Poster

Rhetorical Analysis as an IA Deliverable

Dimitri Lundquist

Rhetoric is usually defined as "the art of persuasion through the use of language," but what rhetoric also offers is a methodical way of looking at texts (in the broad sense of the word, as any communicative vehicle) in order to understand how they function. Both information architecture and rhetoric are very scrupulous with language, and both are aware of the subtleties and perils inherent in using words to represent concepts. Additionally, in order to do either well, it is necessary to possess an acute understanding of one's users/audience. Information architects work to ensure that all language used is clear and structured in such a way that facilitates the users' productive engagement with an information system. Rhetorical critics are interested in crafting language to convey an effective message to a particular audience.

In "Information Ecologies," Bonnie Nardi offers an interesting set of metaphors for talking about technology, two of which are "tool" and "text" (27-33). When people talk about technology-as-tool, they are talking about how people interact with and use a technology. Information architects are most familiar with this kind of dialogue; when we talk about usability and empathy for the user this is the metaphor we are employing. Talking about technology-as-text means talking about the ways in which a technology can be understood as a medium of communication. Here the focus is on how audiences relate to and understand a technology, and conversely how the technology itself shapes an audience's understanding. Rhetorical analysis is concerned with this second way of talking about technology. Having a vocabulary for this kind of conversation gives an information architect a new way of understanding the web site they're working on.

My poster will demonstrate how rhetorical analysis can be applied to information architecture practice as a concrete deliverable. Rhetorical analysis gives an information architect the tools to formally understand a web site's message. This understanding confers two concrete benefits. First, it gives information architects another paradigm for understanding their users. Second, it provides another means of communicating with other stakeholders in the development process who may be more used to thinking in terms of message and impact.