Communication Design Quarterly
7 articlesDecember 2024
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Abstract
This article explores visual euphemism in the realm of technical and professional communication (TPC) visuals. I argue that euphemism is a mostly unexplored topic in TPC scholarship and deserving of further inquiry. Due to its equal capacity to inform or deceive, visual euphemism has particular value for scholars concerned with the efficacy and ethicality of TPC visuals. To support this argument, I identify the unique features of visual euphemism, as well as outline a basic critical framework for its identification and analysis. I conclude by briefly examining prominent TPC visuals and advocating for further research of visual euphemism.
March 2022
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Review of "Rhet Ops: Rhetoric and Information Warfare edited by Jim Ridolfo and William Hart-Davidson," Ridolfo, J., & W. Hart-Davidson. (2019.) Rhet ops: Rhetoric and information warfare . University of Pittsburgh Press. ↗
Abstract
Rhet Ops: Rhetoric and Information Warfare provides a timely set of perspectives on the intersections of digital rhetoric and militarized operations conducted to foment or curtail violence. Rhet ops, shorthand for rhetorical operations, refers to the use of rhetorical theory by state or non-state actors to carry out coordinated military actions (operations). Perennial questions about rhetoric, ethics, and technical and digital communication (i.e., Katz, 1992; Lanham, 1993; Ward, 2014) inform 16 chapters by practitioners and academics who provide analytical and practical insights into "what it means to learn the art of rhetoric as a means to engage adversaries in war and conflict" (Ridolfo & Hart-Davidson, p. viii, emphasis in original). Rhet Ops' focuses on "the dark side of digital composing" (Ridolfo & Hart-Davidson, p. 3, emphasis in original)---from GamerGate to ISIS to the seemingly benign digital interfaces we interact with every day---making it especially salient in a time when violence and rhetoric intertwine constantly. Further, editors Ridolfo and Hart-Davidson have curated examples of #RhetOps on Twitter for years which fosters indefinite public tracking of #RhetOps, a move toward accountability.
December 2021
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Review of "Awful archives: Conspiracy theory, rhetoric, and acts of evidence by Jenny Rice," Rice, J. (2020). The Ohio State University Press ↗
Abstract
Awful Archives presents a timely discussion of controversies and the line between what constitutes "good" versus "bad" evidence within empiricism and the scientific process. Calling attention to the fact that evidence is rhetorically constructed, Rice implores us to interrogate the conception of bad evidence as equally constructed. Blurring the lines between "good" and "bad" evidence, Rice moves away from rhetorical conceptions of evidence as imbued "with a kind of thingfulness " (p. 5), as this theory of evidence lends itself to clear demarcations between authentic and inauthentic distinctions. Contemporary conceptions of evidence seen through the thing/object binary deny opportunities for nuanced discussions about the evidentiary process and ultimately ignore evidence's ability to do something as a performative property. Ultimately, Rice inquires into evidence as an act through which we attempt to "figure out what the fuck is happening around us" (p. 11) without the limiting characteristics of validity or empirical fidelity with which evidence is so often concerned. Alongside her analysis of the ways evidence is implemented, and often weaponized, by conspiracy theorists who frequently challenge the more empirical understandings of what evidence represents, Rice makes the rhetorical move from whether evidence is "good/bad" or "valid/invalid" to an alternative foundational rhetorical theory of what is the evidence doing.
March 2021
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Review of "Rhetoric of health and medicine as/is: Theories and approaches for the field by Lisa Melonçon, S. Scott Graham, Jenell Johnson, John A. Lynch, and Cynthia Ryan," Melonçon, L. Graham, S.S, Johnson, J., Lynch, J., & Ryan, S. (Eds). (2020). Rhetoric of health and medicine as/is: Theories and approaches for the field. The Ohio State University Press. https://doi.org/10.26818/9780814214466 ↗
Abstract
The foreword, written by Judy Z. Segal, begins with a brief dialogue between a patient and a nurse that illustrates the effects of discursive actions on health and medicine. It is a dialogue between a patient and a nurse, reminiscent of stories of ancient cartographers who mapped their changing and uncertain worlds through stories, discovering ever new riches in a world that wasn't flat. In the same way, contemporary thinkers in health and medicine are discovering the treasure in exploring rhetoric and technical communication across traditional boundaries. These authors move through previously uncharted territory with story and new questions that extend the boundaries of our individual bodies. They explore important questions of individual human agency and how that intersects with social and rhetorical theory. Critical questions new to medicine in the twenty-first century, such as resistance, power of representation, and where advocacy for health justice lies, are topics explored through a variety of lenses in this collection.
August 2020
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Abstract
Bayes's theorem allows us to use subjective thinking to find numerical values to formulate assessments of risk. It is more than a mathematical formula; it can be thought of as an iterative process that challenges us to imagine the potential for "unknown, unknowns." The heuristics involved in this process can be enhanced if they take into consideration some of the established risk assessment and communication models used today in technical communication that are concerned with the social construction of meaning and the kairos involved in rhetorical situations. Understanding the connection between Bayesian analysis and risk communication will allow us to better convey the potential for risk that is based on probabilistic assumptions.
March 2017
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Abstract
Motherhood is often a source of guilt, conflict, and ambivalence, and any communication about motherhood must be governed by an ethic of care and principles that take into account the fraught nature of such an identity. Social media provide individuals with new ways to discuss aspects of and share information about motherhood in different communication settings. Within this context, this article presents the results of 18 qualitative interviews of "mommy bloggers" and reports on the communication design principles and techniques these individuals employ to reach audiences of women. It also takes into account the contexts of users through social media. Overall, these bloggers use communication strategies such as identification, a rejection of perfectionism, an ethic of care, stories and narratives, branding, interactions with users, and a conversational tone to reach the target audience of women. These women act as professional communicators online by understanding this audience, living the reality of this audience through their own experiences, and designing communication that appeals to and ultimately improves the lives of their users. A study of their communication patterns can provide communication designers with insights on what I call empathetic user design and the importance of lived experience as authority.
January 2015
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Abstract
Everyday spaces and places are increasingly experienced as hybrid---as a confluence of material and informatic possibility---thanks to the ubiquity of always connected mobile devices and robust sociotechnical networks. For example, the interiors of many contemporary vehicles are personal area networks that move with drivers through daily commutes, connecting them to their phone's text messages and social networks in and through the material space of their car. In such cases, communication flows strongly mediate people's experiences in, movements through, and perceptions toward spaces of work, learning, and leisure. This article explores such hybrid spaces from the perspective of communication design, offering a heuristic approach to user experience in a world where spaces are often crosshatched and multiple. This exploration focuses on the kinds of tools and practices common to knowledge work and its recent extensions into forms of knowledge play, where the means of knowledge work are coordinated and transformed for non-work pursuits. This article, then, presents a practical, persona driven perspective on the relationships between communication flows and hybrid spaces, challenging design of communication researchers and user experience professionals to rethink the everyday combinations of symbolic action, knowledge work tools and networks, and mundane locations and movements.