About Me

Nooshu.com is the personal blog of me, Matt Hobbs, a Principal Engineer based in Oxfordshire, UK.

I’ve spent more than two decades building for the web, with much of my career focused on frontend engineering, web performance, accessibility, and the challenges involved in building services that work well for everyone.

These days, my role extends well beyond writing frontend code. I work across the full engineering lifecycle, from understanding requirements and shaping technical approaches, through prototyping and delivery, to testing, deployment, assurance, and the long-term maintenance of live services.

A large part of my work is about helping teams make better technical decisions. That means evaluating technologies and architectural approaches, identifying risks and performance bottlenecks, improving engineering practices, and translating complex technical subjects into something that engineers, designers, delivery teams, and senior stakeholders can understand and act upon.

I have a particular interest in building public services that are fast, accessible, secure, resilient, and inclusive. I strongly advocate Progressive Enhancement and believe accessibility, web performance, and security should be fundamental engineering considerations rather than checks performed towards the end of delivery.

Having spent six years working at the Government Digital Service, I’ve contributed to GOV.UK and guidance, including the Service Manual and Service Standard. More recently, my work with HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has included technical assurance of live services, evaluating frontend architectures and technologies, advising multidisciplinary teams, and helping establish and champion engineering best practice.

Although frontend engineering remains my speciality, I increasingly work across the boundaries between frontend, backend, architecture, DevOps, PlatOps, design, and delivery. I enjoy finding the gaps between those disciplines, asking difficult questions when necessary, and helping teams arrive at solutions that are pragmatic, maintainable, and appropriate for the people who ultimately have to use them.

Web performance remains a particular obsession of mine. I enjoy investigating why websites are slow, understanding how that affects real users and their devices, and finding ways to make them faster. That can involve everything from analysing individual pages to defining engineering standards, auditing services, developing technical strategy, and working across multiple teams and levels of an organisation.

I’m also fascinated by how emerging technologies, particularly AI, are changing software engineering and the web. I’m interested not simply in what new technology can do, but whether it genuinely improves how we build and operate services, and whether those improvements remain accessible to the widest possible audience.

Outside of my day-to-day work, I write about web performance, accessibility, security, frontend engineering, AI, and whatever technical rabbit hole I’ve disappeared down recently. I’ve also spoken at conferences and appeared on podcasts discussing web performance and frontend engineering.

Earlier in my career, I built and deployed websites using technologies including WordPress, Drupal, MODX, Symfony, Sitecore, Umbraco, and Adobe Experience Manager. The technologies have changed considerably over the years, but the fundamentals of building a good experience for users have changed far less.

In April 2021, my career took an unexpected detour when I was diagnosed with a grade 3 brain tumour, which I named Gary. Treatment involved seven hours of brain surgery, 33 rounds of radiotherapy, and four cycles of chemotherapy. After taking time away from work to recover, I returned in January 2022.

It was an experience that inevitably changed my perspective on both life and work. It reinforced the importance of resilience, curiosity, and making the time you have count. Those lessons continue to influence how I approach challenges, how I work with people, and what I want from the next stages of my career.

Most recent work experience

Principal Engineer | Tech Lead - Solirius Consulting Ltd

Feb 2024 - Present (2 years 7 months)

Head of Frontend Development, Lead Developer - Government Digital Service (London)

Aug 2017 - Aug 2023 (6 Years)

Lead Interface Developer - DigitasLBi (London)

Sept 2013 - Aug 2017 (4 Years)

Frontend Team Lead - Isobar (Sydney)

Jan 2012 - Jul 2013 (1 Year 7 Months)

For more information around my work experience and skillset see my LinkedIn profile. Or if you wish to contact me, please use the various methods listed on my contact page.