Exploration of Rhetorical
Appeals, Operations and
Figures in UI/UX Design
Omar Sosa-Tzec1, Martin A. Siegel1 and Paul Brown2
Indiana University Bloomington
1 School of Informatics and Computing 2 Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts
June 29, 2015 - The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Motivation
Rhetorical handbook
An illustrated manual for graphic designers
‣ Ehses & Lupton (1988)
‣ NSCAD student work
‣ Application of rhetorical
concepts in graphic design
Modes of Appeal
Rhetoric Graphic Design
Persuasion
Meaning
Argumentation
Connection with oral communication
Rhetoric UI/UX Design
Persuasion
Meaning
Argumentation
Connection with oral communication
Generation of concepts
Rhetoric UI/UX Design
Connection with oral communication
Generation of concepts
Rhetoric UI/UX Design
Connection with oral communication
Generation of concepts
Design Pedagogy
‣ “Rhetoric and Design” (Ehses, 1987)
‣ Interview
‣ Selected Bibliography
‣ Three modes of appeal
‣ Rhetorical operations
‣ Rhetorical figures
‣ More student work
Structure
Extracts
Other references
(Online/Offline)
Illustration of Concepts
uxrhetoric.com
“Rhetoric and Design” - takeaways
1.Rhetoric is not about trickery of flattering
2.Rhetoric is about effective communication
and meaning generated in context
3.Rhetoric is infiltrated in all the forms of
“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.
1.The three modes of appeal (logos, ethos and
pathos) fluctuate throughout the user experience
1.The three modes of appeal (logos, ethos and
pathos) fluctuate throughout the user experience
2.Rhetorical operations describe modifications
made on an interface for working on different
platforms
1.The three modes of appeal (logos, ethos and
pathos) fluctuate throughout the user experience
2.Rhetorical operations describe modifications
made on an interface for working on different
platforms
3.Rhetorical figures (tropes and schemes) help to
describe conceptually the interface's composition and interactions
Ethos, logos and pathos
f
luctuate
Yahoo Weather App for iOS
Bloomberg Billionaires – The web version is the standard composition
Rhetorical operations, interface modifications
and di
f
ferent platforms
Bloomberg Billionaires – The mobile version is the result of the application of rhetorical operations
Addition + Subtraction +
Tropes and figures, so
f
tware as
composition, description of interactions
Alliteration repeats the initial parts of elements in a sequence.
(Ehses & Lupton, 1988)
Tropes and figures, so
f
tware as
composition, description of interactions
Ellipses
deliberately omits elements from a statement.
(Ehses & Lupton, 1988)
1.The UI/UX rhetorical handbook would be used as
a framework to engage designers in discussion
and reflection upon possible meanings conveyed by the interface composition as the user interacts
with the software
‣ Denotation
‣ 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 affect
people's lives, beliefs, and attitudes
2.The UI/UX rhetorical handbook offers a vocabulary
for UI/UX designers to analyze, conceptualize, and
‣ To consider software 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
‣Interfaces are quite different from the examples
‣Interfaces are quite different from the examples
analyzed and presented in the original handbook
‣There is a fluctuation in the weights of each of the
‣Interfaces are quite different from the examples
analyzed and presented in the original handbook
‣There is a fluctuation in the weights of each of the
modes of appeal
‣Interfaces are quite different from the examples
analyzed and presented in the original handbook
‣There is a fluctuation in the weights of each of the
modes of appeal
‣Tropes and schemes support such a fluctuation
‣Tropes and schemes help to describe conceptually,
Limitations and future work
‣More examples are needed; simplification of
language
‣We found difficulties 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
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
profmartysiegel.com
