WEB EVALUATION FRAMEWORK WITHIN A RHETORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Rhetoric is a phenomenon of a persuading nature that surrounds us in our daily life but at the same time a science with theories and methods that can be used as analytical tools. A web site tries to persuade its user to stay within the site. A site is therefore a communicative phenomenon and a rhetorical object. Ad-writers have long understood the importance of rhetoric but web evaluation techniques still lack a rhetorical perspective. The purpose of this essay is therefore to compile a framework for evaluating web sites within a rhetorical perspective. The study is carried out according to guidelines for qualitative methods. The partes artis of the classical rhetoric serves as the skeleton of the framework, which are combined with traditional web evaluation techniques. The framework is evaluated through an evaluation of two web sites, and the result of the study is analyzed according to an analysis model constructed for this specific essay. The conclusion of this study is that the framework implies a holistic concept that other web evaluation techniques lack. It works as glue between the parts of the evaluation since there are strong relations between the different parts of partes artis. Another important contribution is the focus on persuasion, which entails knowledge about human psychology and argumentation techniques. Only with the rightly structured arguments it is possible to persuade, even on web sites.