Hi Paul,
It is refreshing to hear that you are against the template design style. Although it is simple and meets the needs of most courses, it can become boring to students who take a lot of online courses. However, I must qualify that by saying that consistency does breed familiarity, which may be important to some students. Especially to students with limited computer skills.
You also bring up a good point about regular course evaluation and critique. This is important during development as well as after development.
Good post!
Jane
