[rythie]

I wasn't implying he had done the wrong thing particularly, graphic redesigns can be expensive and it's not clear how much value they add, he has clearly avoided them.

In my own experience I've found if you don't make at least small changes that people can see, early adopters think no one is working on the product and go away - because they perceive nothing will ever improve. This effect doesn't really apply to community or social networks though for the reasons you said.