Some Thoughts on the Redesign

I just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone for their patience as we went through this important face lift. Many of you participated in testing, and many more provided feedback.

The utter overhaul of the site is a bit of a shock. It looks nothing like it did before, and all of us are going through the process of figuring out how to get around again. Cluttered and dated as the old RIA was, it was a pretty friendly site that served us well.

I went into the redesign project with very simple goals - to make the site cleaner, friendlier, and readable. I think we made big progress in these areas, though the proof will have to come in the weeks and months to follow.

I'd also like to thank the company that build the design - 30 Second Rule. I chose this company because they understand online community, and are passionate about what they do.

Specifically, Dan Ritzenthaler was the lead designer, and he was fantastic to work with. Smart, cool, thoughtful - an absolute pro who takes a lot of pride in what he does. If you want to find him on RIA, he can be found HERE. And yes ladies, he's single.

Finally, Rob, Buddy, and Jan have been putting in some crazy hours recently to push this thing live. None of us have slept much the last two nights, and these guys stayed cool even as I turned into an impatient, demanding monster.

Even RIA elders Wiggum and Ruby made a cameo for some testing, and that was much appreciated as well.

Thanks to everybody for their help. Time for me to catch some zzzzzz's.