Semiotic Inspection Method for Evaluation of Emotional Responses
(SIME)
The challenge
In my master's degree, I faced as a challenge to develop a method to assess emotional responses without recruit users to evaluate interactive interfaces. The motivation to create an analytical or inspection method is the high cost in the application of empirical evaluation methods whose data collection may present the difficulty of recruiting enough users, the preparation of the appropriate test environment and the need to have experts from different areas for interpretation of the data according to the empirical method or instrument applied. In addition, the cost is greater in relation to the evaluation of emotions because of the need to use more than one method or instrument to evaluate emotional responses.
Methodology
I studied emotional aspects based on studies of psychology and semiotics to help categorize the elements. So I developed an analytical method based on Peirce's semiotics and Scherer's Emotional Semantic Space.
I presented SIME at some academic conferences and received valuable feedback to improve the method.
After the improvement, I invited some HCI researchers and developers to use the method in different applications, and it was possible to understand the viability of the method.
About SIME
The basic procedure of the SIME is the selection of interfaces and their elements, and the semiotic analysis with the view to understand their function in the context of interfaces. In the end, evaluators can infer the set of possible emotional responses based on an emotional structure. The SIME consists of four steps:
STEP 1: The selection of interfaces and elements
In the first step, evaluators must select for inspection an interface or set of interfaces. For each interface, evaluators must select elements and events that are relevant to the evaluation context. If a set of elements compose a concept, evaluators can assess the set of elements as a whole.
STEP 2: the semiotics categorization of interface elements
In the first step, evaluators must select for inspection an interface or set of interfaces. For each interface, evaluators must select elements and events that are relevant to the evaluation context. If a set of elements compose a concept, evaluators can assess the set of elements as a whole.
STEP 3: the identification of domains and octants from Emotional Semantic Space
The SIME provides three sets of questions for correlating signs with their possible domains of emotions. Evaluators use the identified category in the diagram above to obtain the set of questions that they must answer. We propose a question for all domains to determine which hemisphere applies to the sign. Up to this point, the evaluators have to select which questions apply to the element or event.
STEP 3: the identification of domains and octants from Emotional Semantic Space
In the first three steps of the SIME, evaluators separately assessed each element or event.
The fourth step aims to consider all the elements to determine the resulting octant of the emotional experience.For each evaluated element or event in Steps 1–3, evaluators mark the applicable octants according to the set of questions.
To evaluate the set of evoked emotions, evaluators have to determine the most frequent octants. To obtain the domain related to octants, evaluators should check Hemispheres of Emotional Semantic Space. Hemispheres of Emotional Semantic Space shows an adaptation of Emotional Semantic Space and relates the octants to hemispheres. If the mode is amodal, evaluators can conclude that it cannot find an octant in common and, therefore, it is not possible to suggest the possible emotionsthat these elements evoke.
It possible to obtain more datails about emotions via Scherer's Emotional Semantic Space
Please see the academic article about this work:
