SUNY series, Studies in Technical Communication – serie

Presents a theoretical model for examining technology through a user perspective.Winner of the 1999 Best Book presented by the National Council of Teachers of English NCTE Awards for Excellence in Technical and Scientific Communication User-Centered Technology presents a theoretical model for examining technology through a user perspective. Johnson begins with a historical overview of the problem of technological use from the ancient Greeks to the present day-a problem seen most clearly in historical discussions of rhetoric theory. The central portion of the book elaborates on user-centered theory by defining three focal issues of the theory: user knowledge, human-technology interaction, and technological determinism. Working from an interdisciplinary perspective, Johnson uses rhetoric theory to present a definition of user knowledge; human factors engineering to illuminate the ideological presuppositions built into technology design; and history, philosophy, and sociology to explain technological determinism, possibly the greatest impediment to user-centered technology development in modern times. The latter part of the book applies user-centered theory in two contexts: the nonacademic sphere, where the writing and design of computer user documentation is discussed, and the academic sphere, through a discussion of how user-centered concepts might drive university technical communication and composition curricula.

Explores the teaching and learning of welding through two narratives: the personal narrative, relating the author's experience as a woman learning how to weld, and the academic narrative examining how instructional communication informs students' embodied knowledge and enculturation into a community of practice.Welding Technical Communication explores the teaching and learning of welding through two narratives. The personal narrative relates the author's experience as a woman learning how to weld. The academic narrative draws upon scaffolded learning theory to examine how four welding teachers' verbal and nonverbal communication-their tutoring strategies and their gestures-facilitated students' embodied knowledge and enculturation into a community of practice. This book fills a gap in technical communication research: we do not fully understand how teachers' pedagogical technical communication scaffolds students' learning within the skilled trades. Novel in its approach and coverage, Welding Technical Communication will interest researchers in technical communication and technical education.

Explores the teaching and learning of welding through two narratives: the personal narrative, relating the author's experience as a woman learning how to weld, and the academic narrative examining how instructional communication informs students' embodied knowledge and enculturation into a community of practice.Welding Technical Communication explores the teaching and learning of welding through two narratives. The personal narrative relates the author's experience as a woman learning how to weld. The academic narrative draws upon scaffolded learning theory to examine how four welding teachers' verbal and nonverbal communication-their tutoring strategies and their gestures-facilitated students' embodied knowledge and enculturation into a community of practice. This book fills a gap in technical communication research: we do not fully understand how teachers' pedagogical technical communication scaffolds students' learning within the skilled trades. Novel in its approach and coverage, Welding Technical Communication will interest researchers in technical communication and technical education.

Offers unique story-based insights into the complexities and challenges of transnational and intercultural research.Transnational Research in Technical Communication considers the complexities of intercultural projects from a compelling perspective: first-hand narrative reflections. Readers go behind the scenes as scholars share their experiences crossing a variety of borders in their efforts to engage in knowledge-making endeavors. Interwoven through each chapter are stories of how projects were designed, adapted, and sometimes even failed. The collection begins with an introduction situating it at the intersection of recent scholarship in storywork, intercultural research, and technical and professional communication's social justice turn. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and recommendations for further reading. The closing chapter reveals a nascent "ethic of transnational and intercultural research" growing out of contributors' lessons learned and generous reflections. Anyone interested in or planning to undertake a transnational or intercultural project can benefit from these storied case studies, and as a result, this collection contributes to moving the field forward as it strives to promote more ethically aware and responsive research.

Offers unique story-based insights into the complexities and challenges of transnational and intercultural research.Transnational Research in Technical Communication considers the complexities of intercultural projects from a compelling perspective: first-hand narrative reflections. Readers go behind the scenes as scholars share their experiences crossing a variety of borders in their efforts to engage in knowledge-making endeavors. Interwoven through each chapter are stories of how projects were designed, adapted, and sometimes even failed. The collection begins with an introduction situating it at the intersection of recent scholarship in storywork, intercultural research, and technical and professional communication's social justice turn. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and recommendations for further reading. The closing chapter reveals a nascent "ethic of transnational and intercultural research" growing out of contributors' lessons learned and generous reflections. Anyone interested in or planning to undertake a transnational or intercultural project can benefit from these storied case studies, and as a result, this collection contributes to moving the field forward as it strives to promote more ethically aware and responsive research.

This collection engages scholars and practitioners in a conversation about the ways that Technical Communication has contributed to pragmatic and democratic actions to address climate change.Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing the global community in the twenty-first century. With its position at the border of people, technology, science, and communication, technical communication has a significant role to play in helping to solve these complex environmental problems. This collection of essays engages scholars and practitioners in a conversation about how the field has contributed to pragmatic and democratic action to address climate change. Compared to most prior work-which offers theoretical perspectives of environmental communication-this collection explores the actual practice of international technical communicators who participate in government projects, corporate processes, nonprofit programs, and international agency work, demonstrating how technical communication theories such as participatory design, social justice, and ethics can help shape pragmatic environmental action.SUNY Press has collaborated with Knowledge Unlatched to unlock KU Focus Collection titles. The Knowledge Unlatched titles have been made open access through libraries coming together to crowd fund the publication cost. Each monograph has been released as open access making the eBook freely available to readers worldwide. Discover more about the Knowledge Unlatched program here: https://www.knowledgeunlatched.org/. It can also be found in the SUNY Open Access Repository at https://soar.suny.edu/handle/20.500.12648/8482.

Takes a multicultural, interdisciplinary approach to the rhetoric of science to expand our toolkit for the collective management of global risks like climate change and pandemics.With this volume, the field of rhetoric of science joins its sister disciplines in history and philosophy in challenging the dominance of Euro-American science as a global epistemology. The discipline of rhetoric understands world-making and community-building as interdependent activities: that is, if we practice science differently, we do politics differently, and vice versa. This wider aperture seems crucial at a time when we are confronted with the limitations of Euro-American science and politics in managing global risks such as pandemics and climate change-particularly in our most vulnerable communities. The contributors to this volume draw on their familiarity with a wide range of global scientific traditions-from Australian Aboriginal ecology to West African medicine to Polynesian navigation science-to suggest possibilities for reconfiguring the relationship between science and politics to better manage global risks. These possibilities should not only inspire scholars in rhetoric and technical communication but should also introduce readers from science and technology studies to some useful new approaches to the problem of decolonizing scenes of scientific practice around the world.

Takes a multicultural, interdisciplinary approach to the rhetoric of science to expand our toolkit for the collective management of global risks like climate change and pandemics.With this volume, the field of rhetoric of science joins its sister disciplines in history and philosophy in challenging the dominance of Euro-American science as a global epistemology. The discipline of rhetoric understands world-making and community-building as interdependent activities: that is, if we practice science differently, we do politics differently, and vice versa. This wider aperture seems crucial at a time when we are confronted with the limitations of Euro-American science and politics in managing global risks such as pandemics and climate change-particularly in our most vulnerable communities. The contributors to this volume draw on their familiarity with a wide range of global scientific traditions-from Australian Aboriginal ecology to West African medicine to Polynesian navigation science-to suggest possibilities for reconfiguring the relationship between science and politics to better manage global risks. These possibilities should not only inspire scholars in rhetoric and technical communication but should also introduce readers from science and technology studies to some useful new approaches to the problem of decolonizing scenes of scientific practice around the world.

Designers can create stronger products by considering multiple users with varied perspectives and thus create balance, termed equilibriUX, in their designs.The field of technical and professional communication is young, and research related to it-and specifically usability-is constantly growing. Usability and user-experience researchers are broadening research into studies involving social issues, accessibility, reconciliation, and user advocacy. Amplifying Voices in UX explores the theme of balance in design and UX in three main areas: curriculum design that includes empathy, service learning, and design justice; design and balance for effective medical and health communication; and design to create balance in labor, social, civic, and political movements.

Designers can create stronger products by considering multiple users with varied perspectives and thus create balance, termed equilibriUX, in their designs.The field of technical and professional communication is young, and research related to it-and specifically usability-is constantly growing. Usability and user-experience researchers are broadening research into studies involving social issues, accessibility, reconciliation, and user advocacy. Amplifying Voices in UX explores the theme of balance in design and UX in three main areas: curriculum design that includes empathy, service learning, and design justice; design and balance for effective medical and health communication; and design to create balance in labor, social, civic, and political movements.

Explores the origins of written communication to offer a counter-history to the separation of rhetoric/composition and technical/professional communicationThe Origins of the Art and Practice of Professional Writing addresses the classic divide in teaching written skills between rhetoric/composition and technical/professional communication (TPC). It explores a body of texts that were created earlier than any yet identified by either field: ancient Mesopotamian documents, produced in the eighth century BCE. The book debunks two myths: it shows that rhetoric was practiced consciously and taught systematically long before the Greek civilization existed; and because a large swathe of the public, while not fully literate, had access to the services of scribes, not just men, but women, merchants, and even slaves utilized writing as a tool for social justice. From their earliest writings, humans consciously applied principles of persuasion to the documents that they produced. Rather than being two distinct fields, rhetoric and professional communication are intertwined in their histories.

Explores the origins of written communication to offer a counter-history to the separation of rhetoric/composition and technical/professional communicationThe Origins of the Art and Practice of Professional Writing addresses the classic divide in teaching written skills between rhetoric/composition and technical/professional communication (TPC). It explores a body of texts that were created earlier than any yet identified by either field: ancient Mesopotamian documents, produced in the eighth century BCE. The book debunks two myths: it shows that rhetoric was practiced consciously and taught systematically long before the Greek civilization existed; and because a large swathe of the public, while not fully literate, had access to the services of scribes, not just men, but women, merchants, and even slaves utilized writing as a tool for social justice. From their earliest writings, humans consciously applied principles of persuasion to the documents that they produced. Rather than being two distinct fields, rhetoric and professional communication are intertwined in their histories.

Introduces students to the basic principles and theories of design, combining practical advice about the design process with a foundation in visual rhetoric and usability.Document Design introduces students to the basic principles and theories of design, combining practical advice about the design process with a foundation in visual rhetoric and usability. Most books on document design lean toward either theory or practice. This book offers a balanced approach-theoretically informed practice-that introduces a working vocabulary to help students become reflective practitioners, able not only to create effective designs but also to explain why and how they made their design choices. Derek G. Ross and Miles A. Kimball hope to give students the foundation they need to make design decisions in any rhetorical situation. Students will learn to negotiate between the needs of both users and clients to consider the nuances of audience, purpose, and context.

Delves into how individuals tactically exist within communicative systems, carving out spaces for themselves in places they don't necessarily fit.In 1984, Michel de Certeau described the terms "strategies" as how institutions communicate their wants/demands/desires and "tactics" as how individuals navigate these potentially hostile, unwelcoming systems. A little over two decades later, Miles A. Kimball solidified the idea of tactical technical communication, laying the foundations for a new area of inquiry and scholarship. Today, many academics and researchers have imbued the concept of tactical technical communication with their own ideas and perspectives. This essay collection spotlights a meaningful diversity of tactical technical communication scholarship, exploring topics like the feminist punk magazine BIKINI KILL, the phenomenon of copwatching, the usage of fictional narratives in technical writing courses, and the challenges of LBGTQ+ visibility in local libraries. In many ways, the contributors are partaking in their own forms of tactical communication as they carve out spaces for themselves and their ideas within the academic discourse.

Delves into how individuals tactically exist within communicative systems, carving out spaces for themselves in places they don't necessarily fit.In 1984, Michel de Certeau described the terms "strategies" as how institutions communicate their wants/demands/desires and "tactics" as how individuals navigate these potentially hostile, unwelcoming systems. A little over two decades later, Miles A. Kimball solidified the idea of tactical technical communication, laying the foundations for a new area of inquiry and scholarship. Today, many academics and researchers have imbued the concept of tactical technical communication with their own ideas and perspectives. This essay collection spotlights a meaningful diversity of tactical technical communication scholarship, exploring topics like the feminist punk magazine BIKINI KILL, the phenomenon of copwatching, the usage of fictional narratives in technical writing courses, and the challenges of LBGTQ+ visibility in local libraries. In many ways, the contributors are partaking in their own forms of tactical communication as they carve out spaces for themselves and their ideas within the academic discourse.

Information isn't simply read or used, rather it creates a holistic experience for users.Information Experience provides a usable framework for developing information products and design thinking practices for a wide range of projects, including application development, content creation, instructional materials, and user experience design. Whether content is created by human, machine, or artificial intelligence, memorable information experiences begin with the user, encompassing how user research, content development strategies, and design tactics fit together in creating engaging information experiences and products. The book provides an in-depth discussion of the components of information experience, including user perception, cognition, environment design, strategic branding, and tactical design. Collectively, these elements provide a foundation for understanding how information products function on a level beyond utility, as holistic and immersive experiences for users.

Information isn't simply read or used, rather it creates a holistic experience for users.Information Experience provides a usable framework for developing information products and design thinking practices for a wide range of projects, including application development, content creation, instructional materials, and user experience design. Whether content is created by human, machine, or artificial intelligence, memorable information experiences begin with the user, encompassing how user research, content development strategies, and design tactics fit together in creating engaging information experiences and products. The book provides an in-depth discussion of the components of information experience, including user perception, cognition, environment design, strategic branding, and tactical design. Collectively, these elements provide a foundation for understanding how information products function on a level beyond utility, as holistic and immersive experiences for users.

Traces the linguistic, rhetorical, historical, cultural, and economic origins of our most basic beliefs and practices for successful technical writing to initiate a reckoning about who they serve and who they harm.Busting the Myth of the Communication Metaphor is a transdisciplinary approach to making visible and explaining the multiple origins of why our most basic beliefs about what makes scientific and technical writing successful are wrong, ineffective, and harmful. These tacitly held beliefs and practices, collectively called the Communication Metaphor, stand in as symbolic for a messier, more reality-based understanding of how writing and communication works. By starting from conventional statements made by scientists, technical professionals, and standard textbooks that "successful technical writing is short and to the point, with the facts only, no opinions," the book traces the histories and structures of the multiple elements of the Communication Metaphor. The text synthesizes survey results, multiple strands of scholarship, personal experience, and original illustrations into a powerful argument for imagining a more just approach to scientific and technical writing.

Traces the linguistic, rhetorical, historical, cultural, and economic origins of our most basic beliefs and practices for successful technical writing to initiate a reckoning about who they serve and who they harm.Busting the Myth of the Communication Metaphor is a transdisciplinary approach to making visible and explaining the multiple origins of why our most basic beliefs about what makes scientific and technical writing successful are wrong, ineffective, and harmful. These tacitly held beliefs and practices, collectively called the Communication Metaphor, stand in as symbolic for a messier, more reality-based understanding of how writing and communication works. By starting from conventional statements made by scientists, technical professionals, and standard textbooks that "successful technical writing is short and to the point, with the facts only, no opinions," the book traces the histories and structures of the multiple elements of the Communication Metaphor. The text synthesizes survey results, multiple strands of scholarship, personal experience, and original illustrations into a powerful argument for imagining a more just approach to scientific and technical writing.

Visual Vestiges explains how information design evolved over the centuries to make practical information clear, credible, and emotionally engaging.In Visual Vestiges Charles Kostelnick analyzes the role of the past in understanding, studying, deploying, and teaching visual language in business, technical, and professional communication. He explores how information designs—text, pictures, icons, charts, and graphs—evolved to develop their rhetorical power and the many ways in which their vestigial forms permeate contemporary design. To explain these temporal dynamics, he examines the forces that underpin them: cultural shifts in aesthetics, taste, and values; social changes that redefine how we relate to one another rhetorically; and innovations in technology that transform the tools and channels we use to visualize and interpret information. Drawing on rhetorical theory, design studies, art history, and historical and contemporary examples, Kostelnick explores the rhetorical role of time in bridging past and present design forms—by constantly regenerating them through visual conventions, by heightening pathos appeals through sentiment and nostalgia, and by bolstering ethos, amplifying epideictic displays, and narrating stories with text, pictures, and charts.

Changes the conversation about risk by exposing the field's historical complicity with extractive industries and building new methodologies for future risk communication research.Technical and professional communication has a problem with how the concept of risk has been considered alongside extractive technologies. Throughout its history, the practice, teaching, and research of technical and professional communication has been embedded within, complicit with, and indebted to these industries. These industries have also created massive global harm to people and ecosystems, both through accidents as well as the slow violence of pollution and climate change. In response, this book seeks to "undermine" how technical and professional communication works with risk by reconsidering implications that traverse a greater span of time and geography. It revises the field's risk methodology and encourages future researchers to navigate the scope and scale of their projects. Along with new theoretical framing, the text presents three detailed case studies illustrating how careful consideration of scope and scale can impact how technical and professional communication engages extraction and risk, showcasing to new and experienced technical communication researchers alike how risk communication is about to enter a new era.