The Human Response Model.
HRM estimates how a communication will land before it goes out. It answers two questions and names a third.
What HRM tells you
Will the reader understand it?
Given the shape of the message and what the reader has to work with, is comprehension likely.
Will the reader act on it?
If the message asks for something, is the reader in a position to do it. Do they know what to do, how to do it, and by when.
What is the message trying to accomplish?
HRM identifies the Detected Intent. Naming the intent is how the model knows what to weigh. A message that announces something is different from a message that asks for something. Both can be well written. Only one needs to end in action.
Named, not predictedBuilt on the VOICE Framework
HRM reads a message through the lens of the VOICE Framework. VOICE describes 25 characteristics of a communication, grouped into five dimensions. HRM weighs those characteristics against the Detected Intent to produce its estimates.
HRM does not rewrite the message. It shows the writer what is likely to happen if they send it as is, and where the risk sits.
What HRM does not do
Not business outcomes
HRM does not predict business outcomes. It does not tell an organization whether a policy will be adopted, a job posting will convert, or a customer will renew. Those outcomes involve variables no model of a single message can account for.
Two outcomes that must come first
HRM predicts the two outcomes that must succeed before any business outcome is possible: whether the reader understands the message, and whether they can act on it.
Independent Validation
The model is undergoing independent validation. Until that work is complete, we treat HRM estimates as hypotheses: useful for writers, not proof of outcomes. You can try LINA Lens, the instrument we use to score communications, with a one time free assessment of your public site.