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No matter what problem you are working on, you need a foundation that envisions others using the product you create. In this session, you will build triangles with your hands, look through the triangles and ask: Who is my audience? What is their purpose, and what is their context? With this framing, you will be able to see patterns and make decisions. You will also use hula hoops to explore strategic relationships and maneuver chopsticks to envision the structure of an argument. The session will conclude by drafting agile personas and seeing how this unique approach can serve as the basis for any UX project.
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thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Triangles, Hula Hoops, and ChopsticksExploring Rhetorical Focus
Thom Hallerthom@thomhaller.com
Presentation to UPA-DC. September 16, 2011
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Tonight
Time Chunk 2: Triangles
Time Chunk 3: Hula Hoops
Time Chunk 4: Chopsticks
Time Chunk 5: Try this at Home
Time Chunk 1: Overview … Exigence
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Time Chunk #1:Overview (and Exigence)
Meet Thom…Person most likely to get lost in information
Help! I need structure.
From which passion arose…
How can we make the complex clear?
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
My pursuit began in the 1980s
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
As a student of rhetoric
Rhetoric does not mean “meaningless bombast”
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
chopsticks
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Rhetoric = Information directed toward action
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
I liked that…
But what does this mean to you?
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Useful rhetorical word: EXIGENCE
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Exigence
“An imperfection marked by urgency; a deficit; a need” (Lloyd Bitzer, 68)
“That which prompts the author to write in the first place” (M. Jimmie Killingsworth, 95)
respond to a problem that requires attention a need that must be met a concept that must be understood before the
audience can move to a next step.
Etymology:From the Latin, "demand."
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
In other words: Why are we doing this?
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Thom story: In the early days, I often built “communication products” nobody
wanted to use
1990s now
1976 1980s
Working for
3-letter acronym
firms
Hmmmm…This makes me grumpy
Thom in a mauve cubicle.
Young(er). Moustached. And Grumpy.
This made me grumpy.
So I asked…. “Why are we doing this?”
Deliverable Use ofproduct/site
Why do we focus on
the deliverable?
I wondered…. How can we help people use information?
Deliverable Use ofproduct/site
How can wekeep our focus on
what peoplewant to DO?
And YOU asked…
What does this have to do with triangles,
hula hoops, chopsticks,
and agile thinking?
Time Chunk #2:Triangles
Envision a triangle.
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
You can use a triangle to frame your thinking.
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Celebrity endorsement: Jay-z
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Your turn: Make a triangle with your hands.
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Your turn: Make a triangle with your hands.
Envision your exigency.. Why are you building the
products you are building?
Envision your exigency.. Why are you building the
products you are building?
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Your turn: Make a triangle with your hands.
Look at the corners of the triangle and
ask three questions
Look at the corners of the triangle and
ask three questions
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Ask three focusing questions
How do they/we
measure success?
What do they want to DO with the information?
Who’s the audience?
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Now look through your triangle…
Inside the triangle
Outside the triangle
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
You now have a framework for
deciding what to leave in
and what to take out.
Content: what we leave in
Rhetorical exigency
Time Chunk #3:Hula Hoops
Audience. Purpose. Context.
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Example: www.plainlanguage.gov
Tip: Try this on paper
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Time Chunk #4:Chopsticks
Look at your chopsticks
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Note: For special guests – like you
Envision an hourglass
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
How much background info do you need to support a claim?
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Less background
content
More background
content
Time Chunk #5:Applying ideas
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Develop Quick Personas to Help You Focus
Step One.
Find a Human Images via
Google Images
(Burt)
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Develop Quick Personas to Help You Focus
Step 3.
What is this
person saying as he reads
your document
/content?
Step 2
Draw Triangle
Add Content for AUDIENCE
PURPOSE
CONTEXT
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Develop Quick Personas to Help You Focus
Step 5
Optional: Develop
these into consistent products for the entire team.
Step 4
Use these rough personas to support your
thinking
(agile approach)
thom@thomhaller.com © 2011 www.thomhaller.com
Why Rhetorical Focus Matters
•You can structure information so people can find information, use it, and appreciate the experience.
Thanks.Thanks.Together we can make the complex clear.
Thom Haller thom@thomhaller.com
© 2011 www.thomhaller.com email: thom@thomhaller.com
News : IA/UX class begins next Wednesday. Year #14 at the Graduate School in DC
And I need test volunteers for www.plainlanguage.gov
Hit me up for details.
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