Barack Obama’s 2008 web program is widely regarded as the most successful online campaign that has ever been run.  And the campaign site design is probably the most ripped off in history as well. 

People forget that the Obama campaign didn’t nail their site design right out of the gate.  It took them a while to get there.  See the screenshots below of www.barackobama.com in October 2007 and October 2008. 

Obama Site October 2007

Obama Site October 2008

As you’ll see, in October 2007 the Obama website design was kind of mediocre.  It was super cluttered.  There was no photo of the candidate.  The eye has no idea where to go. 

The Obama team took a look at their site and saw some things that weren’t working so they made changes, despite the fact their site had been up for less than a year.  They iterated and improved based on how people were actually using their site.  And eventually they nailed it.

This is a good reminder that a good website is never done.   There are always ways to make it better if you are paying attention.