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Ifeanyi E. Josephthe cipher

lab / IEJ-0002

LabRunning29 Oct 202629.10.20261 min read

Designing a site with two readingsiej-0002 :: designing a site with two readings

One site, two voices: Ifeanyi in the light, The Cipher in the dark. Does a second reading make people stay, explore and remember?

Hypothesis

If the same site can be read two ways, the people who find the second reading will explore further and remember it longer.

The question behind this site: can a personal website be something you explore, not just something you scan?

The setup

Every page has two readings. Switching between them decodes the page: text scrambles and resolves into the other voice. The colours are shared, paper and ink with one camwood red, so both readings feel like the same world.

Layered on top is a small secret layer. Nothing a visitor needs is ever hidden. But curious people find things, and a keyring remembers what they’ve found.

What I’m watching

  • How many visitors switch readings at all
  • Whether people who find a secret go on to read more
  • Whether the hidden layer gets in anyone’s way

~/lab/iej-0002.md · the cipher’s reading

## status: running

one site. two readings. the toggle is the whole trick.

  • + built: rooms, entries, keyring, ⌘k
  • + colours: paper / ink / camwood
  • - broke: nothing yet. give it time.
> lesson so far: restraint. one or two secrets a page. no more.
[29.10 02:14] it works. do not touch it.
[29.10 02:31] touched it.
[29.10 03:02] fixed. going to sleep.

Log

  1. 29 OctMapped the site as rooms instead of pages. Wireframed every screen in black and white.
  2. 29 OctChose paper, ink and camwood. The Cipher keeps the same red, glowing in the dark.
  3. 29 OctDesigned five ways things hide: redacted lines, ciphered words, Cipher notes, glyph clues, secret commands.
  4. 30 OctStarted building in Next.js and Tailwind. First rooms open.

Result · pending

Pending. This experiment concludes once real people have used the site for a while.