#24969
A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Visual Literacy Challenges for Technical Communicators 
Many emerging nations have pre-technological cultures. These nations are striving to develop a new technological literacy that is heavily dependent on visual literacy, or the ability to 'read' images. This paper discusses some challenges for technical communicators in presenting technical graphics to users who are not fully functional in learned Western conventions and skills of pictorial representation, pictorial literacy, and pictorial perception aspects such as conceptualization, perspective and depth, scale, and analysis of component details.
Ausburn, Floyd B. and Lynna J. Ausburn. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Communication>Visual Rhetoric
#24696
Finding Out Who Likes What: A Research Tool Kit for Technical Communicators
As new technologies revolutionize our communication options, technical communicators must be increasingly accountable for the outcomes of our products and messages. Research in the behavioral and cognitive sciences has provided many data tools that can be very useful to technical communicators. Techniques such as simple descriptive statistics, the Delphi method, trained observers, chi-square analysis, and aptitude/treatment interaction analysis can help technical communicators discover and document the impact of your messages by revealing what you did right, who says so, and who disagrees.
Ausburn, Lynna J. and Floyd B. Ausburn. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Research>Writing>Technical Writing
#24790
My Brain's Not Like Yours: Individual Differences in Visual Processing Styles
The principles of graphic design 'work' for viewers for several reasons. One reason is that well-designed graphics perform significant information-processing functions for viewers. This workshop looks at individual differences in several dimensions of information-processing style (including visual/haptic,field independent/dependent, high/low detail analysis, high/low visual distractibility, and leveling/sharpening in visual memory). It then examines the ability of graphic designs to 'supplant' processing skills for viewers by either captializing on viewer strengths or compensating for their weaknesses.
Ausburn, Floyd B. and Lynna J. Ausburn. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Graphic Design>Visual>Cognitive Psychology
