Initially conceived by Rural Development Initiative (RDI) as a peer-to-peer learning exchange for people living in the rural Northwest, they found that the RIPPLE website was trying to fulfill too many roles. Was it a project management tool for RDI leadership workshops? A list of community development tools? An online discussion forum? It was clear that the site had strayed far from its original goal of inspiring rural inhabitants to connect to issues and each other.

Upswell reconceived RIPPLE around a content strategy that was cognizant of a target audience still tentatively using the web, while helping RDI better meet project management needs with an off-the-shelf solution separate from the site itself. To this end, we designed an elegant interface to highlight compelling rural stories, allow interactive features to be easily understood by users, and provide a gentle introduction to social media. At the same time, we built a robust content management system for community bloggers and RIPPLE administrators to quickly create and publish new blogs and multimedia stories.

The new RIPPLE is now well on its way to becoming a thriving community engagement site. Beginning in February 2010, as part of a broad partnership, new audio and video stories produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting about small businesses in the rural Northwest will be published on RIPPLE, bringing an even wider audience to this beautiful community site. As part of our involvement in RIPPLE, Upswell will continue to work with RDI on assessing and promoting the site, and looking to future membership features to help define this unique venue for rural voices online.

Visit the site — RIPPLE: views and voices from the rural Northwest

Project Launched: December 2009

CREDITS

Client: Rural Development Initiatives, Inc. (RDI)
Producer: Erica Dillon
Content Developers: Erica Dillon, Robert Ault (RDI), Beth Gilden (RDI), Alison Cassin (RDI)
Information Architects: Erica Dillon, Erica Hassinger
Designer: Erica Hassinger
Developer: Lee Ritter
IT: Fix-It Solutions, NetCorps