{"id":1659,"date":"2016-04-27T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2016-04-27T12:54:20","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T11:54:20","slug":"big-and-now-beautiful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/2016\/04\/27\/big-and-now-beautiful\/","title":{"rendered":"Big and (now) Beautiful"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncl.ac.uk\/careers\">Careers website<\/a> is a vitally important part of the University\u2019s web presence, and we\u2019ve just finished a huge, six month long Go Mobile redevelopment.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1680\" style=\"width: 172px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-13-Careers-Service-Careers-Service-Newcastle_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1680\" class=\"wp-image-1680 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-13-Careers-Service-Careers-Service-Newcastle_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_-162x300.png\" alt=\"Careers website homepage\" width=\"162\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-13-Careers-Service-Careers-Service-Newcastle_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_-162x300.png 162w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-13-Careers-Service-Careers-Service-Newcastle_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_-768x1420.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-13-Careers-Service-Careers-Service-Newcastle_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_-554x1024.png 554w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-13-Careers-Service-Careers-Service-Newcastle_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_.png 1903w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 162px) 100vw, 162px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1680\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New home page<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s a big University service with multiple audiences, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>prospective and current students<\/li>\n<li>parents<\/li>\n<li>old and new graduates<\/li>\n<li>our academics and staff<\/li>\n<li>employers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And these users have any number of different tasks they want to complete. From checking opening times, finding out about Recruitment Fairs or CV workshops, psychometric tests, researching occupations, and advertising jobs\u2026.<\/p>\n<h1>When one becomes four<\/h1>\n<p>The site was so big it\u2019s now four separate websites. Why? Because like it or not, big isn\u2019t normally beautiful on the web.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Big\u2019 often means content has simply grown over the years, with more information added, and added\u2026..and added. Simultaneously, moving or navigating around a big site is generally harder too. (And yes you\u2019ve guessed, it\u2019s even harder to navigate on a smaller mobile screen.)<\/p>\n<p>If not diligently reviewed, <strong>big websites often suffer with duplicated or out of date information.<\/strong> More pages are added, so more navigation is needed. It\u2019s a vicious circle.<br \/>\nBut by the very nature of this information-led service, the Careers website had to hold a massive amount of content.<\/p>\n<p>OK, but surely the most popular pages were easy to find? Well\u2026no. it was big you see, so really hard to find some good stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Alright, but it looked like it was part of the University right? &#8230;Oh dear.<\/p>\n<h1>The return of the 1980s<\/h1>\n<p>It\u2019s fair to say the old Careers Service website was looking a bit\u2026.well, 1980s. And nothing like the rest of the University online. It was seriously overdue for a redevelopment!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1660\" style=\"width: 294px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/careershomepage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1660\" class=\"wp-image-1660 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/careershomepage-284x300.jpg\" alt=\"Old careers homepage\" width=\"284\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/careershomepage-284x300.jpg 284w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/careershomepage-768x810.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/careershomepage.jpg 841w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 284px) 100vw, 284px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1660\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old home page<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Because the site used an old template, they were also cursed with some of the longest webpages ever seen on planet earth. I kid you not.<\/p>\n<p>This one example had a word count of 1,607. That\u2019s FIVE A4 pages worth of content on one webpage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Before:<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1661\" style=\"width: 131px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-1-CVs-Careers-Service-_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_jobs_applications_cv.php_.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1661\" class=\"wp-image-1661 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-1-CVs-Careers-Service-_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_jobs_applications_cv.php_-121x300.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of old careers page which was very long\" width=\"121\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-1-CVs-Careers-Service-_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_jobs_applications_cv.php_-121x300.png 121w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-1-CVs-Careers-Service-_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_jobs_applications_cv.php_-768x1906.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-1-CVs-Careers-Service-_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_jobs_applications_cv.php_-413x1024.png 413w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/FireShot-Capture-1-CVs-Careers-Service-_-http___www.ncl_.ac_.uk_careers_jobs_applications_cv.php_.png 1903w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 121px) 100vw, 121px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1661\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old CV page<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>After:<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1662\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/newpage.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1662\" class=\"wp-image-1662 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/newpage-300x294.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of new careers page which is much shorter\" width=\"300\" height=\"294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/newpage-300x294.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/newpage-768x751.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/newpage-307x300.png 307w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2016\/04\/newpage.png 1021w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1662\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New CV page<\/p><\/div>\n<p>While some pages are still quite long, the content is <strong>easier to scan read and navigate<\/strong> around using mobile.<\/p>\n<p>So our Go Mobile project actually involved a major information architecture evaluation and wholescale restructuring, audience identification, and four separate website rebuilds.<\/p>\n<p>Followed by extensive re-writing, editing, layout and format changes.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and then we made it responsive for mobile.<\/p>\n<p>Now we have four new websites. Our external sites now boast <strong>tailored, audience specific content and fully responsive<\/strong> templates:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncl.ac.uk\/careers\/\">Careers Service<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncl.ac.uk\/employers\/\">Employers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncl.ac.uk\/careers-occupations\/\">Careers Occupations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And information for <a href=\"https:\/\/internal.ncl.ac.uk\/careers\/staff\/\">Staff<\/a>? Well that\u2019s now an internal website of course (login required).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Careers website is a vitally important part of the University\u2019s web presence, and we\u2019ve just finished a huge, six month long Go Mobile redevelopment. It\u2019s a big University service with multiple audiences, including: prospective and current students parents old &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/2016\/04\/27\/big-and-now-beautiful\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1269,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,15],"tags":[89,26],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-content","category-go-mobile","tag-project-management","tag-writing-for-the-web"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1269"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1659"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1684,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions\/1684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}