Society is faced with a steep learning curve in our use of hypermedia. Right now, people are creating hypermedia using the rhetorical principles already developed for paper publishing, mass media, computer interface design, and other applicable information forms. Unfortunately, this method is difficult to effect (and difficult to teach others) because of the varied knowledge required. It's also difficult because the past rhetorical principles don't exactly fit hypermedia so must be adjusted. In other words, the rhetorical principles of the past must not only be applied, but must be synthesized to work for hypermedia development.
In my paper, I suggest a different way to examine hypermedia that might be useful in applying the rhetorical principles. My model is a three-dimensional cube with relevance, usability, and control as the three axes.
Relevance is the degree of worth the user assigns to the hypermedia. It's a combination of subject matter and how well the author can build dissonance within his or her audience. The two extremes are high relevance and low relevance.
Usability is a compilation of screen layout, search engines, link viability, and link usefulness (Horton, 1994 and December, 1995). It ranges from poor usability to good usability.
Control is how much control over the path through the work a user maintains (Whalley, 1993). Control varies from user controlled to author controlled.
This model is useful because hypermedia can be plotted on the axes and compared to effective works with similar purposes to predict the relative effectiveness of a hypermedia creation.