> > Will there be an alpha and/or beta period for the new design before it goes
> > into production?
>
>I have yet to make that decision. In fact I have yet to even think about
>it.
I recommend going through these processes when the time is right. This
design project has a large scope and so many people in the community have a
vested interest - formalization of this process may be a very fair
route. Being that the success of this project hinges both on the quality
of the software and the perception people have of it, the same pains that
we go through to ensure that the source code is of a very high quality
should also be taken to ensure that marketing (or pseudo marketing)
communication is of the same quality. Also, if we do some informal
usability testing of a beta design release we can take some steps to ensure
that the site is easy to use _before_ users get to it.
-r
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