Purpose: Humanitarian audiences are inaccessible to our traditional methods of research. Audiences like migrants often rely on technical communication to find humanitarian aid; however, there are few methodologies that can help us improve materials for them. This project explores world-traveling to demonstrate how the methods of other fields can help us take a proactive approach in critiquing and improving the technical communication from humanitarian operations. Methods:World-traveling is the practice of seeing through another's eyes to anticipate what they may need (Lugones, 2003). It calls us to travel from our privileged "worlds," spaces we inhabit as scholars, into the worlds of vulnerable populations. The practice helps researchers understand the worlds of marginalized populations and help them. I world-travel to migrant women in an archive to improve a map that migrants use to find water in the Arizona desert.Results: World-traveling allowed me to anticipate problems. I found that migrant women are at a much higher risk of death by exposure than men and that the current maps of water hide this risk. I redesigned the map with the intent to lessen the risk of death by exposure for migrant women. The redesign made it clear that women are at risk of a certain harm while also taking steps to humanize the women displayed on the map. Conclusion: World-traveling allowed me to show migrant women the increased risk of death by exposure through a redesigned map. The result is more useful and humane technical communication.
{"title":"World-Traveling to Redesign a Map for Migrant Women: Humanitarian Technical Communication in Praxis","authors":"G. Aguilar","doi":"10.55177/tc485629","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc485629","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Humanitarian audiences are inaccessible to our traditional methods of research. Audiences like migrants often rely on technical communication to find humanitarian aid; however, there are few methodologies that can help us improve materials for them. This project explores\u0000 world-traveling to demonstrate how the methods of other fields can help us take a proactive approach in critiquing and improving the technical communication from humanitarian operations. Methods:World-traveling is the practice of seeing through another's eyes to anticipate what\u0000 they may need (Lugones, 2003). It calls us to travel from our privileged \"worlds,\" spaces we inhabit as scholars, into the worlds of vulnerable populations. The practice helps researchers understand the worlds of marginalized populations and help them. I world-travel to migrant women in an\u0000 archive to improve a map that migrants use to find water in the Arizona desert.Results: World-traveling allowed me to anticipate problems. I found that migrant women are at a much higher risk of death by exposure than men and that the current maps of water hide this risk. I redesigned\u0000 the map with the intent to lessen the risk of death by exposure for migrant women. The redesign made it clear that women are at risk of a certain harm while also taking steps to humanize the women displayed on the map. Conclusion: World-traveling allowed me to show migrant women\u0000 the increased risk of death by exposure through a redesigned map. The result is more useful and humane technical communication.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46762112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: State historical commissions tend to avoid erecting historical marker texts (HMTs), memorials, or monuments that document violence towards Black and brown individuals. The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) uses a series of tactics to circumvent local historical commissions to memorialize victims of lynching. Methods: In this study, we use the EJI's Community Remembrance Project (CRP), an informational handbook for community activists, as our data set. We apply the 4Rs (Walton, Moore, & Jones, 2019) and tactical technical communication in our analysis of the Community Remembrance Project and argue that the document functions as a coalitional, truth-telling tactic to redress inequalities in public memory. Results: We found that the EJI's CRP efforts with the Historical Marker Project clearly demonstrate how coalitions can tactically intervene in racist systems—like historical commissions that reject truth-telling efforts—by creating a different path for historical markers to be erected in communities. Conclusion: We argue that public memory texts often reinforce racism by avoiding topics like racial terror lynching and that these omissions have cultural and material consequences on communities. We contend that technical communicators can intervene in public memory systems and promote truth-telling through coalitional approaches to community activism.
{"title":"Countering Dominant Narratives in Public Memory","authors":"A. L. O’Brien, Josephine N. Walwema","doi":"10.55177/tc985417","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc985417","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: State historical commissions tend to avoid erecting historical marker texts (HMTs), memorials, or monuments that document violence towards Black and brown individuals. The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) uses a series of tactics to circumvent local historical commissions\u0000 to memorialize victims of lynching. Methods: In this study, we use the EJI's Community Remembrance Project (CRP), an informational handbook for community activists, as our data set. We apply the 4Rs (Walton, Moore, & Jones, 2019) and tactical technical communication\u0000 in our analysis of the Community Remembrance Project and argue that the document functions as a coalitional, truth-telling tactic to redress inequalities in public memory. Results: We found that the EJI's CRP efforts with the Historical Marker Project clearly demonstrate\u0000 how coalitions can tactically intervene in racist systems—like historical commissions that reject truth-telling efforts—by creating a different path for historical markers to be erected in communities. Conclusion: We argue that public memory texts often reinforce racism\u0000 by avoiding topics like racial terror lynching and that these omissions have cultural and material consequences on communities. We contend that technical communicators can intervene in public memory systems and promote truth-telling through coalitional approaches to community activism.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45971688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: What can technical communicators learn from a seemingly swank event such as the Reddit Wall Street Bets and GameStop (WSB-GME) saga? In this article, we identify tactical organizing in online spaces as a complex convergence of social uptake and socialized information afforded by news sharing and mass user interactions in digital platforms. Methods:We employed a case study methodology that combined positivist and interpretive perspectives toward a developing event. We curated a series of Reddit posts pertaining to the WSB-GME saga and applied critical discourse analysis with a focus on the tactical and multimodal elements in these posts to identify their professional and theoretical implications. Results: We found the networked social mania to be driven by a discourse founded on a common goal and a shared leadership that emerges from vertical and horizontal community building. While technology assumes an agentive role in facilitating tactical efforts, it can also create an information bubble, where users may be gripped by a cult-like devotion for their heroes and desire to be part of the latest trends, thereby making risky financial bets. Conclusion: The WSB-GME saga illustrated implications for tactical technical communication as well as the impact of networked interactions on democratization of information, consumer engagement, and the rhetoric of finance.
{"title":"Tactical Organizing: What Can the r/wallstreetbets and GameStop Frenzy Teach Us About Technical Communication in a Networked Age?","authors":"Meghalee Das, J. Tham","doi":"10.55177/tc321987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc321987","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: What can technical communicators learn from a seemingly swank event such as the Reddit Wall Street Bets and GameStop (WSB-GME) saga? In this article, we identify tactical organizing in online spaces as a complex convergence of social uptake and socialized information\u0000 afforded by news sharing and mass user interactions in digital platforms. Methods:We employed a case study methodology that combined positivist and interpretive perspectives toward a developing event. We curated a series of Reddit posts pertaining to the WSB-GME saga and\u0000 applied critical discourse analysis with a focus on the tactical and multimodal elements in these posts to identify their professional and theoretical implications. Results: We found the networked social mania to be driven by a discourse founded on a common goal and a shared\u0000 leadership that emerges from vertical and horizontal community building. While technology assumes an agentive role in facilitating tactical efforts, it can also create an information bubble, where users may be gripped by a cult-like devotion for their heroes and desire to be part of the latest\u0000 trends, thereby making risky financial bets. Conclusion: The WSB-GME saga illustrated implications for tactical technical communication as well as the impact of networked interactions on democratization of information, consumer engagement, and the rhetoric of finance.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46655404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: This study re-examines contemporary localization theory to understand the shortcomings of the theory using the case of a state-sponsored postcolonial technology localization project. I call for centering the analysis of the power reticulations in context-specific technology localization. Method: I engaged in extensive review of existing research on the subject and conducted ethnographic and digital surveys with users and non-users of the technology I studied. This method provided nuanced perspectives on technology localization for a grounded user experience analysis. Results: Against current theoretical assumptions that support localization in user contexts as the solution to the chasm between developer culture and user culture, I argue that the reticular nature of power and developers' neglect of users' geo-epistemology also create a chasm within localization at users' sites. Conclusion: We need to examine the complex work of power in user contexts as part of a holistic theory on technology localization in user contexts. Thus, current assumptions must be revised. This revision must insist on the primary role of users' worldings in localization. The context of the postcolony provides a privileged insight into theorizing technology localization and must not be seen only as a "kingdom of ethnography" (Mbembe, 2021, p. 14).
{"title":"Localization at Users' Sites is Not Enough: GhanaPostGPS and Power Reticulations in the Postcolony","authors":"G. E. Agbozo","doi":"10.55177/tc041879","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc041879","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This study re-examines contemporary localization theory to understand the shortcomings of the theory using the case of a state-sponsored postcolonial technology localization project. I call for centering the analysis of the power reticulations in context-specific technology\u0000 localization. Method: I engaged in extensive review of existing research on the subject and conducted ethnographic and digital surveys with users and non-users of the technology I studied. This method provided nuanced perspectives on technology localization for a grounded\u0000 user experience analysis. Results: Against current theoretical assumptions that support localization in user contexts as the solution to the chasm between developer culture and user culture, I argue that the reticular nature of power and developers' neglect of users' geo-epistemology\u0000 also create a chasm within localization at users' sites. Conclusion: We need to examine the complex work of power in user contexts as part of a holistic theory on technology localization in user contexts. Thus, current assumptions must be revised. This revision must insist\u0000 on the primary role of users' worldings in localization. The context of the postcolony provides a privileged insight into theorizing technology localization and must not be seen only as a \"kingdom of ethnography\" (Mbembe, 2021, p. 14).","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44146974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: This article explores the role of technical communicators during disaster response and provides suggestions to practitioners about how to incorporate social justice-oriented language, culture, and context-specific crisis communication during disasters. Method: This is a mixed-methods study that includes a) narrative inquiry and b) social network analysis. The study is based on two different disasters: the April 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Hurricane Maria of 2017. I used narrative inquiry with 28 participants who represented government, non-governmental agencies, community organizers, activists, and students for the qualitative study portion of my research. For the social network analysis portion, I analyzed approximately 50 million tweets that were posted during the first week after both disasters. In this article, I showcased a word frequency display that focuses on the words uttered and written in response to the calamities. Results: Based on this method, I found that there were two different types of communication that happened during these two disasters: organizational communication and crisis publics communication, which was mediated by people from all walks of life. Conclusion: Technical communicators and publics (local or non-experts) who take up the role of technical communicators during a disaster can play an important role in providing accurate information and dispelling misinformation by working closely with the experts, scientists, journalists, and other officials.
{"title":"How Can Technical Communicators Help in Disaster Response?","authors":"Sweta Baniya","doi":"10.55177/tc658475","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc658475","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This article explores the role of technical communicators during disaster response and provides suggestions to practitioners about how to incorporate social justice-oriented language, culture, and context-specific crisis communication during disasters.\u0000 Method: This is a mixed-methods study that includes a) narrative inquiry and b) social network analysis. The study is based on two different disasters: the April 2015 Nepal Earthquake and Hurricane Maria of 2017. I used narrative inquiry with 28 participants who represented government,\u0000 non-governmental agencies, community organizers, activists, and students for the qualitative study portion of my research. For the social network analysis portion, I analyzed approximately 50 million tweets that were posted during the first week after both disasters. In this article, I showcased\u0000 a word frequency display that focuses on the words uttered and written in response to the calamities. Results: Based on this method, I found that there were two different types of communication that happened during these two disasters: organizational communication and crisis\u0000 publics communication, which was mediated by people from all walks of life. Conclusion: Technical communicators and publics (local or non-experts) who take up the role of technical communicators during a disaster can play an important role in providing accurate information\u0000 and dispelling misinformation by working closely with the experts, scientists, journalists, and other officials.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47107739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Extended reality (XR) is a promising new medium that creates environments combining real and virtual elements or offers a completely virtual environment for people to experience. In the field of technical communication, XR offers a plethora of possibilities, such as augmenting critical instructions in a work environment. On the downside, XR brings about challenges. For example, issues of privacy and security require more attention due to the risks involved with XR devices continuously collecting data from the users and their surroundings. More knowledge concerning the use of XR as a medium to deliver technical instructions is required. In this article, I address this need by explaining how XR handles data. Methods: To find out how XR handles data, I used relevant previous research (33 papers and four books) as data for thematic analysis. I coded data systematically according to how XR has been used before and the phases that can be seen in the process of data handling in XR when it is used as a medium for technical instructions. Results: The data handled in XR can be divided into instructional data, such as assembly instructions, and collected data that XR equipment collects while someone is using it. Data handling in XR can be seen as a process. Based on the thematic analysis, I found six different phases of data handling: collection, processing, storage, transfer, combining, and presentation. Conclusion: The phases of data handling in XR illustrate in general what happens to the data in XR and what kind of data the equipment collects. My findings add to our understanding of XR as a medium to deliver technical instructions. They also offer a usable framework for mapping the differences between XR and other media as a way to deliver technical instructions.
{"title":"Data Handling Process in Extended Reality (XR) When Delivering Technical Instructions","authors":"Satu Rantakokko","doi":"10.55177/tc734125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc734125","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Extended reality (XR) is a promising new medium that creates environments combining real and virtual elements or offers a completely virtual environment for people to experience. In the field of technical communication, XR offers a plethora of possibilities, such as\u0000 augmenting critical instructions in a work environment. On the downside, XR brings about challenges. For example, issues of privacy and security require more attention due to the risks involved with XR devices continuously collecting data from the users and their surroundings. More knowledge\u0000 concerning the use of XR as a medium to deliver technical instructions is required. In this article, I address this need by explaining how XR handles data. Methods: To find out how XR handles data, I used relevant previous research (33 papers and four books) as data for thematic\u0000 analysis. I coded data systematically according to how XR has been used before and the phases that can be seen in the process of data handling in XR when it is used as a medium for technical instructions. Results: The data handled in XR can be divided into instructional data,\u0000 such as assembly instructions, and collected data that XR equipment collects while someone is using it. Data handling in XR can be seen as a process. Based on the thematic analysis, I found six different phases of data handling: collection, processing, storage, transfer, combining, and presentation.\u0000 Conclusion: The phases of data handling in XR illustrate in general what happens to the data in XR and what kind of data the equipment collects. My findings add to our understanding of XR as a medium to deliver technical instructions. They also offer a usable framework for mapping the\u0000 differences between XR and other media as a way to deliver technical instructions.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71034702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Twitter is a promising technical communication platform for companies, but a thorough understanding of how it works best is lacking. This study analyzes characteristics of IT companies' technical communication tweets and relates them to users' online engagement (likes, retweets, replies). Three message characteristics were included: content, message elements, and communication strategies. Method: We collected technical communication tweets posted by four IT companies in two weeks (N = 1,604). We developed a content categorization and also coded the tweets for message elements, communication strategies, and online engagement. Message elements and communication strategies were compared with those used in the companies' corporate and marketing communication tweets. Negative binomial regression analyses were used to map relationships between message characteristics and online engagement. Results: Ten content types were distinguished, illustrating the versatile nature of technical communication on Twitter. Hyperlinks were the most prominent message element; two types of elements were less prevalent: elements enhancing attractiveness (photos, videos, emojis) and elements connecting to a broader Twitter discourse (hashtags, mentions). Communication strategies did not include community-building tweets; evoking action was most prominent. Several links were found between message characteristics and online engagement: Providing user instructions or updates and feedback opportunities, including photos or videos, and providing one-way information promoted online engagement. Conclusion: Although Twitter might work differently for technical communication than for other domains, it seems fruitful to add more attractive message elements and explore community-building strategies within technical communication. However, there is also reason to relativize the importance of online engagement indicators for technical communication.
{"title":"Twitter as a Technical Communication Platform: How IT Companies' Message Characteristics Relate to Online Engagement","authors":"Shu Zhang, M. D. de Jong, Jordy F. Gosselt","doi":"10.55177/tc657458","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc657458","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Twitter is a promising technical communication platform for companies, but a thorough understanding of how it works best is lacking. This study analyzes characteristics of IT companies' technical communication tweets and relates them to users' online engagement (likes,\u0000 retweets, replies). Three message characteristics were included: content, message elements, and communication strategies. Method: We collected technical communication tweets posted by four IT companies in two weeks (N = 1,604). We developed a content categorization and also\u0000 coded the tweets for message elements, communication strategies, and online engagement. Message elements and communication strategies were compared with those used in the companies' corporate and marketing communication tweets. Negative binomial regression analyses were used to map relationships\u0000 between message characteristics and online engagement. Results: Ten content types were distinguished, illustrating the versatile nature of technical communication on Twitter. Hyperlinks were the most prominent message element; two types of elements were less prevalent: elements\u0000 enhancing attractiveness (photos, videos, emojis) and elements connecting to a broader Twitter discourse (hashtags, mentions). Communication strategies did not include community-building tweets; evoking action was most prominent. Several links were found between message characteristics and\u0000 online engagement: Providing user instructions or updates and feedback opportunities, including photos or videos, and providing one-way information promoted online engagement. Conclusion: Although Twitter might work differently for technical communication than for other domains,\u0000 it seems fruitful to add more attractive message elements and explore community-building strategies within technical communication. However, there is also reason to relativize the importance of online engagement indicators for technical communication.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43951060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Contemporary non-profit organizations must reach a variety of audiences in order to sustain themselves and must compel these audiences to take action on behalf of a specific cause. At the same time, past research has indicated that non- profit professionals often lack the necessary training and expertise to leverage digital technologies for effective communication. This research study explores how technical communicators can assist non-profits by helping them develop effective content strategies. Method: This report of research findings is based on an ongoing Participatory Action Research (PAR) project, which included a series of focus groups with representatives of thirteen different organizations as well as interventions with several other organizations. The goal has been to learn about and help improve non-profit content strategy in the community of Greenville, North Carolina. Results: We found that while non-profits do rely on a variety of media to fulfill their goals, they prefer pre-digital media. Our participants also defined audiences in a very loose manner, used content in a non-targeted way, and favored existing organizational processes over content strategy best practices. Conclusions: Ultimately, we provide several ways technical communicators can assist non-profits through low-cost or free consulting and the development of educational materials. We hope that fellow professionals will engage in this necessary work because non-profits in the United States form an important "third sector" of the economy that provides essential services to countless individuals.
{"title":"Helping Content Strategy: What Technical Communicators Can Do for Non-Profits","authors":"Guiseppe Getto, Suzan Flanagan","doi":"10.55177/tc227091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc227091","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Contemporary non-profit organizations must reach a variety of audiences in order to sustain themselves and must compel these audiences to take action on behalf of a specific cause. At the same time, past research has indicated that non- profit professionals often lack\u0000 the necessary training and expertise to leverage digital technologies for effective communication. This research study explores how technical communicators can assist non-profits by helping them develop effective content strategies. Method: This report of research findings\u0000 is based on an ongoing Participatory Action Research (PAR) project, which included a series of focus groups with representatives of thirteen different organizations as well as interventions with several other organizations. The goal has been to learn about and help improve non-profit content\u0000 strategy in the community of Greenville, North Carolina. Results: We found that while non-profits do rely on a variety of media to fulfill their goals, they prefer pre-digital media. Our participants also defined audiences in a very loose manner, used content in a non-targeted\u0000 way, and favored existing organizational processes over content strategy best practices. Conclusions: Ultimately, we provide several ways technical communicators can assist non-profits through low-cost or free consulting and the development of educational materials. We hope\u0000 that fellow professionals will engage in this necessary work because non-profits in the United States form an important \"third sector\" of the economy that provides essential services to countless individuals.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43172107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Recently, interest in usability has grown in the technical communication (TC) field, but we lack a current cohesive literature review that reflects this new growth. This article provides an integrative literature review on usability, its goals, and approaches to accomplish those goals in relation to TC's commitment to social justice and empowerment. Methods: I conducted an integrative literature review on usability to synthesize and characterize TC's growing commitment to social justice and empowerment. I searched scholarly publications and trade literature that included books and book chapters on usability. Adopting grounded theory and content analysis as research techniques to systematically evaluate data corpus, I read and classified selected publications to approach the research questions and iteratively analyzed the data to identify themes within each research question. Results: Surveying the definitions and descriptions of usability in the literature corpus shows that there is no consensus definition of usability. Findings suggest that the goal of usability can be classified as: a) pragmatic or functional goals, b) user experience goals, and c) sociocultural goals. Given the recent cultural and social justice turns in TC, my findings reveal a number of social justice-oriented design approaches for usability. Conclusions: Usability should not be viewed solely as a means of achieving pragmatic and/or user experience goals. Practitioners also need to consider usability from sociocultural orientations to accomplish its sociocultural goals. From interconnected global perspectives, the review implies the need for adopting more viable and culturally sustaining design approaches for successfully accommodating cultural differences and complexities for promoting social justice and user empowerment.
{"title":"Promoting Social Justice Through Usability in Technical Communication: An Integrative Literature Review","authors":"Keshab R. Acharya","doi":"10.55177/tc584938","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc584938","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Recently, interest in usability has grown in the technical communication (TC) field, but we lack a current cohesive literature review that reflects this new growth. This article provides an integrative literature review on usability, its goals, and approaches to accomplish\u0000 those goals in relation to TC's commitment to social justice and empowerment. Methods: I conducted an integrative literature review on usability to synthesize and characterize TC's growing commitment to social justice and empowerment. I searched scholarly publications and\u0000 trade literature that included books and book chapters on usability. Adopting grounded theory and content analysis as research techniques to systematically evaluate data corpus, I read and classified selected publications to approach the research questions and iteratively analyzed the data\u0000 to identify themes within each research question. Results: Surveying the definitions and descriptions of usability in the literature corpus shows that there is no consensus definition of usability. Findings suggest that the goal of usability can be classified as: a) pragmatic\u0000 or functional goals, b) user experience goals, and c) sociocultural goals. Given the recent cultural and social justice turns in TC, my findings reveal a number of social justice-oriented design approaches for usability. Conclusions: Usability should not be viewed solely\u0000 as a means of achieving pragmatic and/or user experience goals. Practitioners also need to consider usability from sociocultural orientations to accomplish its sociocultural goals. From interconnected global perspectives, the review implies the need for adopting more viable and culturally\u0000 sustaining design approaches for successfully accommodating cultural differences and complexities for promoting social justice and user empowerment.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48919676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose: Design thinking is a process for identifying solutions to problems in certain contexts. The better one understands contextual factors affecting use and interaction, the more effectively one can use design thinking to address issues at the context and greater systems levels. This article examines how the cognitive science concepts of scripts and prototypes can help realize the potential of design thinking in different settings. Method: This article compares design thinking approaches for understanding context to concepts of context as examined in the cognitive mechanisms of prototypes and scripts. Through this comparison, the author explains how to integrate scripts and prototypes into design thinking processes in order to enhance understandings of context and the success of design thinking approaches to context-related problems. Results: The article reveals that prototypes and scripts can expand design thinking approaches and enhance the development of design solutions for addressing problems at local and greater systems levels. Conclusions: Technical communicators can use the approach presented here to enhance design thinking processes in order to better address problems in or design products for specific contexts.
{"title":"Context, Cognition, and the Dynamics of Design Thinking: Cognitive Methods for Understanding the Situational Variables Affecting Usable Design","authors":"K. St. Amant","doi":"10.55177/tc796562","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.55177/tc796562","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Design thinking is a process for identifying solutions to problems in certain contexts. The better one understands contextual factors affecting use and interaction, the more effectively one can use design thinking to address issues at the context and greater systems\u0000 levels. This article examines how the cognitive science concepts of scripts and prototypes can help realize the potential of design thinking in different settings. Method: This article compares design thinking approaches for understanding context to concepts of context as\u0000 examined in the cognitive mechanisms of prototypes and scripts. Through this comparison, the author explains how to integrate scripts and prototypes into design thinking processes in order to enhance understandings of context and the success of design thinking approaches to context-related\u0000 problems. Results: The article reveals that prototypes and scripts can expand design thinking approaches and enhance the development of design solutions for addressing problems at local and greater systems levels. Conclusions: Technical communicators can\u0000 use the approach presented here to enhance design thinking processes in order to better address problems in or design products for specific contexts.","PeriodicalId":46338,"journal":{"name":"Technical Communication","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48539975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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