Homepage design method: designing with Aristotle’s 3 modes of persuasion
Emotional design methodologies for better conversion
I bet you are wondering how we can apply a method from the art of persuasion from an ancient Greek philosopher that lived 2300 years before the invention of the internet? Well, the short answer is that these principles are still a basic foundation of human rhetoric and understanding them and how they can be applied on the single most important page of a website is indeed an interesting project.
Let us first delve into the difficult task of designing a homepage.
If you are lucky, you’ve been provided with a wireframe complete with content and layout ideas. However, in my experience, this is often unlikely. In most cases, there is a change request, but no information on exactly what they want to update or ideas for what they expect. In this case, I decided to try a new approach… to apply a philosophical methodology to reframe the problem and outline the project.
Insert Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion and the principles of emotional design to structure the homepage to help with hierarchy and tell the story of a company in the most meaningful and quickly digestible way.
The three modes of persuasion:
Logos — logical appeal — (convince)
Logos is all about convincing your audience by using logic or reason. Here you would cite authorities on the subject or use logic to convince by using the following:
- Statistics
- Case studies
- Comparisons
- Analogies
- Metaphors
Ethos — ethical appeal — (trust)
Ethos is about building the company’s credibility or character. It is about building trust with your audience. Therefore, you must sound fair and unbiased, use appropriate language for your audience, and correct grammar and syntax. This is the most difficult level to cater to. However, by being meticulous with your branding and wording, you can build a strong ethical appeal through the following:
- Branding (consistent branding)
- Confidence in delivery
- Credible Citation
Pathos — emotional appeal — (act)
Pathos is about persuading your audience by appealing to their emotions. Here you want to inspire emotionally to prompt action. Use meaningful language, emotion-evoking examples, or stories of emotional events. You can also cater to the pathos appeal by provoking sympathy. You can build emotion through the following:
- Relevant imagery
- Inspirational quotes
- Vivid language
- Values
- Stories
A breakdown of how this is done on Zapier.com
Just in the top section alone, Zapier utilizes all three modes of persuasion:
Logos
Zapier uses numbers to appeal to your logical senses “works on 5,000+ apps,” indicating the inclusive product integration. They also use an analogy in the main title — “automate your….” animation that goes through various product use cases.
Ethos
Repetitive colour use to strengthen the sense of branding and to draw attention. Confidence in delivery with word use like “empowers you.”
Uses credible citations with the “trusted by” section of noteworthy companies.
Pathos
Utilizing vivid language with positive affirmations such as: “move forward”, and “faster.” Image use shows a smiling person, which evokes joy in product use.
These principles become reiterated over and over through the body of the page:
Logos
Comparisons — fulfillment examples
Analogies — “explore by role”
Ethos
Credible citation — credible company integration
Trust — “try it now”
Pathos
Positive language “do what you do best” “automation for all” both of which are inclusive feeling
Value — using Zapier makes you successful “15 new tasks”
Inspirational — Anti-risk — “no forgotten tasks”
Pathos
Inspirational quotes — are used as emotion-evoking examples.
Logos
Statistics — “75% more efficient”
Case studies from reputable companies are also a part of this section.
Ethos
Confidence in delivery — “we make DIY doable” and here are all our guides/support to help you along your way.
Credible citation — “Hire an expert” with 5-star ratings.
Pathos
Vivid (positive) language —“grow your skills” “help you” both give positive affirmation to viewers.
Logos
Statistics — “5000+ app” integration.
Comparisons — “supports more apps than any other platform”
Ethos
Credible citation — connect with noteworthy companies by using them.
Pathos
Vivid language — “try it free” “free forever” “ready to level up?” “powerful features” are all examples of vivid language.
Story — fits into your life with your unique needs.
Ethos
Branding — the primary brand colour is reintroduced as you end the page to strengthen the visual correlation and identity.
Confidence in delivery — free trial, fits your needs.
Conclusion
The three modes of persuasion are effective ways to structure a homepage with information that speaks to your specific user and when done well, will increase your conversions. However, to do this well you first need to know your user, a good tool is user personas to help you frame their interests (my go-to persona creation information). Hierarchy is another method of design that ensures users can skim information for relevancy. I’ve had major success redesigning my own homepage with only focussing on hierarchy of information.
I hope you enjoyed the article and example. If you would enjoy more of these types of design analogies and breakdowns please follow me and comment ☺️
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