RDG started in 2009 as a small team that wrote code for other agencies. We took their specs and built what they asked for. We were good at it. But we spent a lot of time building things we knew could be better, and we weren't always in a position to say so. The work paid the bills, and nobody starts a company by turning work away. From the beginning, though, we did one thing differently: our clients worked directly with the developers building their projects. No layers, no handoffs, no telephone game. That decision shaped everything that came after.
Throughout the years
Over the years, we added UX designers and accessibility experts, learned to plan what to build before writing code, and were honest with stakeholders when an idea sounded exciting but wouldn't move the needle. Nothing is more costly than building the wrong thing well. We grew from primarily CMS implementations into eCommerce platforms, custom integrations, modern web applications, and complex migrations. At some point, we stopped waiting for clients to tell us what to build and started helping them figure out what was worth building. That shift changed the kind of work we do and the kind of clients who find us.
Who we are today
Today, RDG is a team of 15 working at the intersection of business strategy, brand, and technology. That means when a client comes to us, we are not just thinking about the code. We are asking whether the technology supports the business goal, whether the experience reflects the brand, and whether those things are truly aligned. The people who build your product are the same people who stay with it: the same core team from kickoff through long-term support.
We help clients decide where to invest, test assumptions before committing to a full build, and take real ownership of whether the product actually works. It took us years to learn that sometimes the most valuable thing we can offer is the conversation that keeps a client from building something they do not need.
That model matters more now than ever. The technology landscape keeps shifting, and every year brings a new wave of tools claiming to change everything. Some of them do. We have embraced AI where it genuinely helps our clients, both in how we work and in what we build. But we see new technology as a tool, not a substitute for the planning, design, and development experience that makes a product successful.
The companies we work with have complex systems that need to connect, audiences that need accessible experiences, and business goals that do not fit neatly into a template. That is where we do our best work.
The new version of our site showcases who we are now and what we've learned along the way. Take a look at our work, read what our team is writing about, or contact us if you want to talk about what you're building. We keep curious, stay lean, and keep learning. Seventeen years in, that’s still what drives us.
