Touchpoint “How designers pinpoint, assess, reflect, and redesign all the different steps in a situation or text as the audience will encounter it” (p. 10).”There are hundreds of touchpoints possible in a single experience” (p. 10).”Assessing touchpoints can be a large or small endeavor, depending on the multimodal project” (p. 10). Think of touchpoints as helping you get from point A to point B to point C and so on. Touchpoints are a form of brainstorming not too much different from mind mapping. Below is an example of a customer touchpoint:
Linguistic “refers to the use of language, which usually means written or spoken words” (p. 13). “consider: word choice; the delivery of text as spoken or written; the organization of writing or speech into phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc.; the development and coherence of individual words and ideas” (p. 13). Linguistic is how we use language for verbal and/or written communication.The tone and way something is written or said: whether in a serious tone, a technical tone, a friendly tone, a humourous tone.
Visual “refers to the use of images and other characteristics that readers see” (p. 14). “Billboards, flyers, television, websites, lighted advertising displays, and even grocery store shelves bombard us with visual information in an effort to attract our attention” (p. 14). “We can use this mode to communicate representations of how something looks or how someone is feeling, to instruct, to persuade, and to entertain, among other things. The visual mode includes: color, layout, style, size, perspective, framing” (p. 15). If you can see it, it’s visual. Below is a visual representation of “ikigai” the Japanese notion for “the meaning of life.”
Aural “The aural mode focuses on sound. Whether we are talking about a speech, a video demonstration, sound effects on a website, or the audio elements of a radio program, the aural mode provides multiple ways of communicating and understanding a message” (p. 16). This includes “music, sound effects, ambient noise/sounds, silence, tone of voice in spoken language, volume of sound, emphasis and accent” (p. 16). If you can hear it with your ears, if it makes a sound: it’s aural. Certain sounds and songs can invoke feelings in people. For example, the song “Jingle Bells” gives most people a feeling invoking Christmas and cold winter months.
Spatial “The spatial mode is about physical arrangement” (p. 18) The spatial mode can refer to where things are placed in order to make navigation easier.An example of the spatial mode includes: the way a grocery store is laid out. The bakery, along with all of the produce, dairy, and meats are usually on the outside of the store. Meanwhile the processed foods, canned and boxed goods, and personal hygiene products are down the aisles of the store. This is to make it easier to find things in most stores.
Gestural “The gestural mode refers to the way movement, such as body language, can make meaning. When we interact with people in real life or watch them on-screen, we can tell a lot about how they are feeling and what they are trying to communicate. The gestural mode includes: facial expressions, hand gestures, body language, interaction between people” (p. 19). The gestural mode is a mode of communicating how we feel toward other people. The most common use of gestures is in body language but can also include sign language for the hearing impaired. An example of gestural communication and body language would be somebody with their arms crossed over their chest. It’s not always true but it’s often interpreted that this means that the individual is closed off. They may be feeling defensive, holding something back, overwhelmed, or simply focusing on a problem. Either way it usually tends to mean that they are lost in their own heads and wish to be left alone.
Affordances “The different strengths and weakness of media (video, writing, pictures, etc.) and modes”The pros and cons of different types of media and their modes of communication. Visual communication can give us the affordance of communicating in an immediate way. Meanwhile the linguistic mode gives us the affordance of time to communicate more detailed steps.