what about other page builders? What is the current state at the core and then in those? Let’s look at both and then move on to see how we can devise a way out of some of the problems we might find in reviewing.

WordPress itself has a fully baked site editor. It has all the pieces you would expect. It has templates and a visual composing element – a way to style. You can add blocks to form a page. However, it is more of a foundation for a page builder, not where or what many need from one as a total solution. This is why when I talk about it, I talk about it as an opportunity for page builders to use and build up from. In the future, this will be key in the conversation; I am not proposing that it is the way or that each page builder should only follow that path. They will have their own approaches and ecosystems, which isn’t bad, as they are trying to achieve different things. The foundation has everything you need to build any page builder and natively gain advantages such as upgrading. There is, of course, some refinement and work to do, but it has raised what to expect from a builder and eased some of the baseline.

Today in page builders

Beyond the core foundation, the world of page builders is vast and wild. Each often does their own thing. However, they do many things; you can achieve so much that your heart won’t desire to do anything else. Whatever design you want – there is a page builder that can achieve it. There is also a tutorial showing you how to do it. You can animate until your heart is whole and get themes and templates to suit any site. Most also have entire marketplaces of plugins and services to boost your site.

Most page builders are like superpowers, and many, as a result, can be overwhelming to start – that’s why many have extensive onboarding, even courses and guides. They allow you to do things you have no ability to do in code and then some. You also can create that site you have in your mind once you know the system, in theory, fairly easily. Note the use of varying words here – because, all too often, that’s a bit of a promise until you get good at the system, but that can be learnt. However, until then, they usually come with boundless amounts of templates, themes, and kits to give you a solid path to your vision without complicated work.

There is a downside to all these choices. Users have almost too many choices, often going with a recommendation or option they know over the option that works or fits the purpose. They also usually overdo the experience because they can, throwing animation upon animation just because it is there. You can easily get tired of scrolling through all the beautiful options. They are amazing, but finding the one you know will work for your market is the issue.

The reality is that many require you to know WordPress and that page builder interface on top, so why would you then move from it? Many people end up in that ecosystem silo. On top of that, import and exports can be rough between systems with incompatible styling and formats – even finding someone to help with porting can be a hard task or cost-prohibitive.

A shared foundation

So, is the answer using the core as a shared foundation? Well, spoiler, it won’t be as simple as that, but it is a start. Having a shared foundation is key, and using the site editor components makes a lot of sense. Note I say components. You can pick or choose how little or much you use. There is a point in saying this is often overlooked when talking about being native in your approach. You don’t have to follow the same pieces or look the same in every aspect. Perhaps you are a page builder for a specific type, or you are only using components with a strong visual difference; the point is having that foundation and gaining from it.

Are we there yet?

But, it’s not quite so simple yet – things never are.

It should be the answer, but it isn’t quite there yet for most builders. More and more are using it as their foundation, but before we look at this a bit more, let’s consider where we have come. It started with an editor; then it grew into a site editor. Note that this is a site editor, and with caution, I would call it a page builder. It is, if anything, a page builder light—it does enough, but that’s where builders can and should come in.

There are patterns and a growing system of interface elements to use, from stylebook to design tools, and most, if not all, features. We have a start—a very good beginning—but we need to collaborate to get the rest of the way.

Not quite baked

The reality is that the vision of the site editor has yet to be fully realized, and that includes features like responsive controls and other key pieces builders need. This makes it hard for many to fully place bets on it from a product perspective. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a foundation today and build on top of it, which is the recommendation I would make.

So, could the future state of page builders simply be that they are layered on top of the core? I actually think this is the most likely scenario and one that makes the most business sense. You take as much—or as little—as useful for your case and build natively to the point where you don’t.

But why would you not do this? The point is most of these fears actually can be answered by taking the modular, take a little but not all approach.

Beyond the foundation

In simple terms, the Lego principle can be shared and reused anywhere, but it can go deeper. By looking at Lego’s brand values a little more, we can start to think about how we can grow beyond that. We will do that a little later in this talk.

The Lego Principle: a call for a shared foundation across page builders where patterns, components, and styles can be created once and used anywhere—without the headaches of reformatting, re-styling, or re-learning.

A need for page builders

With that goal in mind, what is the need today for a page builder? We have to be real and consider this. Today, the needs and expectations are different from those of the past. It is no longer good enough to lay out pages. You need impactful design, often demanding animation, but more than that, supporting a wide range of options is necessary. You need to develop pre-existing templates that are out of the box. But more than that. You need performance and to create sites that, from the start, rank well. You also need to have sites that meet high standards of accessibility even with the latest styling and everything thrown in – which is quite an ask. A page builder has a high standard to meet nowadays. People are very aware they have options and demand those to be met. The quality of editors and experience of the interface people feel should come as standard is drastically higher than it was even a year ago. This is good because it means we have increased the quality of our creations, but it doesn’t make creating builders easy.

AI elephant

And then there is the AI elephant in the room. AI is not just a sprinkle on top. It is an expectation, not just an additional layer anymore. People expect generative—although we can argue if that is even AI and not a workflow. There is also a conversation about when this comes into the mix: Is the builder even the interface, or is the search and the conversation? 

It is heading towards the point where the page builder of expectations is more and more minimal. The mind-reading ‘make it as I see it’ is not WYSIWYG, but make it as I say it. People may still want to edit text, which often comes from generated or imported. Or they want to speak to edit. Where this is going can be speculated, but it certainly isn’t back to the grab handle builders of the past dragging to grid points. The focus will be less and less on the experience of building and more on the experience of what the end content should be. Let me clarify that the interface of the building – moving pieces into a screen area to place and modify – matters less in this fluid space where things should more or less be generated around the copy or first passes made based on predictions from conversations you have with agents.

Builders of today

How do we move forward in this space and start to think about principles, rules, and building page builders today? Let’s look at Lego. In doing that, I want to look first at the Lego principles of play and core values. From there, we can see how these might apply to page builders today and perhaps come up with some suggested principles for page builders.

Lego principles of play

1. Limited in size without setting limitations for imagination
2. Affordable
3. Simple, durable, and offer rich variations
4. For girls, for boys, fun for every age
5. A classic among toys, without the need for renewal
6. Easy to distribute

This is quite a set of principles. It doesn’t quite fit, but it is pretty close. 

How about we add a few adjustments to see if that could apply to page builders in the WordPress space?

Page builder principles of play

1. Able to scale without limits without boundaries
2. Affordable
3. Simple, durable, and offer types for every purpose
4. For everyone, no matter what ability
5. Works no matter what WordPress core updates happen
6. Easy to implement

Well, this works, right? We want them to scale and be used across any site you want to build. Affordability, no matter what site you want to use, makes a lot of sense and often is one of the issues you can hit. Being simple, durable and having types for every purpose is also key – again, you are learning an ecosystem in a builder. A key point seems to be that it should also work no matter what update, which would suggest being more native in the foundation and easy to implement – without too many tutorials or even lengthy wizards.

This feels like it’s heading in the right direction, but Lego has more than its principles of play. Also, page builders are more than a set of playing principles. I want to look at Lego’s core values because, as a product, it does exactly what most page builders need to do. In doing this, let’s see how these builders can adapt their approach beyond working better.

Imagination: Encouraging children to use their imaginations through free play.

This first core value is one we often overlook within interfaces. I see it all too often ignored in builders and even core. We guide someone too much to something and don’t allow them to free-play to discovery. When someone discovers how to do something and learns by doing, it is much more powerful than just being clicked there.

Creativity: Promoting the ability to come up with new and valuable ideas.

Giving space for flair, combining styling within boundaries, and coming up with incredible designs are the best page-building experiences that can be had. Note the point about boundaries. The blank page problem or having too many options is real. If someone can design badly, that’s your fault as a creator of the system in part as much as the person who combined the colours that clash or the animations that make people dizzy and unable to use the site. There is one thing to allowing exploration and another to make it too easy to create bad visuals.

Much of this is about guiding to good design, the best possible styling and outcomes.

Fun: Ensuring that play is enjoyable and engaging.

Fun in page builders is launching, and that dopamine hit of success. An interface has to be fun to encourage you to use it, and I’m not talking unicorns and sparkles—although sometimes those don’t go amiss. It has to promote and make you go into curious George mode and explore. 

A massive part of the experience of a page builder is exploring. There must be a safe space that encourages you to wonder ‘what if’ and ‘ponder journeying’ into combinations.

Learning: Facilitating learning through play and engagement.

Exploring is good, and page builders and Lego should teach you things. We forget that part of these interfaces is to create better experiences for the end user, not just to satisfy us with animations or stakeholders with the latest trends. The best builders have nudge guides and deliver optimization baked in. They level up whatever you produce because they encourage good decisions in what you create.

Caring: Demonstrating concern for children, people and the environment

This one is where you might not see a direct point to page builders, but it relates still to products of all types. It is up to those creating these products to be responsible in their interactions in the communities, for those that work, and also, in general, for their communities. After all, most have communities because that is what happens with page builders. They also need to be careful about their output. Think about performance, the weight, and the cost of their results.

Quality: Maintaining high standards in product design and manufacturing.

This final one in the Lego core values is probably at the top of any list. Having the latest animation library or a fancy template is good, but it’s pointless if you can’t deliver that well. The reverse is also true: You might have an incredible interface but boring, bland templates that don’t serve any purpose.

Lego brand values

So those were the core values, but just as I close this section, looking specifically at what we can learn directly from Lego’s values they uphold. I want to consider their brand itself. It splits into four promises to consider for any page builder and the company that forms around it. A page builder is great, but if you have one, you need to think of the ecosystem you will have, the partnerships, how you position, and how you even grow from that point. Looking at the promises, Lego gives us are incredibly fitting for any page builder right now in open source.

Play > people > planet > partner

The promises are play, people, planet and partner.

These promises from Lego couldn’t be more fitting for any page builder. Why? Well, let’s consider them. Yes, some repeat from the core values, but they distil nicely into a takeaway over going deeper. I also like the idea of a partner as a focus; it couldn’t be more fitting in this space.

Play: discovery through play over a click-and-nod onboarding is far better. Any interface that allows playing well and learning through this empowers.

People: succeed and grow together. A place where everyone can succeed and grow together. Celebrating differences. For example, a11y and also multilingual.

Planet: Be sustainable and responsible about what is created, including the ecosystem.

Partner: mutual value creation. With other page builders and hosts. This is also about partnerships for page builders with different plugins and services. For example, being able to offer a ‘one-stop’ solution for a particular niche to click and go with amazing templates is what customers expect now.

Learning to evolve

Lego is a fairly simple line to draw functionality-wise for anything from blocks. Block to block, after all. It goes a bit deeper than that, though; the company’s core values and principles go beyond the block and are something we can learn from in how we create page builders. Another thing we can learn is evolution. Lego has evolved from generation to generation, offering solutions that work across all ages, not just settled. At the core, though, is that one brick connects to one brick. However, that one brick might connect to another to make a bunch of flowers or a Darth Vadar helmet, a pirate ship or robot with lights, an entire street from Paris or a work of art.

The page builders of the future

To truly evolve, page builders need to look at their working spaces. One size isn’t going to fit all anymore. That is one of the biggest things that needs to change. We need to have specific builders for tasks that thrive doing that. Customers want this; they are often way too overwhelmed by the ‘does everything’ experience we have come to deliver in our products.

Core first, not last

Often, one thing that stops someone from suggesting a product feature goes into core means they feel they will lose a competitive advantage. If core has a strong foundation, you can build up from there. Many companies today are seeing that approach more and more and benefiting from it. They are contributing and sponsoring people to work on extensibility, interface, and the design system. This work needs to happen to raise all product ships. 

I know it often feels like, “Why bother?” but seeing a customer able to move between solutions, make real choices, and not feel stuck is genuinely open. Seeing understanding from the start across interfaces is empowering. Also, when you have less foundation to maintain, you can make incredible differences, and I am excited about what this could free up in product roadmaps and maintenance schedules.

Being more lego

By being more Lego, page builders can not only look to have a unifying principle and value system that means they connect together but can also be understood better by everyone who uses them. This can only benefit the ecosystem. Lego works—it just works—people understand the concept. People also respect and value the company. 

This isn’t about just being more Lego bricks clicking into click. This is about learning how to have core values and how to look at creating page builders from now on with solutions at the heart. The future of builders is they deliver solutions. They are the advisors, the guides to the content. Delivering the perfect solution each time in companionship with the site maker. This type of builder is the way things need to go to compete. It doesn’t do it with just a different interface or more templates. Yet another way of doing things just confuses people in the long term; they need performance, conversion, and goals met.

Unlocking creativity through simplicity

The future of page builders will likely be very bright if they evolve just like Lego has. That’s the key to their survival, though, and one I am curious to see happen. I look forward to what the next builders will be. I am excited to see how, unlike the interfaces that haven’t worked consistently in usability testing, the next ones deliver for the jobs customers really want to do.

 The future isn’t walled gardens; it’s a choice. It’s a shared foundation but with different solutions, a range of builders that suit purposes and deliver for those. Customers want the right decisions, and that’s where the future lies in creating products that meet those. That’s a choice; someone can design once and build everywhere if they want because they know how the system works then. Like through simplicity, Lego unlocks creativity, and page builders can do it.