#21213
Measuring the Success of Visual Communication in User Interfaces 
This article discusses three key areas of visual communication we address in user interfaces (UIs): conventional—emphasis on imitating generic forms that meet readers' expectations; icon recognition; visual appeal or 'look-and-feel'. The article uses five case histories to demonstrate how usability research has helped the authors evaluate the quality of visual communication in navigation, icon recognition, and look-and-feel. It describes some of the research methodology the authors use, with examples from the case histories. For each of the three topic areas, we discuss the lessons we learned from the case histories about both usability testing methodology and visual communication guidelines. We mention, but do not concentrate on, related topics such as visual clutter.
Rosenbaum, Stephanie L. and J.O. 'Joe' Bugental. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>User Interface>Assessment>Visual Rhetoric
#10355
Measuring the Value Added by Technical Documentation: A Review of Research and Practice
Like any business activity, technical documentation must add value to a company’s product or service. This article reviews the principles by which the value of technical documentation can be measured, as shown by recent research in technical communication and other fields. Documentation value is the relationship of the cost of documentation to the total monetary value returned. Cost can be established through careful benchmarking. Monetary value can be returned in one or more of three fundamental ways: reducing internal investment; directly improving return on investment through increased sales; and reducing after-sales costs, such as support. While studies exist showing value added in all three categories, the second category, direct translation of increased documentation investment into increased sales, deserves the closest attention. Further, increased research in this area will lead to an improved understanding of information as the product itself, rather than simply a supporting component. Finally, doc
Mead, Jay. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>TC>Assessment
#10421
Metaphorical Confusion and Spatial Mapping in an Age of Ubiquitous Computing
When computing moves into the shifting, spatially defined information environments that surround us every day, technical communicators need to think about how users already understand and work with the world itself as a type of walk-through, live-in information device. We need to consider how embedding computers into the world will alter the information designs we have been building for two-dimensional on-screen spaces. We need to broaden online design aesthetics and construction techniques by applying not only standard design theory derived from print, film, and television, but also by incorporating theories from the domains of commercial design, cognitive psychology, and architectural and civil design. The first place we can put some of these ideas to use is in understanding how spatial mapping functions in the search for information.
Gillette, David. Technical Communication Online (2001). Design>Information Design>Embedded
#25743
The Methodology of Participatory Design
Technical communicators have lately become interested in participatory design as a way to structure and guide their research and development efforts, particularly in online media. But attempts to use participatory design - in technical communication and elsewhere - have been hampered because participatory design has typically been seen as an orientation or field rather than a methodology with its own methods, techniques, and acceptable range of research designs. In this article, I work with a range of participatory design sources to describe it as a methodology useful for technical communicators. After providing the historical and methodological grounding for understanding participatory design as a methodology, I describe its research designs, methods, criteria, and limitations. Finally, I provide guidance for applying it to technical communication research.
Spinuzzi, Clay. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Methods>Participatory Design
#10262
Modeling Information for Three-Dimensional Space: Lessons Learned from Museum Exhibit Design
Perhaps these concerns sound familiar: visitors complain that they cannot find information of interest. One observes, 'I know there's information about that type of robotics here, but darned if I can find it;' visitors enter the site but don't stay particularly long. Some might even express an interest in the subject; let's say it's modern art. But they leave almost as quickly as they enter without paying much attention to the artwork that the designers painstakingly displayed; other visitors spend hours at the site but never seem to notice particular sections. For example, a visitor might be thoroughly familiar with the content on radios but oblivious to the section on industrial hardware. These observations could describe visitors to Web sites. Actually, these observations describe museum visitors. The connections between the two are discussed in this article.
Carliner, Saul. Technical Communication Online (2001). Design>Information Design>Usability
#10418
Modeling Information in Electronic Space: An Introduction to This Special Issue
Organizing content for delivery on the computer screen challenges us to design our information in an imagined three dimensions. As mobile devices respond to the surrounding world, our content also needs to adjust to the real physical environment around our user. Our rhetorical space has changed, and in this special issue, authors wrestle with the ways in which we think, move, and design differently as we explore these virtual and real worlds. One team suggests showing the user the structure of the information gradually in search forms. Another author suggests that merging object-oriented thinking with visual language may offer us a way to consider structure and format together, while granting each its own distinct qualities. Focusing on mobile devices, one author sketches out the challenges we face in this new rhetorical space, and another highlights the idea of embeddedness, the fact that our devices are enmeshed within a content-rich world that we move through. Our final contributor takes us to museums, to
Price, Jonathan R. Technical Communication Online (2001). Design>Information Design>User Interface>Web Design
#14255
This article first reviews the current literature that addresses the value of the technical communicator. Whereas those discussions focus on what is delivered to the user (reader), this article examines the value the technical communicator adds by creating organization (internal) knowledge. The article then examines the philosophical underpinnings that support any discussion of knowledge and defines the role of technical communicators as creators of knowledge. Finally, it offers an expanded value proposition for technical communicators and examines its practical implications.
Hughes, Michael A. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>TC>Assessment
#13602
This article first reviews the current literature that addresses the value of the technical communicator. Whereas those discussions focus on what is delivered to the user (reader), this article examines the value the technical communicator adds by creating organization (internal) knowledge. The article then examines the philosophical underpinnings that support any discussion of knowledge and defines the role of technical communicators as creators of knowledge. Finally, it offers an expanded value proposition for technical communicators and examines its practical implications.
Hughes, Michael A. Technical Communication Online (2002). Design>Information Design>Content Management>SMEs
#19814
Moving to Single Sourcing: Managing the Effects of Organizational Changes
Argues that the move to single sourcing often requires changes within teams as new skills are introduced and members' roles shift. Points out that while some changes may threaten the stability of the team, managers can anticipate and prevent problems.
Bottitta, Jeanette, Alexia Prendergast Idoura and Lisa Pappas. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Collaboration
#25243
Moving Toward Knowledge-Building Communities in Informational Web Site Design
In this article, we describe how a knowledge-building community perspective can lead to a framework for designing an informational Web site. We illustrate the framework through our work on the Arthritis source, an informational Web site helping users acquire information about arthritis. The resulting framework provides one means of addressing challenges that arise in the design and development of such informational Web sites.
Turns, Jennifer, Tracey Wagner and Kristen Shuyler. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Web Design>Community Building
#10330
Multimedia Resources: A Selected Interdisciplinary Guide
The guide below assembles and connects a selected interdisciplinary resource base for practitioners, educators, and researchers. The print and online sources it reviews cover a wide range of practical and theoretical information related to multimedia theory, design, development, and production from the past decade. Unlike other annotated bibliographies that review and critique the literature related to a single issue or thematic topic, the focus and scope of this guide is broader, and it is intended to be browsed. While not a comprehensive guide by any means, it constitutes a representative slice of the current research and resources available. Full bibliographic information is included for print items, and URLs are provided for online sources. For periodicals, I have included contact information for subscriptions.
Heba, Gary M. Technical Communication Online (1997). Resources>Multimedia
#10404
Professional technical communicators increasingly find themselves in a negotiation situation where cultural differences have caused misperceptions or confusion concerning time (pausing, interrupting). This article overviews an intercultural perception experiment that investigated how individuals from different cultures perceive questioning and pausing/interrupting behavior in the same videotaped Dutch-Chinese negotiation. The study, which involved Chinese, Dutch, German, French, and Italian students of similar educational backgrounds, revealed that culture can affect how different individuals perceive and interpret the same situation. For example, the 'traditionally' polite Chinese appear to interrupt more often than many Western individuals might expect. And while both Chinese and Dutch observers thought the Dutch interrupted far more often than the Chinese, findings based on linguistic parameters for interrupting reveal it is the Chinese who interrupt more often.
Ulijn, Jan M. and Kirk R. St. Amant. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>International
#14224
The Need for a Design Lexicon: Examining Minimalist, Performance-Centered, and User-Centered Design
Explores and compares three key design strategies that underlie the development of EPSSs: minimalism, performance-centered design, and user-centered design. Closes with observations on how the three strategies are converging
Mackenzie, Colleen. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>User Centered Design>TC
#26850
New Heuristics for Understanding Older Adults as Web Users
This article reports on a study performed for AARP on the needs of older Web users. It defines a model of older users that includes four dimensions (age, ability, aptitude, and attitude). It defines 20 heuristics, as well as personas and tasks for reviewing Web sites, and a methodology for doing persona-based, task-based heuristic review that would allow us to evaluate many sites in a relatively short time in a highly realistic way. Finally, it reports the results of an analysis of 50 Web sites for general audiences that include older adults, using that methodology.
Chisnell, Dana E., Janice C. 'Ginny' Redish and Amy Lee. Technical Communication Online (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly
#25747
Usability testing is increasingly popular and effective for guiding Web site redesign. However, like any method, it has limitations, including a narrow focus at the expense of larger contexts. Analyzing Web sites with other techniques, including 1) rhetorical analysis based on research in rhetoric, design, and content of similar texts, and 2) content analysis based on matching Web content to an organization’s goals for its Web sites, can yield additional information. This information, which traditional usability tests don’t provide, can help designers better create Web sites. Web designers should not rely exclusively upon usability testing to provide information about Web site design, but instead should also examine how the sites invoke the audiences that they desire to reach.
McGovern, Heather. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Usability>Methods
#10429
On Beyond Help: Meeting User Needs for Useful Online Information
It is well accepted that understanding the users and a thorough analysis of their goals and tasks is a prerequisite for usability. To produce a document, online information, or knowledge base that is truly usable, the designer and writer must also consider different user approaches to the information to create it in a form that meets those needs. The underlying technology must also be considered, as it affects the presentation of the information as well as the functionality available to users. To meet user needs for useful online information, all these elements must be factored into the design—and technical communicators must master the skills necessary to make the right choices.
Quesenbery, Whitney. Technical Communication Online (2001). Articles>Usability>Information Design
#10426
This article contributes two arguments to the disciplinary conversation of technical communication with the aim of exploring leadership opportunities our field has in the field of information technology. The arguments assert that 1.) Writing is the core technology in any IT system, and all IT systems attempt to leverage the core strengths of writing to make these systems more valuable. 2.) Technical communicators have a central role to play in IT systems consonant with our core competencies: we attend to the balance of situated as opposed to generalized strategies and the balance of appeals to identity in writing about the practical use of technology, and we are well prepared to attend to these balances in other important arenas of IT discourse. Together, these two arguments are meant to begin or continue conversations—in workplace and academic contexts alike—that bring the issues of IT development and the future of technical communication closely together.
Hart-Davidson, William. Technical Communication Online (2001). Articles>TC>Writing>Technical Writing
#10319
Companies can improve customer satisfaction while reducing training time and product support costs by integrating online documentation with product training. Online documentation can be designed to be not only the reference at the point of use but also the primary instructional medium used during training. This use of the online documentation during training increases user acceptance of it and helps develop the required skills for its use. This expanded role for online documentation provides new opportunities for technical communicators to add value to their roles within their companies. This article defines reference-based instruction and outlines its benefits. It describes how reference-based instruction can be incorporated into an instructional system design (ISD) and provides specific examples of learning objectives and student exercises. It lists guidelines for how to structure usability tests for Help systems, and finally, it advises how technical communicators can use reference-based instruction to ex
Hughes, Michael A. Technical Communication Online (1997). Articles>Documentation>Instructional Design>Education
#18270
Operating at the Edge of Technology
This article was originally going to discuss design issues for online documentation and help to be displayed on handheld devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Web-enabled cell phones. The tiny screens and limited or nonexistent storage and processing would make design a challenge. However, by the time I began writing for this special section of Technical communication, the industry had changed so much that the original article was no longer relevant. Instead, I will look at those industry changes to examine the risk of operating at the edge of technology. Note that this article is a not a traditional journal article. Instead, it's a practitioner's commentary based on 4 years of working with handheld devices, giving presentations, and developing multiple WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) programming courses.
Perlin, Neil E. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Technology>TC
#26039
As the profession of technical communication develops and evolves, practitioners are forming formal and informal organizational structures that support collaborative communities. These organizational structures are emerging within commercial companies and professional societies such as the Society for Technical Communication. This article describes evolving methods and best practices that technical communicators can apply in the workplace to create an environment that supports effective communities of practice. We identify specific techniques and best practices, including methods of assessing the effectiveness and business impact of communities in the workplace, and interventions for improvement. We also reference a specific technical communication organization, Data Management (DM) User Technology at IBM Corporation, as a case study of ways to implement an organizational infrastructure that supports both skill-based communities of practice and multidisciplinary goal-based communities.
Fisher, Lori H. and Lindsay Bennion. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Management
#13535
Organizational Size, Multiple Audiences, and Web Site Design
The designer's perspective sometimes focuses on the designer's tastes and ignores the needs and preferences of the user. Nielsen (1999) recognized the insufficiency of the designer's perspective and stressed the need to focus on usability in Web page design. The usability principle calls for the designer to prioritize the user's need over the designer's intuition and worldview. The need to bridge the gap between the designer's perspective and the user's perspective has been extensively addressed in the computer software system design literature.
Lin, Canchu. Technical Communication Online (2002). Design>Web Design>Audience Analysis
#10317
Patterns for Success: A Lesson in Usable Design from U.S. Patent Records
This article investigates the design history of certain published artifacts—women's household sewing patterns—as that history is recorded in U.S. Patent Records. When a patented item is a published artifact, the U.S. Patent Record may contain valuable information on the author's perception of users and analysis of solutions for usability problems. This case illustrates the evolution toward a single standard despite early proprietary design solutions.
Durack, Katherine T. Technical Communication Online (1997). Articles>Intellectual Property>Patents>History
#13534
The Persuasive Power of Design Elements on an E-Commerce Web Site
There was $3 billion [USD] lost on the Web last year because of poor design—sites not realizing that if they just make it easier for the consumer to buy, they'll make more sales'. James Daly, editor-in-chief of Business 2.0, echoed a similar view: 'Design is the channel for bringing a new spirit into an online shop ... creative, customer-centric, humanizing design will ultimately distinguish the winners from the losers.' Because the computer interface is often the only contact the customer has with an online company, good Web design is undoubtedly key to a company's success.
Winn, Wendy and Kati Beck. Technical Communication Online (2002). Design>Web Design>E Commerce
#10417
Physical, Cognitive, and Affective: A Three-part Framework for Information Design
This article first explores limitations of the prevailing concept of document design. Next, it offers a definition of information design—a framework meant to broaden the popular perspective on design in our field. The article then describes in detail the three types of design activities involved in technical communication: physical design, cognitive design, and affective design. Last, this article suggests the strengths and limitations of this framework. Appendixes describe implications of this framework to the teaching of technical communication to majors in the field, to the practice of technical communication in industry, and to research in the field.
Carliner, Saul. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Information Design
#10422
The Possibilities Are Wireless: Designing and Delivering Information in the Wireless Space
Wireless communication is poised to become the next big thing since the advent of the Web. This article discusses the specific challenges associated with designing and delivering information in the wireless world and examines the impact that the wireless exchange of information will have on the creation of business and consumer services. Specifically, the article explores 1. Tools and technologies of wireless communication such as WAP and WML 2. The challenges of wireless communication and techniques to overcome them 3. Methods for designing information for the wireless world The article examines the interrelationship between technology and communication. It should help technical communicators understand the potential of wireless communication, its impact on our profession, and its new possibilities.
Chu, Steve W. Technical Communication Online (2001). Design>Information Design>Wireless Web>WAP
