Exploration of Rhetorical Appeals, Operations and Figures in UI/UX Design

Exploration of Rhetorical Appeals, Operations and Figures in UI/UX Design

Omar Sosa-Tzec1, Martin A. Siegel1 and Paul Brown2

Indiana University Bloomington1 School of Informatics and Computing2 Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts

June 29, 2015 - The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

3rd International Conference for Design Education Researchers and PreK-16 Design Educators

Motivation

Allegory of Lady Rhetoric

Rhetorical handbookAn illustrated manual for graphic designers

‣Ehses & Lupton (1988)

‣NSCAD student work

‣Application of rhetorical concepts in graphic design

Modes of AppealRhetorical OperationsRhetorical Figures

Rhetoric Graphic Design

Persuasion

Meaning

Argumentation

Connection with oral communication

Generation of concepts

Rhetoric UI/UX Design

Persuasion

Meaning

Argumentation



?


HCI?

Persuasion

Meaning

Argumentation



Design Pedagogy


HCIUI/UX version

Persuasion

Meaning

Argumentation



DesignPedagogy

beta

Project/Exploration

‣ “Rhetoric and Design” (Ehses, 1987)

‣ Interview

‣Selected Bibliography

‣Three modes of appeal

‣Rhetorical operations

‣Rhetorical figures

‣More student work

Structure

Extracts

Other references (Online/O!"line)

Illustration of Concepts

(Desktop, Web, Mobile)

uxrhetoric.com

beta version

http://uxrhetoric.com

http://uxrhetoric.com

“Rhetoric and Design” - takeaways

1.Rhetoric is not about trickery of !lattering

2.Rhetoric is about e"fective communication and meaning generated in context

3.Rhetoric is infiltrated in all the forms of human communication

“Rhetoric and Design” - takeaways

4.Applying rhetoric as design methodology requires the comprehension of the use of symbols and patterns that could be familiar to a user

5.Both the design of interface and experience have social, moral and political implications. Rhetoric would help to become aware of those implications

Observations

1.The three modes of appeal (logos, ethos and pathos) !luctuate throughout the user experience

paper'stakeaways


2.Rhetorical operations describe modifications made on an interface for working on di"ferent platforms

paper'stakeaways


2.Rhetorical operations describe modifications made on an interface for working on di"ferent platforms

3.Rhetorical figures (tropes and schemes) help to describe conceptually the interface's composition and interactions

paper'stakeaways

Ethos, logos and pathos !luctuate

Ethos, logos and pathos !luctuate

Yahoo Weather App for iOS(initial screen) Yahoo Weather App for iOS

Bloomberg Billionaires – The web version is the standard composition

Rhetorical operations, interface modifications and di!ferent platforms

Rhetorical operations, interface modifications and di!ferent platforms

Bloomberg Billionaires – The mobile version is the result of the application of rhetorical operations

Addition + Subtraction + Inversion Subtraction + Inversion Inversion + Subtraction

Tropes and figures, so"tware as composition, description of interactionsAlliteration repeats the initial parts of elements in a sequence.(Ehses & Lupton, 1988)

Clear for iOS

Tropes and figures, so"tware as composition, description of interactions

Ellipses deliberately omits elements from a statement.(Ehses & Lupton, 1988)

Vine web interface

Discussion

1.The UI/UX rhetorical handbook would be used as a framework to engage designers in discussion and re!lection upon possible meanings conveyed by the interface composition as the user interacts with the so!tware

‣Denotation

‣Connotation

‣To go “beyond” the figures of metaphor and metonymy

‣To move away from the skeuomorphic “origin” of interfaces

‣To consider interfaces as a kind of visual artifacts with its particular materials and ways to be shaped

‣To consider interfaces as visual artifacts that a!fect people's lives, beliefs, and attitudes

2.The UI/UX rhetorical handbook o"fers a vocabulary for UI/UX designers to analyze, conceptualize, and critique interfaces

‣To consider so#tware as a form of argument

‣To have a better comprehension of persuasion and persuasive technology

‣ To create a link with other contemporary approaches in HCI, including interaction criticism, sustainability and feminism

3.The UI/UX rhetorical handbook would function to introduce UI/UX designers to rhetoric (classic and contemporary)

Conclusion

‣Interfaces are quite di"ferent from the examples analyzed and presented in the original handbook


‣There is a !luctuation in the weights of each of the modes of appeal



‣Tropes and schemes support such a #luctuation



‣Tropes and schemes support such a #luctuation

‣Tropes and schemes help to describe conceptually, not only the composition, but also interactions

Limitations and future work

‣More examples are needed; simplification of language

‣We found di"ficulties to interpret chiasmus* and anastrophe**

‣We expect to create a repository of cases

‣We aim at motivating other design scholars to join this project and make it grow

* Chiasmus symmetrically arranges elements so that one side reverses the order of the other** Anastrophe inverts normal grammatical order

Thanks!This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant Award no. 1115532. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire research team or the NSF. Thanks to Ian B. Wood for the discussion about ideas and examples presented in the UI/UX rhetorical handbook.

@omitzec -tzec.com

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uxrhetoric.com

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http://profmartysiegel.com

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mailto:[email protected]

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http://uxrhetoric.com/

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Exploration of Rhetorical Appeals, Operations and Figures in UI/UX Design

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