Assessing Visualizations in Public Science Presentations  

Natural resource agencies and other technical and scientific organizations face an immense challenge of when communicating complex technical information to diverse publics. The laptop computer, presentation software, and projection unit have emerged as one of the primary presentation tools in many technical and scientific fields. Advances in software functions enable presenters to capitalize on a wide range of multimedia functions thought to make presentations more appealing, interesting, and effective. Our presentation reports on a specific research project and then provides guidance for enhancing their presentations.

Zimmerman, Donald E., Carol A. Akerelrea, Jane Kapler Smith and Garrett O'Keefe. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Presentations>Visual Rhetoric

Conducting Mail, Telephone, and Online Surveys: 1998  

While surveys appear surprisingly easy to plan and conduct, they are fraught with pitfalls for the unwary. That said, technical communicators can use surveys as a tool to enhance their understanding of audiences, assess the effectiveness of their communication products, and determine the value of technical communications to their company--if they follow wellestablished social science and communication science methodologies. This workshop will provide you with the foundations you need for developing, conducting, and managing surveys; analyzing the data, interpreting surveys and reporting your results.

Zimmerman, Donald E. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Usability>Methods>Surveys

Conducting Mail, Telephone, and Online Surveys: 1999  

While surveys appear surprisingly easy to plan and conduct, they are fraught with pitfalls for the unwary. That said, technical communicators can use surveys as a tool to enhance their understanding of audiences, assess the effectiveness of their communication products, and determine the value of technical communication to their company--if they follow well-established social science and communication science methodologies. This workshop will provide you with the foundations you need for developing, conducting, and managing surveys; analyzing the data, interpreting surveys and reporting your results.

Zimmerman, Donald E. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Usability>Methods>Surveys

Examining World Wide Web Designs--Lessons from Pilot Studies

Since 1994, our faculty and graduate students have studied a variety of design issues critical to enhancing the effectiveness of World Wide Web (WWW) sites. Guided by earlier literature from such wide-ranging disciplines as information design, text legibility, hypertext, multimedia, interface design, human computer interaction, and communication science, we have completed five studies. Further, we developed a research protocol designed to enhance the effectiveness of WWW sites for education and information delivery. Our research protocol was guided by Berger and Chaffee's (1987) communication science orientation where communication science seeks to understand the production, processing, and effects of symbol and signal systems by developing testable theories, containing lawful generalizations, that explain phenomena associated with production, processing and effects.

Zimmerman, Donald E., Michel Muraski, Michael Palmquist, Emily Estes, Catherine McClintoch and Linda Bilsing. Microsoft (1996). Design>Web Design>Usability

Lessons Learned from Building a HealthWeb Site: Implications for Technical Communicators  

The presentation reports on an iterative design process using formative evaluations to develop a user-oriented nutrition education Web site, 5-a-Day, The Rio Grande Way, for a rural multicultural population in the Upper Rio Grande River Valley in Southern Colorado and Northern NewMexico. The presentation will outline the overall project and then focus on three studies. Study One, used a card-sorting process, to generate the basic structure and labeling of the Web sites. Study Two, using verbal protocol analysis and a questionnaire evaluated the prototype for the Web site. Study Three, using verbal protocol analysis, evaluated the redesigned Web site. The presentation will share the lessons learned in developing the Web sites and the share the lessons learned for conducting usability testing and technical communications. The presentation will close by highlighting the technical communication and usability lessons learned.

Zimmerman, Donald E., Carol Akerelrea and David Buller. STC Proceedings (2003). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design>Biomedical

Review: Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method  

If you're planning to conduct a survey, invest $70 USD in Dillman's book. It provides some of the finest methodological guidance available for conducting surveys.

Zimmerman, Donald E. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Usability>Surveys

Risk Communication—Lessons from Communication Science  

This article explores risk communication from the communication science perspective, discusses three theoretical risk communication models: theory of reasoned action, extended parallel processing model, and dialectical discourse model; explores the complexities of risk communication messages; suggests guidance for risk communicators; and provides a working bibliography of recent risk communication literature.

Zimmerman, Donald E. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Risk Communication

Taking Usability Testing to the Field    

Know your audiences, comes the repeated message for technical communicators and in response, more and more technical communicators have turned to usability testing to learn more about their readers and to improve their communications. Technical communicators produce manuals, instructions, and warnings for hand tools, medical equipment, lawn mowers, tractors, pesticide sprayers, and thousands of different products. Most manuals, instructions, and products can benefit from usability testing. This case study provides guidance for technical communicators who are novices to usability testing. The lessons we learned can be of value to technical communicators beginning their first usability testing on a wide range of technical communications and products.

Zimmerman, Donald E., Michel Lynn Muraski and Michael D. Slater. Technical Communication Online (1999). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

Technical Editors: Are We Are Own Worst Enemies? Strategies For Working With Authors  

The authors explore two studies of cognitive assessments, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Boundary Spanning of technical communicators, give readers an opportunity to score themselves, and then they argue that knowing the cognitive differences between technical communicators and the authors they edit can help them improve working relationships with authors. When copyediting, they suggest making suggestions rather than dictates; providing rationale for suggestions; basing suggested changes on style guides, standard references and communication research; and using a levels- of-edit approach.

Zimmerman, Donald E. and Charlotte Taylor. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Technical Editing

A Usability Case Study: Prospective Students Use of a University Web Page  

We conducted usability testing of a Web site designed to market the university to perspective high school students. Twenty-six high school juniors, many of them honors students, completed the usability tests. Accessing students through the high schools required adapting the usability testing because of high school policies. While the students were generally positive toward the Web site, they had trouble understanding university terminology and finding key information. They did not recognize the non-standard links, and the search engine did not find the information they were seeking. The article closes with 10 guidelines for practitioners in developing web sites. staff.' The gold links turned green when clicked. In addition, a left-hand sidebar had a series of gold links on a green background: 'About CSU, Apply, Athletics, Colleges & Departments, Events, Libraries, News, Outreach, Research, Contact us, Contents, CSU A-Z, Directories, Search, and Cam-o-Gram.' The Prospective Students link took students to a ne

Zimmerman, Donald E. and Terri Prickett. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Usability