Usability as a focus of multiprofessional collaboration: a teaching case study on user-centered translation

As professional communication needs are increasingly multilingual, the merging of translator and technical communicator roles has been predicted. However, it may be more advantageous for these two professional groups to increase cooperation. This means learning to identify and appreciate their distinct but mutually complementary core competencies. Since both professions share the ideology of being the user’s advocate, usability is a common denominator that can function as a focal point of collaboration. While many translation theories focus on the reader and the target context, usability methods have not traditionally been a part of translator training. An innovation called User-Centered Translation (UCT), which is a model based on usability and user-centered design, is intended to help translators speak the same language as technical communicators, and it offers concrete usability tools which have been missing from translation theories. In this teaching case study, we discuss the teaching of four UCT methods: personas, the implied reader, heuristic evaluation, and usability testing. We describe our teaching experiences, analyze student feedback on all four, and report on the implementation of a student assignment on heuristics. This case study suggests ways in which UCT can form an important nexus of professional skills and multiprofessional collaboration

ICT Study implications for human interaction and culture: Intro to a special issue

culture, human, interaction

[NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 1, part 1:] Technical communications in aeronautics: Results of an exploratory study

A study was undertaken that explored several aspects of technical communications in aeronautics. The study, which utilized survey research in the form of a self-administered questionnaire, was sent to 2,000 randomly selected members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Six hundred and six usable questionnaires (30.3 percent) were received by the established cut off date. The study had five objectives. The first was to solicit the opinions of aeronautical engineers and scientists regarding the importance of technical communications to their profession; second, to determine their use and production of technical communications; third, to seek their views on the content of an undergraduate course in technical communications; fourth, to determine their use of libraries/technical information centers; and finally, to determine the use and importance of computer and information technology to them. The findings add considerable information to the knowledge of technical communications practices among aeronautical engineers and scientists and reinforce some of the conventional wisdom about technical communications and question other widely-held notions

How can we make user instructions motivational?

Good technical instructions are often viewed as 'cool, concise and professional', but there are good arguments to pay attention to their persuasive and motivational aspects as well. Until now, only analyses of existing instructions have been published, while guidelines for making instructions motivational are not yet studied carefully. We present four strategies that can be followed, and an experiment that was meant to test the effects. The results show that motivational elements do increase the user's appreciation of the instructions, but have no effect on performance, self efficacy, or appreciation of the product. However, there are indications that further research may show effects

Technical Communication in China:Studies on the User Experience of Technical Documentation

Technical communication is the process of conveying complex information to a varied audience, including both technical and non-technical individuals. It aims to make information usable and accessible. The dissertation provides an in-depth examination of technical communication's evolution in China, with a focus on enhancing user experience with technical documentation.The dissertation is organized into seven chapters, beginning with the current state of technical communication in China, followed by three parts covering five research studies on various aspects of technical documentation, including the roles of technical communicators who create technical documentation, the design and evaluation of developer documentation, and the application of emotional design in user manuals. It concludes by summarizing key findings, discussing theoretical and practical implications, and suggesting future research directions.This dissertation aims to answer five research questions. The first focuses on the state of the art of TC in China. The other four questions explore specific angles on TC in a Chinese context. The five research questions are:• RQ1. What is the development of technical communication as a professional discipline in China?• RQ2. What are the learning habits, information journey, and expectations of Chinese developers regarding developer documentation?• RQ3. What are key factors influencing the effectiveness of searching and finding technical documentation?• RQ4. What are effective strategies for evaluating performance and user experience of developer documentation?• RQ5. What is the impact of emotional design on user experience and effectiveness in technical documentation?<br/

Employment opportunities for technical communicators in East Tennessee, 2001

This study was initiated to reveal employment opportunities for technical communicators in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge, Tennessee area. Two methods were used to accomplish this goal: a telephone survey of area businesses to determine whether or not they hired or currently employed technical communicators; and an e-mail survey of practitioners to identify workplace realities for technical communicators in our geographic area. The results of the telephone survey suggest that there are fewer companies that employ technical communicators on a permanent basis when compared to a similar survey conducted ten years earlier, but more companies willing to hire technical communicators on a contract basis. The companies that do employ technical communicators tend to be scientifically or technologically based. Results from the e-mail survey indicate that technical communicators still need strong writing and editing skills, along with the ability to communicate effectively in group or task meetings to perform well in their positions. Technical communicators also perform well in their jobs if they have strong organizational skills and some background in science, technology or business. From the findings shown above, technical communicators in our area need to be able to fashion themselves as contract employees if necessary, and need to have strong writing, editing, and communication skills to thrive in the current business climate

Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on construction projects

The changing face of construction projects has resulted in a movement towards the use of technology as a primary means of communication. The consequences of this rise in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) is a loss of interpersonal communication skills. A number of resulting issues within the human – electronic and human – human interfaces are identified in an attempt to define the efficiency of communication in projects. The research shows how ICT effects the social environment of construction project teams and the project outcome. The study seeks to confirm the need for further work in order to develop new forms of communication protocols and behaviour. An initial literature review was undertaken to develop a theoretical review of the impacts of ICT on construction project teams. This review identified a number of issues that were then tested in the field through an observation and two verification interviews. The research confirms the existence of tensions and conflicts in the human – electronic and human - human communication interfaces within the studies environment. It is proposed that the increasing use of ICT occur at the expense of soft system communication. The principal impact of this is a form of ‘human distraction’ which adversely affects the performance of project teams. There is limited theory exploring these issues that suggests the problems identified are not well understood and consequently indicates a gap in knowledge