Moving into User Research: Establishing Design Guidelines

The best technical writers do user research to understand the audience for their documentation, create user profiles or personas, perform task analyses, and do usability testing to ensure that their documentation meets users’ needs. All of these are activities in which a user researcher engages. Thus, as a technical writer, you can start amassing experience in user research and building a portfolio of user research documentation.

Six, Janet M. UXmatters (2009). Articles>User Experience>Research>Technical Writing

Symbolic Capital and Academic Fields: An Alternative Discourse on Journal Rankings    

During my 30 years in the academy, I have seen universities subject to increased demands for accountability. These demands from both internal and external publics translate into added attention to quality assessment. To evaluate teaching, universities measure student learning outcomes and rely on standardized scores as indicators of teaching effectiveness. To assess research productivity, departments document publications that appear in top-ranked journals and presses and track dollar amounts raised through external funding. This focus on evaluation, in turn, lends new credence to independent ranking systems that provide unbiased indices of quality. An unintended consequence of these academic norms, however, is the pattern of treating standards as objective indices rather than practical guidelines.

Putnam, Linda L. Management Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Research>Publishing>Assessment

Journal Rankings and Academic Research: Two Discourses About the Quality of Faculty Work    

Peer evaluation is the hallmark of the academic profession. Hiring, advancement, and reputation in the university setting have traditionally depended on a scholar's work as judged by his or her colleagues. The emerging trend toward journal ranking as an indicator of research accomplishment poses an important challenge to professional academic standards and to higher education generally because ranking schemes diminish the professoriate and degrade knowledge work. We argue that when scholarly journals are ranked in terms of their desirability as publication outlets they take on the characteristics of commodities.

Hogler, Raymond and Michael A. Gross. Management Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Publishing>Research>Assessment

デザインアドバイスの根拠としての、推測　vs.　データ

ごくごく小規模な経験的な事実（例えば、観察対象のユーザが2人）からでも、そこから得られる事実はUIデザインに対して、正しい判断ができる確率を大きく高めてくれる。

Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2009). (Japanese) Articles>Web Design>Usability>Research

Electronic Research and the Rhetoric of Information

This class will explore the social and cultural role of information. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which the self and society shape and are shaped by our information networks, and will look at the structure of these systems. We will examine such topics as social and collaborative networking, information retrieval, database structures, tagging, and copyright issues. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to understand the function and limits of rhetorical choices within information production and retrieval.

Arola, Kristin L. Washington State University (2009). Academic>Courses>Research>Online

Rethinking the Articulation Between Business and Technical Communication and Writing in the Disciplines: Useful Avenues for Teaching and Research    

In a profound sense, the teaching of business and technical communication (BTC) is always already the teaching of writing in the disciplines (WID). Yet the WID dimension of BTC is often hard to see. The question this article addresses is, How might the North American tradition of BTC communication courses be more consciously—and effectively—articulated with the disciplines? The article reviews some of the research literature concerning the value of articulating BTC with WID in undergraduate education and program descriptions of such efforts to examine what BTC has done, is doing, and might do in the future to strengthen WID in BTC.

Russell, David R. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>TC>Research

Compliments and Criticisms in Book Reviews About Business Communication    

Research suggests that book reviews in academic journals tend to be positive but that readers prefer book reviews that include negative and positive evaluation. In this study, the author examines 48 books reviews from three business communication journals to determine whether these reviews are mainly positive. She counts compliments and criticisms, analyzing their location and topics. She also analyzes the force of the criticisms and strategies that reviewers use to mitigate criticism.

Mackiewicz, Jo M. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>Publishing>Research

Meta-Usability: When the Method is Not the Message

There is a necessary connection between theory and practice. But there is also a difference between the two. And that difference, as van de Snepscheut said, is larger in practice than it is in theory.

Straub, Kathleen. UI Design Newsletter (2007). Articles>Usability>Research>Publishing

Connecting Usability Education and Research with Industry Needs and Practices    

Ideally, academic research should inform workplace practices and workplace practices should inform academic research and education. However, as many researchers have noted, a gap often exists between academia and industry. This article begins to bridge that gap by reporting the results of a small-scale study at Microsoft in which 12 individuals were interviewed about their views on usability education and research. This study addressed two questions: (1) What knowledge, skills, and abilities should technical communication teachers stress in teaching usability and (2) how can academic research in usability benefit practitioners? The results indicate that usability education needs to be expanded to include additional usability evaluation methods and that students need strong critical assessment and communication skills when they enter the workplace. The results also reveal that usability research in the areas of return-on-investment, online help, and cognition would be of great use to practitioners.

Cooke, L. and S. Mings. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2005). Articles>Usability>Research>Publishing

Composition Studies, Professional Writing and Empirical Research: A Skeptical View    

This article builds upon the work of Richard Haswell's "NCTE/CCCC's Recent War on Scholarship" by providing an alternative framework for empirical inquiry based on principles of skepticism. It examines the literature relating to empirical research and argues that one of the issues at hand is the perceived link of empirical research to positivism, which clashes with the dominant social constructivist paradigm. It draws upon classical rhetoric and the work of radial empiricist William James to formulate an alternative framework for empirical research based on skeptical principles.

Driscoll, Dana Lynn. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2009). Articles>Education>Research>Business Communication

Technical Communication in R & D Laboratories: The Impact of Project Work Characteristics    

Based on an information processing approach to organizations, this paper argues that product effectiveness is contingent on the match between the project's communication patterns and the nature of its work.

Tushman, Michael L. Academy of Management Journal, The (1978). Articles>TC>Research>Workplace

How to Combine Multiple Research Methods: Practical Triangulation

All research methods have their pros and cons, the problem comes when you rely on just one method. I’m often disappointed when UX and IxD practitioners describe the research they do, and it’s obviously very one dimensional. This is where the concept of “triangulation” comes into its own. Also known as “mixed method” research, triangulation is the act of combining several research methods to study one thing. They overlap each other somewhat, being complimentary at times, contrary at others. This has the effect of balancing each method out and giving a richer and hopefully truer account.

Kennedy, Patrick. Johnny Holland (2009). Articles>Research>Methods

The Changing Nature of Commercial Research    

In this article, Nigel Spencer compares and contrasts his experience of delivering fee-based business information research from 1987 to 2008. Although the article is written from the perspective of the British Library priced research services, many points made could also apply to the changing role of the business information professional.

Spencer, Nigel. Business Information Review (2008). Articles>Research>Business Communication>United Kingdom

Using Research: Supporting Organizational Change and Improvement    

Explores the importance of organizational research as a tool to support business change and improvement. Describes a tried and tested research methodology that has been used within public and private sector organizations and can be easily adapted by in-house research and information services. Demonstrates how research can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of learning and development products and services. Includes a case study from a central government department that investigates the role of the line manager in learning.

Wheeler, Stephanie. Business Information Review (2009). Articles>Research>Business Communication>Case Studies

Manipulating Data: Analysis Techniques, Part 3

One of the key characteristics of a manipulation technique versus related techniques like transformation is that the underlying data remains unchanged. The main thing we’re doing is changing the relationship - logical or physical - that one piece of data has with another. Reorganizing the data helps us to identify patterns that may otherwise not be apparent. In fact, it is almost certain that most patterns won’t be visible at first glance. Let’s start by taking a more detailed look at some of the processes that contribute to the manipulation of data.

Baty, Steve. Johnny Holland (2009). Articles>Research>Methods>User Centered Design

Deconstructing Analysis Techniques

On a recent project I needed to collect and analyze the content management templates in use across a large enterprise Intranet. We were looking to inventory the diversity of templates in use; whether they existed outside or within the enterprise content management system; what changes might be made to the ‘official’ template set to reduce the overall number of templates, and to prepare for the migration of all content to a new design a few months down the track. I looked around at the literature for information architecture and Web design generally and found quite a few references to content inventories and content analysis, but nothing on analyzing templates.

Baty, Steve. Johnny Holland (2009). Articles>Research>Methods>Web Design

Swivel

Swivel's mission is to make data useful. Compare data from multiple sources. Sort and filter data according to simple criteria. Map geographical data. Plot pie, bar, scatter and line graphs. Download data into a spreadsheet for analysis.

Swivel. Resources>Research>Information Design>Charts and Graphs

Research Automation as Technomethodological Pixie Dust

Timothy de Waal Malefyt’s recent article in American Anthropologist details how corporations are turning to “multiple ethnographic vendors to compete for projects in bidding wars.” I am more interested in how such technomethodolgies are being touted. They supposedly offer efficiency gains through transformation, compression, or automation of research process. Technologies of automation have always been coupled seductively with cost savings, and this area is no exception; there are plenty of services competing for business by offering quicker, faster (often capitalized: FASTER) results-time is money and less time is cheaper. So what is cut to save money, and what technologies allow for services to compress research strategy and plan, research engagement and analysis, and research reporting?

Churchill, Elizabeth. Interactions (2009). Articles>Research>Online

Directed Research Groups as a Means of Training Students to Become Technical Communication Researchers    

Describes the activities of a university “directed research group,” highlighting interesting tensions that emerged therein. Asserts that actively exploring such tensions with students creates a rich learning environment.

Larson, Jerrod, Colin Birge, Yi-Min Huang, Brook Sattler, Jennifer Turns and Jessica M. Yellin. Technical Communication Online (2009). Articles>Education>Research>Case Studies

Using the EServer TC Library for Course "Outside Readings"

Almost two years ago, I posted a rough note here about teaching my intro to technical communication course using the TC Library as a supplement to the textbook. Here's a more detailed essay on the method, which is working quite well so far.

Sauer, Geoffrey. EServer (2009). Articles>Education>Research>Online

Can You Say That in English? Explaining UX Research to Clients

It's hard for clients to understand the true value of user experience research. As much as you'd like to tell your clients to go read The Elements of User Experience and call you back when they’re done, that won’t cut it in a professional services environment. David Sherwin creates a cheat sheet to help you pitch UX research using plain, client-friendly language that focuses on the business value of each exercise.

Sherwin, David. List Apart, A (2009). Articles>Consulting>User Experience>Research

The Two-Semester Thesis Model: Emphasizing Research in Undergraduate Technical Communication Curricula    

This article addresses previous arguments that call for increased emphasis on research in technical communication programs. Focusing on the value of scholarly-based research at the undergraduate level, we present New Mexico Tech's thesis model as an example of helping students develop familiarity with research skills and methods. This two-semester sequence serves as a capstone experience for students' writing, designing, editing, and presentation skills. It also involves members of our corporate advisory board and provides an opportunity to teach students to understand and apply research methods to unique projects, skills we argue will benefit students no matter what environments they enter upon graduation.

Ford, Julie Dyke, Jennifer L. Bracken and Gregory D. Wilson. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2009). Articles>Education>Research

How Not to Write Fiction

I have never fabricated or fictionalized research data. Besides being completely unethical, that would have missed the point. It would have taken all the fun out of it! How easy and how boring that would have been.

Spinuzzi, Clay. Blogspot (2009). Articles>Writing>Research>Ethnographies

What Design Researchers Can Learn from Hostage Negotiators

We’ve come to realize that the techniques used by hostage negotiators to resolve crises are also extremely valuable to user experience researchers. In essence, both parties are attempting to establish a relationship, both are trying to keep the communication flowing, and most importantly, both are trying to extract valuable data.

McClain, Brian and Demetrius Madrigal. Boxes and Arrows (2009). Articles>User Experience>Research