I’m aware the intro to this video says “impute” instead of “input”. lol. Kent has been editing the videos (and doing an amazing job I might add), but he’s dyslexic and spells things in his own special way 
Some of the smartest people ever to grace the earth have been dyslexic actually. But I digress…
Video still isn’t done processing it seems, it’s been sitting there like that for an hour.
Yeah, it’s been a while and it’s still processing?
Okay, it works now! I really love the feel of the website Dan, and I don’t think you should change much about it. Maybe freshen the place up a little bit though, and add some new website layouts for acne.org. Ask people what they favor more. I don’t know just adding some of my suggestions. I love acne.org
i would compare your prices with other products that have bp. you should make a blog about a person that has acne and then take pictures of there progress with your regimen. start a blog thread, idk.
i’d like an update on when the sunscreen and spot treatment will be available.
I was just about to send you an email about this very problem! I am now 4 months and virtually completely clear. It was all thanks to your regimen.
But as I was looking over my amazingly clear skin and increase in self confidence, I remembered that I could have been clear a lot sooner and saved myself a lot of crap that I went through because of my skin. About a year ago I stumbled upon acne.org, as most do at some point or another because of its generic domain name, but I immediately left. I looked at the homepage and figured that it was simply a “self-help” site for acne users to compare wacky holistic methods of clearing their acne, and to review products that don’t really work. Based on the layout of the homepage, i.e. the video, .org domain, the big forum button, login bar, and treatment reviews, my first instinct was certainly warranted.
Looking over that same homepage today, I am not given a link to the step-by-step guide that essentially saved my life until the bottom right hand corner.
Please strongly consider changing the layout of the homepage to better reflect your mission and your purpose. It is not necessary to change any of the content, it really is helpful. You simply have to tweak your site so that the forums are not the first thing you see when searching for a solution to your acne.
The regimen needs to be the absolute forst thing you see when you enter.
After all, how can visitors use the forums to discuss the regimen if they are not introduced to the regimen in the first place!
As soon as you remove this roadblock, I am really convinced acne.org could be what you have always envisioned it to be!
I agree with the comment above mine: The regimen needs to be the absolute first thing you see when you enter the site.
I think the site is great how it is. Especially the information in the Nutrition/Diet forums because that also helps peoples overall health out as well and I think that should have it’s own page within acne.org.
I just don’t think Benzoyl Peroxide is compatible with THAT many people’s skin. Sure there are tons of success stories with the regimen and I think it’s overall one of the better BP-based regimens out there but there are just as many as people not using the regimen and seeing massive success and spreading that knowledge here. I came to this site after already knowing that BP ruins my skin and makes it worse. I think a lot of people are that way to be honest. Even after knowing that, I came and learned a ton and I’ve bettered myself in many ways, not just skin. This site shouldn’t discourage people who simply have bad reactions to BP or your other problems, it should introduce an alternative and try to help those people since everyone’s’ skin is different. Me? I found that doing nearly nothing topically to my skin has almost fully healed it. That’s surprisingly more common than most would think. I think the site is great how it is and maybe making the links to the actual purchasing of the regimen would benefit some and make it more obvious like someone said above. Other than that, let the information keep spreading and also maybe even add new pages that give information on things like diet and exercise helping acne.
Put new ads on the sides of pages
you need to have detailed evidence that bp works. like more pictures or making logs of people with acne and each month post a picture of the treatment.
theirs only one thing that I found bad about the regimen is that you have to apply it twice a day, takes about a good 30 minutes to do a good job. so thats about a hour in the mirror. I personally don’t think people are so motivated like me to do it twice a day.
I think the way acne.org is set up is great! The homepage says “Get Clear” with a BIG Yellow Button to click on. Dan is right in the middle of a You Tube screen talking about the site and all kinds of info. Very easy to follow IMO. To me that’s what websites are about. You investigate, poke around until you find what you need. If not, move on. Products are in line with other products with affordability. Very pleased with the products as they work! Love the blogs! Love the forums! Great job to all who put this site together, keep it up!!
I would agree with Kathy. I wouldn’t change a thing about this website. The first thing you see on the homepage is “get clear.” You would only come across the message boards etc… if you were to poke around the site for a little bit as they are in smaller categories bellow the “get clear” message. But of course everyone will have their own opinions. Some people are just more negative than others.
Hola!
Dan, I too feel the same way. I have been very active on the forums lately and have noticed everybody asking what products to use, and even saying that this, this and this hasn’t worked, but none of those things have been the acne.org regimen.
I swear by the regimen, I also perform a deep BP application when I can be bothered, and that works great. I use AHA a little more than most people, and by the way, I love the new thin AHA
Yes, acne.org is about acne, not just the regimen, it is all about acne. However, most people disregard the regimen, maybe we should get together a video with many people saying a sentence, that basically tells the listener to use the regimen, it may take time, if things are getting worse, it is because of bad products 99% of the time, and to use yours.
It just irritates me that so many users don’t even seem to know about the regimen.. You should also state on the regimen that it is not a cure, and if you miss it out even once, you’ll pay the consequences. People need to know.
I’d also like to see a live web show, on something like http://www.justin.tv. We can use the chat, we can use skype and call you up, etc. A big interactive web show maybe once a week or something, I know i’d definately look foward to it. You could find people with interesting additions to the regimen and other advice etc to star on the show through split screen or something like that. Would be video blog X 100.
Regards,
Brendan M Haddock
There‘s always room for improvement when it comes to selling your regimen, even if it’s free. The regimen works and you need to drill this into peoples’ heads. Equally, regimen users need to apply the regimen right and be patient.
The problem with the people who don’t get clear is that they’re DOING IT WRONG! Either they’re not following the regimen steps EXACTLY, or they’re using the WRONG PRODUCTS, or they’re just too IMPATIENT. People want instant gratification and want to see improvements in their skin the next day. If they don’t get clear skin within a reasonable time, they’ll look elsewhere like the forums. The forums are a good place to socialize, share information, and get support. BUT, there is too much disinformation on there. One time I saw a regimen on there that involved urine. Desperate people are willing to try anything and that includes putting urine on their face.
The best way Dan is to have a clinical trial, showing its superior efficacy. Have someone maybe do one side of the face proactiv and one side the regimen. It’s important to show that the regimen is clearly superior to choices that a common acne sufferer might try. Have a nice bar graph with one huge bar on the acne regimen, and a non-existent bar on the proactiv. : )
Daniel (intern)
Hey Dan, this website is brilliant, its one of my favourites you’ve done such a great job.
What id like is a General Discussion board placed on the forums, so theres just once place on the forums to discuss things non related to Acne, because I like chatting on the forums (:
Maybe a new forum layout sometime too
The site is brilliant though!
Well, they already do have a forum for off-topic chatting. It’s called the “lounge”.
Hi, Dan. I personally think that the regimen is great but you need to update it, and tweak it up a bit. What I mean is that you say to start using full BP in one month time period. And I have noticed that for ALLLLOt of people, and this is no exageration, that their skin can’t handle it, and in fact it gets worse. There is actually a person on a one of these websites that complained how your regimen ruined their skin. However, desperate acne sufferers use ur regimen, use the full amount and their skin ruins. And remember you only do the regimen on your bottom half, Other parts of the face like forehead, might react different to to much Bp. I have noticed that if you start extremelllllly slow meaning you ramp up to full dosage in two months or more, then the regimen can work wonders, also a lot of people don’t need a full amount of bp, like me. If I do than my skin is done. When followed presicely your regiemen always clears me up. However, I can only use verrrry little bp. hope this helps. But dan your a great person, and your regimen is overal great. I believe a lot of people are not realizing that its not the bp ruining their skins, its that they are using to much bp and their skin isnt tolerating it.
I love this site. I like that it has a lot of info about acne as well as the regimen. I have only been doing the regimen a year and when I came across the site I thought that the regimen was the main point of the site. I still think that this is clear, the home page has a huge link taking you to the regimen and you explain it in the welcome video. I don’t think much needs to change. I am now hooked on your video blogs etc and keep coming back in hope that one day you will have researched and found a cure!! I can dream!!
Go Kent!
For a lot of people, myself included, the regimen has not been successful because our skin simply cannot handle the bp. However, there can be a lot of good interaction and encouragement on the boards and I think it is a shame to exclude those for whom it doesn’t work. I mean we want hope too and we want to be clear every bit as much as those for whom bp does work.
Vic:
I’d agree. But i’d also recommend trying (even if it takes months) to get your face used to BP. I’d be nowhere without BP and AHA, if they stopped working.. I’d.. Ugh..
I agree 100% with Khan’s comment. I think the regimen is great, i’ve seen a lot of people getting better with it, but it is just a temporary solution because it won’t cure it and it’s “a lot” of work to follow. It’s also aggressive on the skin, even if one starts slowly. I myself came to this website a while ago, but didn’t try this regimen because i knew i’d probably have to follow it forever and my skin would take some damage, so i tried to get clear with some other products and so far, after 3 months, i’m much much clearer and with a lot less work.
For me the regimen would be one of the last resorts and in my opinion the website is great as it is… If i was in your position i’d probably go forward with the clinical trials, and then take the advantage of being scientifically proven to work so well, to give it more emphasis.
I think it would be helpful for the reviews of treatments/products ask people to write what kind of regimen they are on.
Sometimes, when I look at products in the review sections, I am unsure as to whether the product would work well on *the* Regimen, i.e. Dan’s official regimen.
Maybe there could be a simple drop down box that lets you pick what kind of regimen you are on, such as: Dan Kern’s Regimen, none, other (list here).
First page needs to be Get clear then onto the full site so they understand the regime
*shrug* I stumbled on this site a couple weeks ago and the regimen was the first thing I checked out (just started it last night
). I have no problem with the way the site is set up.
Thanks Dan!
OMG! Dan quoted my comments! Yes, VO-chee.
Just to be clear, the website is just fine for spotlighting the Regimen. I only meant that the FORUMS seem to be filled with folks who haven’t heard of the Regimen. Are they passing up the Regimen info on the webpage & going straight to the forums, or are they following a link from somewhere else that takes them directly to the forums? Sorry for the confusion.
Once again, I gotta say I love the way you do business. Where else can we interact with the guy who produces our products, & know that we are heard? I loves me some Dan.
Hi. As a new member to the site, I have to say that I have been discouraged by the forums as well. There seem to be a lot of people who don’t even use the regimen. They have completely different methods on their signatures, and I find it to be confusing. If the regimen works so well, why isn’t everyone doing it? Why are there so many methods? I am waiting on my products for the regimen to arrive, so that I can see for myself, but I definitely agree the forums are a lot to keep up with. As for the layout of the site, I think it’s great, but must admit it took me a few visits to find the regimen. I know it seems simple enough, “Get Clear” is right there. But maybe if it said, “The Regimen” or something, it would be easier? Lol. Well, there’s my input!
Well, if you want to focus mainly on the regimen you should eliminate a lot of the message board. It seems that the message board is 90% other topics, such as the use of other regimens. Seems to me you are kind of shooting yourself in the foot when people can promote other products on your website. The main focus should be on your regimen and people’s discussion of how it is working(or not) for them. The holistic/nutrition board would be one other the extra topics I would keep. Why? Because it deals with acne internally whilst your regimen deals externally. Sorta rambling but I hope you get what I am trying to say.
i hear this message loud n clear, i think initially the regimen is the ‘star of the show’ on this site but once you get down into the msgboards people are telling me that i should wash with just water or use other products that ivtried in years past and it does not help sometimes. but you just gotta look past it, like you dan, i have had amazin success with bp/regimen for years now..dont fix it if it aint broken as the saying goes.
I think the regime is known pretty much as soon as you enter Acne.org. I like the broadness of the forums because for some of us, the regime doesn’t work for and we need to have a good place to discuss other options such as lasers and prescription treatment. I love Acne.org and don’t think much needs to be changed. I also love the treatment reviews because it’s my go-to place to get reviews on even some lesser-known acne treatments.
I had the same initial experience with acne.org as Steve did.
To be perfectly honest I didn’t necessarily expect “acne.org” to be a decent site with good information on acne.
Simply because experience has taught me I’d rather visit thefreedictionary.com, imdb.com, and wikipedia.org than dictionary.com, movies.com, and encyclopedia.com… if that makes any sense.
I immediately assumed it didn’t bring anything new to the table or focus on a particular regimen. If I knew it did I would have then investigated what that was, and found the personal videos of you highly appealing, namely the honesty and non-commercial feel, which your benzoyl peroxide prices confirm – and it *would* be necessary for me to check them to corroborate your word. Unfortunate, but we’ve both seen the Proactiv commercials versus the actual minuscule overcharged bottles.
I agree with Voce as well, and will say that the forums seem much too broad and disorganized in a sense. I see far too many people with their own strange and unique treatments saying, “THIS one works, use THIS one”. I’m sorry but there’s too much conflict here – it isn’t helpful, and a trial and error of each is infeasible.
The signal to noise ratio is too low, and it’s a fault of the technology for not making this stupid easy. For one thing, user interfaces must be designed to require the *ABSOLUTE LEAST* interaction from the user. An example: To centralize discussion and reduce redundancy a user should search for an existing topic related to their query before creating their own. But this will very rarely occur, there is too much friction – yes, even the small amount that exists right now is far too much. The solution is to reduce that as much as possible – you dynamically search for existing similar topics AS a user types in a new topic, using that text of theirs. (See uservoice.com for instance. Actually you should just check this out anyways: http://uservoice.com/)
There is a new site for computer programmers about programming, called stackoverflow (http://stackoverflow.com/about). As it’s for programmers by programmers I think they have a bit of an edge. It’s a carefully engineered and constantly improved hybrid of various techniques, such as those from Wikipedia and digg.com for getting the cream to rise to the top.
So my bottom line advice for the forum situation is: technology. To quote that about page I linked, it really needs to be like falling into the pit of success. Stupid easy. As wonderful as people are and as much as I love them, a page of guidelines (or similar) will be of little success, for many many reasons.
I can give you sources and detailed explanations of my opinions I’ve expressed here upon request.
I’ve been a hobbyist programmer most of my young life so far, and I’ve interest in usability (especially) and crowd-sourcing. I’d also love to volunteer whatever skills and services I can to acne.org, I’ve just been busy, but I should get in touch.
This person couldn’t have said it any better, I feel the same way Dan. I mean, when I first visited the website It was immediately clear that the regimen point blank was the way to go. But now that I have been coming back every week and checking the site for any new useful information it just seems that I’m being over loaded with new information and new products. I’d like to stick to the regimen and not have to worry about there always being something bigger and better!
Also, I just recently ordered a starter kit, and it’s been a good seven days, and it still has not arrived, I just got notice from UPS that it will be arriving March 02.. 3 more days? I wish it would have came quicker.. I have a big pimple on my forehead!
thanks for everything Dan
Maybe a layout change as suggested by earlier posters: Maybe larger fonts or something that makes the regimen stand out amongst the other sub forums. I mean don’t get me wrong the other information is very cool because I don’t think theres is any other forum that I have come across that really has a lot of diverse information pertaining to acne. Since you plan on doing that clinical study about the regimen I just think a better lay out of the forum should happen.
thanks Dan
I think that it is alot better now than before from what people have said because i have been all over this website and found so much great information and i just ordered the regimen yesterday and i cant wait til it comes in so i can try it and see how it works. i actually discovered it on amazon so i figured i would check out the website acne.org and it has been so much help.
thanks so much! your awesome!
Hey Dan!
So, yes the Regimen is the star, and the reason we are all here.
I love the regimen and I agree that it should be the star of the show.
Why not have COMMUNITY and REVIEWS tabs as a link to another web page. This way, it doesn’t look like it is necesarily part of your webpage, but rather as an extension of it. Furthermore, it makes it even clearer that this is something other people think, and not necessarily you.
I’m not stating that what they are saying isn’t helpful or valid. For presentation sake, it makes it clearer that we visit the other forums for help or advice, but really, we come to YOUR website FIRST.
In my opinion, what you do at the end of the GET CLEAR section, you compare products which is perfect! This is incredibly helpful, and this is the kind of input I need. I need the visual comparison to make a better choice. I always check in with that section as opposed to the review forum. It helps to know what my other choices are, but then I feel like I am back to ground zero trying to figure out what to use. This is when I leave that part of the website, and go back to the regimen.
Thanks Dan and good luck!
Go ahead and make The Regimen the star of the show!
Up at the top of the site’s homepage you should put in big letters “regimen” to make it really obvious. Some people are just, for lack of a better word, dumb.
Hi Dan,
First of all, I wanted to thank you for the Regimen. I’ve tried seemingly every product with no success until now. I’m almost 5 weeks into it and my skin is completely clear. I get a few bumps now and then, but they are small and disappear quite quickly. In short, I’m a complete convert.
I wanted to throw in my two cents about the focus of the site. As I’m sure most of us here are aware, there are tons of ads all over the internet for acne miracle cures which either underperform, or don’t work at all. When I first visited Acne.org, the Regimen seemed like another scam that promised impossible results. What convinced me otherwise was the fact that you not only allow users to list and rate other products, but also offer mainstream commercial alternatives to the Regimen products you yourself manufacture.
In my opinion, Acne.org’s focus on the problem of acne as a whole, strengthens the focus on the Regimen as well. The blogs, forums, product reviews and alternate options for Regimen products all convinced me that you are more concerned about the problem of acne as a whole, and not necessarily in shilling your own personal products (which work quite amazingly I might add.)
It is a bit strange that so many people on the forums seem to be either not using the Regimen, or using some highly modified version of it. I think this might confuse some new users, but I think it’s also important for those who haven’t found success with the Regimen to have a community with which to discuss alternative treatment options.
On a side note, I do think a clinical trial would be a good idea and would make the Regimen seem a little bit more legitimate to new visitors of the site.
I absolutely love acne.org for its source of information. When I was new to skin care and acne related issues that is all I wanted. I knew nothing and I wanted all of my questions to be answered for me. One of the reasons I loved acne.org and that I stayed with it to this day is because it answers every aspect of what can affect acne. If this site was strictly just about the regimen then it would be leaving out crucial elements that effect acne. It would not be answering peoples questions. When I stumbled upon this website I learned a lot and those things that I learned changed my practices and the way I thought about skin care and acne. Learning and changing those things is what has made my skin so much better and is what has made me be able to keep it better. I feel really knowledgable just from continuing to read the basic knowledge on this site and the blog posts that dan makes, etc.
I love the regimen and I think it is what “saved” my skin. However, it was the learning and the “transformation” I went through in my thinking and practices that made the regimen actually work for me. By transformation I mean that I learned to be gentle. You preconceived idea is to scrub and scrub and to use certain ingredients and try and get rid of the oil all day long. I had to really train myself not to do that because it was so ingrained in me to do those things. I learned to do differently. But more than that I learned how to know ingredients. I learned how skin works and what makes acne happen. I learned how the regimen was preventing it. I can actually answer almost anything anyone has to ask me and I can give a good explanation on what a person needs to do. If it was not for all the “other things” this site has to offer I would not be like that.
So, while I think the regimen should shine brightly as the center of what the site is built around I definitely think that everything else that the site offers is necessary and beneficial to all. I would not get rid of anything. Possibly you could design it so that it seemed that the regimen jumped out at you more, but I think it is pretty good as it is.
I don’t feel the regimen is diclosed enough on the website. If I was visiting acne.org without hearing of the Regimen from youtube reviewers I would have never thought that you sold products. The initial page doesn’t speak broadly about the regimen or at all. Finding the products was not easy for me through the website since it only had store as the place to look for the Regimen. I feel the website is poorly designed and does not expose the product easily.