Feargal Mac Ionnrachaigh Website
Our latest website was created for Irish Political Activist and Author Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh. The website will serve two purposes, the first and most prominent point of interest being the release of Feargal’s new book, ‘Language, Resistance and Revival‘ and the second will see the website used as a blogging platform. It was crucial then to layout an easy to navigate website with its focal points visible right from the start.
Many bloggers make the mistake of designing their blog as simple looking as possible, often with an exaggerated list of articles on their landing page, which all end up blending into one. Clearly defining and making it easy to differentiate news article from other areas on the landing page was essential in creating the best user experience. In order for us to achieve this division, we created a block of large boxes, 6 in total, isolated below the fold, unavoidable to anyone visiting the website. Of course, having the news block below the fold raises the question “what if the user doesn’t scroll down”? It may sound absurd to some, but today’s internet surfer’s move from one site to another so frequently that if what they seek isn’t presented to them within those first few precious seconds, they will move onto to their next online destination without hesitation.
We must remember though, the news articles are not our primary point of interest. For this reason, we refrained from having the news block above the fold, where it would surely take attention from the book area. Instead, we opted for a more subtle approach, having links to the latest blog posts and the different categories off to the side. This allows us to have both points of interest above the fold, but with the news articles not distracting from the more important book area.
A search bar (which every blog/news site should have) appears in the header, allowing users to quickly and accurately search for articles via the content, title or category. This is another important feature that enhances user experience, as nobody wants to spend 20 minutes trawling through pages of news articles searching for one specific post. Though, it may not seem necessary considering the websites current number of posts. However, the advertising of the book will not remain priority forever, in fact, after 6 or so months; the website will change focus, with blogging taking precedence and many additional articles being added, that is, until Feargal’s next work of literature.