Critiquing Critiques: A Genre Analysis of Feedback Across Novice to Expert Design Studios    

In the discipline of design, the most common presentation genre is the critique, and the most central aspect of this genre is the feedback. Using a qualitative framework, this article identifies a typology of feedback, compares the frequencies of feedback types between different levels of design studios ranging from novice to expert, and explores what the feedback reflects about the social and educational context of these design studios. Results suggest that the feedback socialized students into egalitarian relationships and autonomous decision-making identities that were perhaps more reflective of academic developmental stages or idealized workplace contexts than of actual professional settings--therefore potentially complicating the preprofessional goals of the critique.

Dannels, Deanna P. and Kelly Norris Martin. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Editing>Collaboration

Crossing the Chasm: The Quest to Bring the Best of Academia and Industry to the Technical Communication Profession  

Crossing the two worlds of academia and industry is a precarious, yet exhilarating, “communication odyssey.” This paper charts the channels that teachers in academia and technical communicators in industry can use to access these two worlds, and describes the challenges and rewards in making the journey. It relies on both primary sources (my personal experiences, and those shared by others) and secondary research in the technical communication profession’s trends. Such crossings are similar to the “foreign exchange” programs we advocate for students: the resulting insights and “cross pollination” from academia and the workplace will help our profession to flourish. industry can benefit both worlds through “crosspollination” and will help our profession to flourish.

Kryder, LeeAnne G. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Education

Crowdsourcing as a Model for Problem Solving: An Introduction and Cases    

Crowdsourcing is an online, distributed problem-solving and production model that has emerged in recent years. Notable examples of the model include Threadless, iStockphoto, InnoCentive, the Goldcorp Challenge, and user-generated advertising contests. This article provides an introduction to crowdsourcing, both its theoretical grounding and exemplar cases, taking care to distinguish crowdsourcing from open source production. This article also explores the possibilities for the model, its potential to exploit a crowd of innovators, and its potential for use beyond forprofit sectors. Finally, this article proposes an agenda for research into crowdsourcing.

Brabham, Daren C. Convergence (2008). Articles>Collaboration>Methods>Open Source

CSCW Related Pages

A 'webliography' of links to resources in computer supported collaborative work.

CSCW. Resources>Directories>Collaboration

CSR Communication: A SME-Oriented Approach  

A case study of Danish SME managers’ understanding of CSR and CSR communication conducted in the beginning of 2007 concluded that CSR communication in SMEs is a practice rather than a corporate strategy.

Nielsen, Anne Ellerup and Christa Thomsen. Association for Business Communication (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>SMEs

Cubicle Etiquette  

Presents 22 rules for considerate behavior in the workplace.

Smith, Gary M. Intercom (2000). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration

Review: Culture, Technology, Communication: Towards an Intercultural Global Village  

The Internet is continually changing how we think about "the office." Online media now allow us to exchange information with overseas colleagues almost as quickly and as easily as we can with coworkers located across the hallway from our workstations. This new degree of access, however, means that cultural differences could affect workplace interactions.

St. Amant, Kirk R. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Reviews>Collaboration>International

Customer Partnering: Data Gathering for Complex Online Documentation  

Technical communicators today must document complex applications used in complex environments. Information about users and use models is important under these conditions, especially if documentation will be presented online. Customer partnering, a method of information gathering that supplements surveys, contextual inquiries, usability testing, and interviews, provides a way of involving the users of complex applications in the design of information delivery systems. We used this method to help a client gather important information about user and use models and design a new information library for complex server computer systems.

Hackos, JoAnn T., Molly Hammar and Arthur Elser. ComTech Services (1997). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Collaboration

The Daily Stand-Up

The first and most basic rhythm of the Agile feedback cycle is the daily standup. It's just what it sounds like - a daily meeting where everyone stands up for the duration of the meeting. When I give Agile workshops, one of the questions I'm often asked is how to do daily standups when the teams are geographically dispersed. While this can be a challenge to coordinate and maintain, you'll soon find that the benefits of the daily communication make it well worth the effort. Here are several options to consider with your team:

Sliger, Michele. Rally Software Development (2005). Careers>Project Management>Agile>Collaboration

Dealing with Difficult Employees in the Technical Communication Workplace

Some of the more intractable problems we face on the job are the human ones. But cranky though Microsoft Word often seems, most of its blowups are at least predictable; humans are anything but. The worst problems can arise when you find yourself in a situation where power relationships come into play, which is often the case when you're managing another employee and responsible for their work and their on-the-job behavior. For a variety of reasons, technical communicators are often seen as 'difficult' or 'problem' employees--this means that co-workers tend to complain about us and insist that our managers correct our behavior. Unfortunately, we often work in high-stress environments that make it difficult for us to work calmly and difficult for colleagues to work with us peacefully. Many communicators complain that developers and other subject matter experts (SMEs) don't bother to understand what we do and thus, don't respect our work. As a result, they often consider meeting their own deadlines far more important than helping us do our work, and when we must ask them to provide the information we need to complete our documentation or to review draft documents, we don't get what we need. The result? We're forced to nag, and that can get us labeled as problems, not colleagues.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2002). Careers>Management>Collaboration>SMEs

Dealing With Problem Group Members

You will usually find your university teammates as interested in learning as you are. Occasionally, however, you may encounter a person who creates difficulties. This handout is meant to give you practical advice for this type of situation.

Oakley, Barbara. University of New Mexico (2002). Articles>Collaboration

Delivering Bad News Effectively (and Other Useful Communication Skills for Managers)  

Learning how to communicate effectively when people problems arise is a key to your success as a manager. To make the process easier for yourself, you should learn to set clear expectations of your employees, make specific observations of their work and behavior, conduct timely communication with them when problems arise, listen closely when they respond, and schedule a follow-up meeting after the crisis has passed.

Giammona, Barbara A. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Management>Communication>Collaboration

The Demise of the Lone Ranger  

Mavericks need not apply. In Web design, you have to collaborate.

Giordan, Daniel. Adobe Magazine (2000). Careers>Web Design>Collaboration

Democracy, Deliberation and Design: The Case of Online Discussion Forums    

Within democratic theory, the deliberative variant has assumed pre-eminence. It represents for many the ideal of democracy, and in pursuit of this ideal, online discussion forums have been proposed as solutions to the practical limits to mass deliberation. Critics have pointed to evidence which suggests that online discussion has tended to undermine deliberation. This article argues that this claim, which generates a stand-off between the two camps, misses a key issue: the role played by design in facilitating or thwarting deliberation. It argues that political choices are made both about the format and operation of the online discussion, and that this affects the possibility of deliberation. Evidence for the impact of design (and the choices behind it) is drawn from analysis of European Union and UK discussion forums. This evidence suggests that we should view deliberation as dependent on design and choice, rather than a predetermined product of the technology.

Wright, Scott and John Street. New Media and Society (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Online

Design Case: Building Community in a Design Effort in a Decentralized, Individualistic Setting  

WebFeat is a web development effort by about 40 students, faculty and staff in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington. In this design environment, the challenges of building community among the members of the design team are substantial. We devised a suite of tools and processes designed to foster a sense of community and participation in the development process, as well as to lay the groundwork for participatory maintenance of the site in the future.

Ramey, Judith A. and David K. Farkas. Symposium on Designing Interactive Systems (1997). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Participatory Design

The Design Constitution

What is your understanding of the dynamics of the Client/Creative relationship? I've heard lots of opinions and countless complaints, but in all my wanderings, I have yet to find a good, non-legalese consensus of what we should expect of each other.

Chuck Green. Ideabook.com (2005). Design>Collaboration

Design Teams and the Web: A Collaborative Model for the Workplace    

Formal corporate models that standardize collaborative processes into rigid templates and flow charts can actually become anti-collaborative and isolate team members from each other. This divisionary effect is particularly problematic for World Wide Web hypertexts, which often require on-going, dynamic collaborations between professionals with diverse specializations. In this article, we examine collaborative processes through theory and two Web project team interactions: one that reflects a failed formal process model, and one that represents a more successful dialogic model. Because dialogic models are non-formal and inherently adaptable, they are thus stronger process models for collaboration, particularly for Web design projects.

Wambeam, Cynthia A. and Robert Kramer. Technical Communication Online (1996). Design>Web Design>Collaboration

Designating User Communities for Scientific Data: Challenges and Solutions    

Defining a 'designated user community' for a data collection is essential to good scientific data stewardship. It enables data managers to determine what information is necessary to ensure the usability of the data now and into the future. It helps managers present and enable access to the data and may determine the format of the data. However, defining a community is difficult, and it is impossible to predict how the use of a data collection may change over time. This creates a series of data management problems for data stewards that may be mitigated by a set of best practices.

Parsons, M.A. and R. Duerr. Data Science Journal (2005). Articles>Communication>Scientific Communication>Collaboration

Designing for the Unexpected: The Role of Creative Group Work for Emerging Interaction Design Paradigms    

Interaction design for new technological environments relies on the tradition of human-computer interaction (HCI). With roots in the 1980s, HCI design paradigms often reflect the setting in which the user is an office worker in front of a desktop computer. As computational power can now be embedded in almost any type of product, the desktop setting has lost much of its relevance as a starting point for interface design. In particular, interfaces for wearable computing challenge designers to look for completely new approaches to interaction design. In this article, we propose a method in which the ideas for new creative forms of interaction design are triggered through panel work. This method draws on an underpinning theoretical framework from structural semiotics that emphasizes the holistic nature of design.

Pirhonen, Antti and Emma Murphy. Visual Communication (2008). Articles>Collaboration>Interaction Design

Designing Lotus Notes Databases for Global Collaboration  

Notes databases can provide versatile environments for developing and sharing knowledge globally through both client-based and Web-based applications. In this panel discussion we explore some of the issues facing information designers as they enable communication and collaboration in work groups. We will focus on how to determine if Notes is an optimal solution, how to translate information needs into effective design elements and functionalities in Notes, and how we can help ease the transition to the world of Notes for new users.

Knodel, Elinor L., Donald J. Green and Faye Smith. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Databases

Desktop Videoconferencing--State of the Art  

Archee assesses the current state of DTV technology.

Archee, Raymond K. Intercom (2000). Design>Collaboration>Teleconferencing>Videoconferencing

Developing a Content Management Team for Your Intranet    

What is the overall process? Who are the players? What are their best uses?

Boiko, Bob. SLA (2002). Presentations>Content Management>Collaboration

Developing a Document Planning Template  

Explains how a document planning template can establish consensus among team members regarding content and layout.

Tremmel, Martina A. Intercom (2004). Articles>Document Design>Document Design>Collaboration

Developing High-Performing Teams  

Social psychology and organization development suggest that virtually all people, and all teams, must deal with conflicting impulses toward effective and ineffective behaviour. Research shows that it is a basic human trait to want to succeed, to be in control, and to avoid embarrassment. Group dynamics research also suggests that teams operate on two dimensions: the task or work dimension, and the social or relationship dimension. High-performing teams pay attention to both the task and social environments. They create an environment that minimizes the occurrence of face-saving and defensive behaviour. This environment is usually characterized by honesty and authenticity, by the use of relevant and verifiable information, and by a willingness to own up to mistakes.

Conklin, John James. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Collaboration>Management>Workplace

Developing Technical Curiosity: A Marketable Skill

Every technical writer should have strong writing skills. Just as important, in my judgment, is a keen sense of technical curiosity. As a hiring manager, I look for it in every job applicant I interview. If you do not have this sense naturally, you can develop it.

Harvey, Michael. Carolina Communique (2003). Careers>TC>Collaboration