Does anybody know why trending is on the landing page? Or any posts are on the landing page? What's the reason?

I used to develop web content and worked with U/X people. Generally, their goal is utility not content. Do you give people something useful? If people don't do anything in response to what you publish, you have a problem.

Steemit's landing page has two calls to action -- which is good -- and then a bunch of posts. Do you need the posts? Is there any data to indicate that the posts drive engagement?

The point should be to get people engaged in the site. The calls to action are focused on getting people to post and upvote. Ideally, Steemit should want to build the U/X around that goal and those activities. @firepower and other commenters - you have seen the posts actually undermine that goal and prevent people from posting and upvoting (because they're not using Steemit). Again, a problem.

Personally, without knowing the constraints Inc is working under, I would recommend three calls to action -- "login" or "sign up" or "browse" -- but no feed or tags or links or search bars or edit buttons. And, remove the "New to Steemit" sidebar -- just put a link at the bottom that says "New to Steemit? Find Out More" that directs people to the reference links.

Also, list the ways people can earn rewards on the landing page. E.g., earn rewards when you join, read, view, listen, post, write, and vote.

I have some other ideas but, I'm not here to opine.

For new users -- and I still consider myself a new user -- I would just say, post and read and upvote, then learn about the platform from people posting about the platform. I'd recommend they search for "new on Steemit" to find a bunch of advice posts for how to make the most of Steemit. Those posts are usually better than a user manual, anyway. The platform is still in beta, so don't sweat the U/X. They get to grow with the platform.

I'd also recommend they participate in contests, such as the one @firepower runs, or the many others. Easy, fun, entertaining and they might just win some SBDs.