People first
Before any code, I learn who the problem is hurting and what a good day looks like for them. When things go sideways, I say so plainly.
About me
Nineteen years of solving problems, people first.
I'm Matt Pritchett. I solve problems with software and systems, and I keep people first while I do it.
I'm a software engineer and business owner in Athens, Tennessee, and I started building for the web in 2007. Since then most of my work has been for organizations where software going wrong means real people having a bad week: universities, hospitals and medical companies, brands like Disney, Chick-fil-A, Dr Pepper, AMC and Go RVing, nonprofits run by one part-time admin, and small businesses where the owner is also the IT team.
Along the way I learned that the problem is rarely just the code. It's the people waiting on it: the nurse, the volunteer, the owner who is also the IT team. So I start by listening, then build what they need: simple where it can be, careful where it has to be, and written so the next person can pick it up.
Today I engineer full time and build my own products, starting with SendWP, which takes transactional email off WordPress site owners' plates. I take on a small number of outside projects each year.
How I work
The simple option, when it's right
I'll tell you when you don't need the custom build, and I'll build it well when you do.
Made to hand over
Clean, tested code and notes your team can read, so nothing depends on me being around.
You talk to the person doing the work
No account managers in between. You get answers from the person building it.
Some of the work
A few projects that show the range: a lot of sites, a product I run myself, and tools small teams use every day. Try my products →
University of Florida Health
One custom theme, plugins and a block library, talking to third-party REST and SOAP APIs, running across 700 sites in the health science system.
700 sitesWordPressAPIs
SendWP
Transactional email for WordPress. I run it end to end: engineering, support and growth.
My productEmailSupport
Ninja Shop
Principal developer of an eCommerce platform for WordPress: simple by default, with the advanced tools there when a shop grows into them.
eCommercePrincipal developer
A syndicated NPR podcast
The publishing site behind a nationally syndicated show, built so a small editorial team could run it without help.
PublishingMedia
Faith and community
My faith is at the centre of my life, and the local church is where I most want my work to count.
Churches and ministries run on volunteers and small budgets, and their technology often gets in the way of the work instead of helping it. I help them choose, build and keep running the tools behind the work: websites a volunteer can update, giving and email that work on a Sunday morning, and plain advice on what to skip.
If your church or ministry could use a hand, I'd love to hear about it.