Communication Design Quarterly

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December 2025

  1. Changing Coastlines: Interconnections Between Communication Design, Energy, and GenAI
    Abstract

    As noted in my previous editorial, this semester I've been adjusting to my new role as CDQ 's Editor-in-Chief. It has been rewarding working with Associate Editor Casey McArdle on our first issue together. In keeping with CDQ 's roots, Casey has been spearheading a comprehensive review of our in-house and public-facing documentation and streamlining our production processes. He also helped to shoulder the load associated with copyediting and producing the articles for this exciting issue. Later in this editorial, you'll hear more from Casey about generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), pedagogical trust, bridges between academia and industry, and accessibility as a core design competency. Meanwhile, I've been settling into my new role as Associate Professor and Chair of Professional and Public Writing at the University of Rhode Island, reconnecting with old friends, and making trips to the shore where I've observed firsthand how the coastline has changed. On clear days, it is now possible to identify windmills on the horizon offshore.

    doi:10.1145/3787586.3787587
  2. Conversation Design: The Evolving Paradigm in Technical and Professional Communication
    Abstract

    As Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) adopts User Experience (UX) methods, gaps persist in integrating UX-specific knowledge and practices into curricula. This article advocates for Conversation Design (CxD) as a crucial yet overlooked intersection of TPC and UX. CxD focuses on creating human-centered interactions for chatbots, voice assistants and other conversational interfaces, aligning well with TPC's rhetorical foundations in audience, purpose, and context. Integrating CxD into TPC curricula equips students for emerging industry demands and drives academic innovation. The article defines CxD, examines its relevance to TPC, offers instructional strategies, and presents a course-based case study as a curricular model.

    doi:10.1145/3787586.3787589

September 2025

  1. Review of "Environmental Preservation and the Grey Cliffs Conflict: Negotiating Common Narratives, Values, and Ethos by Kristin D. Pickering," Pickering, K. D. (2024). <i>Environmental preservation and the grey cliffs Conflict: Negotiating common narratives, values, and ethos.</i> Utah State University Press.
    Abstract

    Kristin Pickering presents a valuable case study that focuses on how professional communicators and researchers make sense of the narratives and values between stakeholders who may be at odds with each other. This is especially important in land usage and environmental protection cases like the Grey Cliffs, where the practices of private citizens and government regulated organizations conflict. Through Pickering's well-structured case study, she shares a fascinating web of documentation practices, discourse expectations, and community narratives and how they affect the communication practices between organizations and communities.

    doi:10.1145/3772174.3772180
  2. Review of "Queer Techné: Bodies, Rhetoric, and Desire in the History of Computing by Patricia Fancher," Fancher P. (2024). <i>Queer techné: Bodies, rhetoric, and desire in the history of computing.</i> National Council of Teachers of English.
    Abstract

    Queer Techné: Bodies, Rhetoric and Desire in the History of Computing is a little book doing big things. Author Patricia Fancher presents a well-theorized recovery of both queer lives and the lives of women in the history of computing, something of great import to scholars in technical and professional communication (TPC). Fancher engages with queer theory, rhetoric, technical communication, historiography, archival studies, mathematics, computers, and engineering, resulting in a robust interdisciplinary work. At the center of the book is Alan Turing, a pioneering mathematician and gay man, but just as important are the people around him—his queer community and the women of the University of Manchester Computer Lab. Fancher uses queer and embodied techné to explore these communities and the writing that occurred within them. Through this, she presents a case that pushes back against popular narratives of Alan Turing as a solitary genius while also bringing forward the embodied human presence in computing and TPC.

    doi:10.1145/3772174.3772179
  3. Gratitude, Care, and Resilience: An Introductory Editorial
    Abstract

    This summer my professional life was marked by a number of exciting changes. In addition to assuming the role of editor in chief of CDQ and producing my first issue, I stepped down from a longterm role with the editorial team at Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy. In a bittersweet note, I received (and gave) a multitude of well wishes to the amazing colleagues and collaborators I had at Colorado State University, including Sue Doe, Lisa Langstraat, Tobi Jacobi, Todd Ruecker, Sarah Cooper, Chad Hoffman, Tiffany Lipsey, Dinaida Egan, and Meg Suter, while I started a new role as Chair of the Department of Professional and Public Writing at the University of Rhode Island. It was a summer full of packing, unpacking, painting—and new processes, policies, and people. Throughout this moment, I spent a great deal of time reflecting on this change. For instance, I reflected on what CDQ means to the fields of communication and user experience design (CD/UX), technical and professional communication (TPC), and writing and rhetoric studies (WRS). Similarly, I reflected on my editorial philosophy and how I will shape and alter it now that I've been entrusted with serving as steward of CDQ. In this opening editorial, I remark on three themes that emerged while contemplating these changes: gratitude, care, and resilience.

    doi:10.1145/3772174.3772175

June 2025

  1. Review of "Fitter, Happier: The Eugenic Strain in Twentieth-Century Cancer Rhetoric by Lois Peters Agnew," Agnew, L. P. (2024). <i>Fitter, Happier: The Eugenic Strain in Twentieth-Century Cancer Rhetoric.</i> The University of Alabama Press.
    Abstract

    Fitter, Happier: the Eugenic Strain in Twentieth-Century Cancer Rhetoric (2024) by Lois Peters Agnew argues that American cancer rhetoric from 1900-1990 was built around eugenic ideology. Agnew says, "The tension between the need to acknowledge the real danger of cancer and the American insistence upon confidence and control lies at the heart of cancer rhetoric" (p. 5). This tension is delineated through a disability studies approach to analyzing historical documents regarding cancer and cancer patients. Agnew asserts that though cancer and disability are not synonymous, "the lens of disability studies can be helpful in understanding how cancer rhetoric establishes a pattern of normative responses to the phenomenon of disease" (p. 6). Her analysis of these responses relies on the work of disability studies scholars such as Rosemarie Garland-Thompson (1997), Jay Dolmage (2017), Sharon Snyder and Jack Mitchell (2015), Susan Sontag (1977), and Susan Wendell (2013), whose work helps to illustrate the overlap of disability, cancer, and eugenic rhetoric.

    doi:10.1145/3718970.3718974
  2. Aberrance as Expansion: Zines, Acceptability Ethics, and Radical Communication in Technical &amp; Professional Communication
    Abstract

    Mike Diana was the first artist in the United States convicted for artistic obscenity. His crime, for which he was convicted in 1994, was creating and distributing a zine titled Boiled Angel. Diana's work and subsequent conviction opens potential avenues of exploration into radical rhetorics, ethics, and perceptions of aberrance. This paper considers how endeavors labelled as aberrant or radical ask us to expand ethical boundaries, even leading us to question what we might consider "technical," "professional," or "valuable." This reconsideration of appropriateness and acceptability through extremism, which leads us through the often-fuzzy distinction between "morals" and "ethics," has the potential to open or amplify opportunities for underrepresented or marginalized authors, groups, and genres by forcing us to question why we draw the lines we draw with what we deem as socially, professionally, or morally acceptable.

    doi:10.1145/3718970.3718972
  3. Review of "User Experience Research and Usability of Health Information Technology by Jessica Lynn Campbell, PhD," Campbell, J. L. (2024). <i>User Experience Research and Usability of Health Information technology.</i> CRC Press.
    Abstract

    In User Experience Research and Usability of Health Information Technology , Jessica Lynn Campbell offers a guide on the design and implementation of usability studies to improve the user experience with health information technology (HIT). HIT is a broad and growing category, which includes applications such as telemedicine, electronic health records, and electronic communications between healthcare providers and patients. Given the increasing use of HIT, this is a welcome resource for both researchers and practitioners interested in improving user experiences and, ultimately, positive health outcomes. Campbell brings strong professional experience in the healthcare field, having worked in digital marketing, technical communication, and content creation roles. She is also an accomplished teacher and researcher within the technical communication and user experience disciplines. She draws on this diverse background to create a text intended for use by both academic scholars and healthcare practitioners.

    doi:10.1145/3718970.3718976

March 2025

  1. Review of "Voice and Tone Strategy: Connecting with People through Content by John Caldwell," Caldwell, J. (2020). <i>Voice and Tone Strategy: Connecting with People through Content.</i> Laguna Hills, CA: XML Press.
    Abstract

    Voice and Tone Strategy: Connecting with People through Content by John Caldwell is an addition to The Content Wrangler series from XML Press, published in 2020. The primary goal of Caldwell's work is to give readers a straightforward and applicable content development process—the Vertical Voice and Tone Framework (p.10)—and subsequent implementation. In the book, Caldwell centers an argument for authentic connections with users through a value-centered approach to design, drawing from his experience in the industry as a strategic developer in brand voices for well-known companies such as TurboTax and QuickBooks. Caldwell's four key concepts, framed as "building blocks," support the Vertical Voice and Tone Framework, which is a goal-driven, four-part framework that aims to create an improved or new voice and tone strategy for individuals or brands looking to revisit what it means to connect with an audience in their professional practice.

    doi:10.1145/3718959.3718965
  2. Review of "Interrogating Gendered Pathologies by Erin A. Frost and Michelle F. Eble (Eds.)," Frost, E.A., &amp; Eble, M.F. (Eds.) (2020). <i>Interrogating Gendered Pathologies.</i> University Press of Colorado
    Abstract

    Interrogating Gendered Pathologies , edited by Erin A. Frost and Michelle F. Eble, presents an illuminating and diverse critical study of the complex gender discrimination that historically and presently affects doctor-patient relations and medical institutions. The text's goal is to acknowledge these issues, instigate discussion, and aid in finding potential pathways to policy change.

    doi:10.1145/3718959.3718967
  3. Review of "User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice by Kate Crane and Kelli Cargile Cook," Crane, K., &amp; Cook, K. C. (Eds.). (2023). User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice. University Press of Colorado.
    Abstract

    Kate Crane and Kelli Cargile Cook's edited collection on User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice offers case studies in technical and professional communication (TPC) pedagogy that premise around user experience (UX) design as an integrated and proactive academic practice. TPC has a rich history of UX-specific scholarship that focuses on creating holistic user experiences and conceptions such as experience architecture (Potts, 2014), design as advocacy (Rose, 2016), and participatory design (Muller, 2009). These are consistently weaved throughout the book. Crane and Cook define UX as a "theory and practice that emphasizes the need for functional products that integrate the users' needs and experiences" (p. 10). This collection features exploratory studies that discuss key methods and approaches for facilitating UX-inspired curricular design by framing student-users as co-creators in the process.

    doi:10.1145/3718959.3718966

December 2024

  1. Are Academia and Industry Listening to Each Other? A Citation Analysis of UX Research Methods Resources
    Abstract

    Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) has been facing concerns of viability, in both its relationship with industry and its ability to build a relevant and valid body of research. TPC's disconnection with industry may be reflected in its relationship to UX as well, despite both fields' shared values. To better understand how TPC and User Experience (UX) are relating to each other, we conducted a citation analysis of a sample of SIGDOC papers and a sample of Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) practitioner articles focused on research methods. The SIGDOC papers tended to cite TPC sources, while the NN/g articles cited no TPC, but did cite disciplines such as HCI and Psychology. The findings point to opportunities for TPC to improve its connection and influence beyond academia.

    doi:10.1145/3658438.3658442
  2. Between the Lines: Visual Euphemism in Technical and Professional Communication Visuals
    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.

    doi:10.1145/3658438.3658439
  3. Review of "Engineering Words: Communicating Clearly in the Workplace by Sharon Burton and Bonni Graham Gonzalez," Burton, S., &amp; Gonzalez, B. G. (2023). Engineering words: Communicating clearly in the workplace. XML Press.
    Abstract

    Engineering Words: Communicating Clearly in the Workplace by Sharon Burton and Bonni Graham Gonzalez emphasizes that effective communication is essential for engineers to succeed in their careers. The book argues that technical brilliance alone is insufficient, and engineers must also convey their ideas clearly and persuasively to various audiences in business environments. It provides practical guidelines and techniques for various forms of communication that engineers commonly use. These include writing clear business documents, creating compelling presentations, and understanding the business context in which engineering communication occurs. Additionally, the authors integrate concepts of human cognition to explain how people process information and how this understanding can be applied to improve communication. They argue that mastering communication can significantly enhance an engineer's career prospects and influence.

    doi:10.1145/3658438.3658444

September 2024

  1. The Political Impact of the Default of GenAI
    Abstract

    The first time I recall encountering artificial intelligence was in the early 2000s while working in a recording studio. After singing a take of a song, I watched as an engineer opened a plug-in called Auto-tune and then listened as he worked on tuning my vocals. I recall him explaining to me that the vocal had to be pretty close to the note I was trying to sing, otherwise the tuned version would sound fake. He demonstrated by tuning my vocal too sharp and then too flat. The sound of the stressed vocal created a distorted tremolo effect, with maybe even a bit of delay. It no longer sounded like me. It sounded like a robot who was impersonating me. I bristled. "No, not like that," I said uncomfortably laughing. "That doesn't sound like me."

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713038
  2. Redrawing the Maps: Digital Literacy Practices of Grassroots Activists
    Abstract

    This research used a participant observer method to describe and analyze the digital literacy practices of one grassroots community group that organized around the issue of municipal city council redistricting. The group proposed and advocated for city council district lines that reflected the minority-majority makeup of the city's population. The group effectively crafted different genres, including informational Google Docs, maps, form letters, petitions, social media graphics, press releases, and public speeches to advocate for their position. This research argues for the study of activists' digital literacy practices and the role of digital technology in activist efforts.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713046
  3. Review of "Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication by Samuel Stinson and Mary Le Rouge," Stinson, S., &amp; Le Rouge, M. (Eds.). (2022). <i>Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication.</i> Routledge.
    Abstract

    Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication , edited by Samuel Stinson and Mary Le Rouge, is a timely collection of essays addressing the ways that humans conceptualize and interact with their environment when attempting to communicate the dangers of crises---such as climate change and COVID-19. Explicitly responding to the work of Jeffrey Grabill and Michelle Simmons (e.g., in their seminal 1998 essay, "Toward a Critical Rhetoric of Risk Communication"), this collection offers a broad variety of lenses for thinking about humans' relationships to their surroundings, especially while communicating environmental risk. The 14 chapters in this volume apply methodologies including rhetorical and discourse analysis, ethnography, integrated risk communication, and antiracist framing to topics ranging from university communications about the pandemic to groundwater pollution to upcycled art installations, in the process complicating traditional understandings of risk as something that exists "'out there,' independent of our minds and cultures, waiting to be measured" (Slovic, 1999, p. 690). Considered broadly, the collection offers human bodies and ecological impact as more effective barometers for risk than abstract calculations; individual chapters offer heuristics grounded in human experience or environmental considerations, along with discussion questions and assignments for use in classroom settings. The diversity of topics and methodologies represented ensure that the collection offers something of interest to most scholars and practitioners of risk communication, environmental communication, or embodiment in technical communication.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713041
  4. Interactive UX: Building and Testing for Accessibility with Design Systems
    Abstract

    Design systems provide a useful approach for TPC instructors looking to teach students to design and build accessible digital products. This experience report presents a teaching unit on using design systems to introduce accessibility to students. Using the Bootstrap design system, accessibility is threaded throughout the design process and provides a grounded approach for integrating accessible design into the UX classroom. Readers will come away with an outline of the teaching unit, accompanying materials for teaching that unit, and student examples user-tested for accessibility. The author concludes on a reflection on teaching the unit and offers advice for readers looking to implement a similar unit in their own courses.

    doi:10.1145/3658422.3658431
  5. The Post-Digital Life of Transnational Activists: Develop a Tactical Technological Literacy
    Abstract

    This article examines the technological literacies reflected by participants in the transnational "White Paper Movement"/"A4 Revolution" in the Chinese diaspora, against the Chinese government's stringent "dynamic zero-COVID" policy. The analysis reveals how protestors engaged with the technological literacy framework of Hovde and Renguette (2017): functional and conceptual; critical and evaluative, in layered and interconnected ways. But these literacy skills are also extended tactically where they must not only know how to use technologies well, but also understand how a technology works enough in order to use it subversively. Thus, this article proposes a tactical technological literacy to contribute to the theorization of a "post-digital" life-especially in transnational activism contexts-where not only do people have to consider how (not) to use technologies (in the broadest sense) in both online and offline spaces but also how technologies may impose constraints and oppression on their daily life. The article ends with some pedagogical implications on how to foster a tactical technological literacy in TPC classrooms.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713045
  6. Review of "Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing by John R. Gallagher," Gallagher, J. R. (2019). <i>Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing.</i> Utah University State Press.
    Abstract

    Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing represents an ambitious project in which John R. Gallagher explores two primary claims. First, he introduces the idea of "interactive and participatory internet (IPI) templates" (p. 8) as structures that allow for constant rewriting and rereading of digital content. He argues that these templates foster communication by providing a model that encourages users to compose to each other based on certain characteristics, and arguably constraints, unique to digital environments. Second, he explores the idea that digital writers have developed new strategies that impact how they (re)compose, as well as interact, with participatory audiences who are closer to writers than ever before. In order to analyze these claims, Gallagher performs a series of interviews with forty writers who are top performing Redditors, Amazon reviewers, and online journalists/bloggers. Through these interviews, Gallagher connects common writing strategies that are employed by the writers as they work within the framework of specific templates and interact with their different audiences.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713042
  7. Honoring Dr. Halcyon Lawrence's Legacy in the Technical Communication Classroom
    Abstract

    Over the course of my friendship with Dr. Halcyon Lawrence, I would often spend weekday evenings completing a mundane chore like washing dishes or feeding the cat. I would then hear my phone's alert for an incoming text message: "I need company. Are you working tonight?" Within 30 minutes or so Halcyon and I were on Zoom, cameras off, and nothing displayed on screen but our login names. Other times I'd receive a text like "I need your advice. Do you have time?" and we convened over the phone. When we talked, answers to our mutual question "How was your day?" prompted stories, and those stories led to musings and reflections. When I became befuddled when an assignment would flop or disappointed by a flat discussion, Halcyon gently queried, "So what were you trying to do?" or "Why do you think that activity didn't go well?" Her responses always reoriented me. When venting was no longer productive, we teased apart the problem, speculating what skill or knowledge students needed but had not sufficiently developed. These conversations often gave me enthusiasm for a new pedagogical approach or revealed insights about the gaps in our teaching and our students' learning. In the months since Halcyon's passing, I miss most acutely these nightly conversations about what was happening in our classrooms. My goal in this essay is to underscore the fact that part of Halcyon's legacy as a social justice-oriented technical communication scholar is her ethos as a teacher and collaborator who cared capaciously about student learning and the development of teaching practices and assignments.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713054
  8. Dr. Halcyon Lawrence's "Siri Disciplines": Examining Accented English and Pedagogical Implications of Biased Technologies through an African Diasporic Lens
    Abstract

    In the Fall of 2023, my professor, a fellow graduate student, and I dedicated months of intensive work to a project that held great significance for us because of its relevance to human values and the broader conversation on social justice. We applied to a conference and were eager to disseminate our methodology and findings. This conference promised to be a landmark experience for me; it was going to be my first time attending this conference and an opportunity to present our work to a like-minded audience. We were accepted and the schedule listed our presentation last on the panel. I anticipated our presentation with a mix of excitement and responsibility.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713057
  9. A Glimpse of Lawrence's Legacy: From "Siri Discipline" to Disciplining Artificial Intelligence
    Abstract

    Have you ever wondered how a researcher from the periphery can gain an enduring foothold in the pantheon of researchers from the center? This essay will attempt to answer that question. Halcyon Lawrence was a researcher, writer, and professor from the Global South who has made a mark on a community of technical communication scholars, writers, researchers, and professors with her widely discussed research articles dealing with the pros and cons, perils and promises, boon and bane of speech recognition tools and technology. Lawrence's research explores the thickets of speech recognition and proposes strategic and revisionary measures toward neutralizing the lopsided corpora of speech recognition software, vaporware, and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology. To crystalize her contributions to justice, data justice, and racial-linguistic justice, I chose a chapter, "Siri Discipline," she (2021) wrote for the book Your Computer is on Fire (Mullaney et al, 2021). My essay highlights how her ideas have gained more traction in relation to the current disruption of the AI revolution (Gopal, 2020). That disruption is often exemplified through ChatGPT, a platform that shows how Lawrence's core insight from "Siri Discipline" can have a direct bearing on normative frameworks being developed to address burgeoning challenges ushered in by the AI revolution.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713055
  10. Review of "Privacy matters: Conversations about surveillance in and beyond the classroom by Estee Beck and Les Hutchinson Campos," Beck E, &amp; Hutchinson Campos, L. (Eds.). (2020). <i>Privacy Matters: Conversations about surveillance in and beyond the classroom.</i> Utah State University Press
    Abstract

    Privacy matters: Conversations about surveillance within and beyond the classroom presents a salient investigation into the impacts of surveillance upon writing education, embodiment, and culture. Authors Estee Beck and Les Hutchinson Campos set out to constellate surveillance-focused rhetoric, writing, and technical communication scholarship to empower educators, administrators, and professionals to "subvert the state" by investigating how privacy and surveillance impact writing practices, agency, community, identity formation, and citizenship. Organized thematically into three parts---surveillance and classrooms, surveillance and bodies, and surveillance and culture---this 2020 edited collection presents a snapshot in time of surveillance in writing technology as it is broadly defined, inviting scholars to continue the discussion as surveillance and cultures continue an entangled evolution.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713040
  11. Dr. Halcyon Lawrence: A Resounding Legacy
    Abstract

    I last heard from Dr. Lawrence about two weeks before she died when she responded to my request for her expertise: Dr. Neefe, Attached are my comments on the 2 surveys. I'm concerned about the length of the POE survey in particular...It's long and I'm assuming if people are responding to this this [sic] on their way out of the building, they are not going to give it the careful thought and reflection that many of the questions require. But maybe I have the context of the survey wrong... I hope my comments are helpful --- this is such an exciting project, Halcyon

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713056
  12. Developing Asynchronous Workshop Models for Professional Development
    Abstract

    Asynchronous workshops have potential as a flexible and accessible tool for instructor professional development. Translating synchronous workshops into asynchronous versions represents an opportunity to expand access to training materials, but translating across modalities is a challenge. As facilitators of the Colleges Online Learning Academy summer fellowship program, we outline our process for developing asynchronous workshops focused on pedagogy and digital learning for graduate student instructors. We evaluated participant engagement and accessibility based on survey responses (n=10) and workshop artifacts. Our four asynchronous workshops consisted of multimodal modules with video clips from the synchronous sessions and engagement opportunities on Jamboard. We found low Jamboard engagement from asynchronous participants, but high engagement in multimodal modules. Potential barriers to access included mental health, Wi-Fi access, English language comprehension, and a lack of discussion, but many participants (4 of 9) reported no access barriers. We provide recommendations for developing engaging, accessible, and content-rich asynchronous workshops from synchronous workshop materials.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713036
  13. (Re)Designing Privacy Literacy in the Age of Generative AI
    Abstract

    In this article, we propose (re)designing privacy literacy as an essential component of our digital lives in an age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI). Our study emphasizes the layered digital, technical, rhetorical, and algorithmic literacies associated with design thinking and genAI to support theorizing privacy literacy. We introduce Design as an analytical element complementary to Woods and Wason's (2021) multi-pronged framework for analyzing Terms of Service (ToS) documents. Using a cluster of Adobe Generative AI ToS, we illustrate the necessity of including Design , which allows those invested in Communication Design (CD) and Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) to interrogate how or if design supports or undermines values related to user privacy, data ownership, and informed consent. We conclude by detailing how collective surveillance apathy regarding emergent data infrastructures signal a Post-Surveillance era in our global society and digital lives.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713052
  14. Review of "Salt of the earth: Rhetoric, preservation and white supremacy by James Chase Sanchez," Sanchez, J. C. (2021). <i>Salt of the earth: Rhetoric, preservation, and white supremacy.</i> Conference on College Composition and Communication, NCTE Press.
    Abstract

    In Salt of the earth: Rhetoric, preservation, and white supremacy , James Chase Sanchez examined rhetorical processes that sustain white supremacy: identity construction, storytelling, and silencing. This cultural rhetorics project used narrative inquiry, autoethnography, and constellation to explore "hegemonic storytelling" (p. 47--48). Sanchez centered narratives about growing up "Brown" (p. 10) in Grand Saline, Texas and returning to his hometown years later to create a documentary film, Man on Fire , about minister Charles Moore's self-immolation in a local parking lot. Ultimately, Sanchez argued that a deeper understanding of oppressive rhetorics is useful for rhetorical scholars, communications practitioners, and storytellers of all types (historians, journalists, filmmakers, archivists, etc.). He guided rhetoric and communications design towards more thoughtful consideration of embedded communicative norms and the harmful practices they conceal.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713039
  15. Voices from The Void: Teaching User Experience as Racial Storytelling in TPC
    Abstract

    This article discusses a newly created method of UX journey mapping---User Experience as Racial Storytelling (UXRS)---designed to centralize Black user narratives in design thinking, and the teaching implications as a Black woman non-tenure track (NTT) online technical and professional communication (TPC) instructor. Revisiting an assigned group activity in a synchronous online technical writing course for engineers at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI), this essay will share pedagogical approaches of user experience as TPC pedagogy used to scaffold this method of racial storytelling as an anti-racist practice to adapt a social justice framework. This essay suggests UXRS can aid engineering students' perspective of inclusive design.

    doi:10.1145/3658422.3658432
  16. Teaching Liberatory Design
    Abstract

    This experience report describes a fully online graduate course on user-centered design that was designed to scaffold self-regulated learning and then redesigned to follow Anaissie et al.'s 2021 iteration of the Liberatory Design process. The pivot to Liberatory Design helped strengthen the self-regulated learning scaffolding, as each phase of the Liberatory Design process includes the processes of noticing, reflecting, and seeing the system. This article describes the prompts incorporated into major assignments, student perceptions, lessons learned, and the ways that Liberatory Design and self-regulated learning prompting can be used throughout the user-centered design process to improve the work of designers.

    doi:10.1145/3658422.3658427
  17. The Digital "Good Life": The Limits of Applying an Ethics of Care to a Company "Running with Scissors."
    Abstract

    This article explores the challenge of implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion literacies in popular buyer persona platforms such as HubSpot and FlowMapp. Drawing on a practitioner interview with a public relations and marketing director, Dr. Danielle Feldman Karr, this article contextualizes Feldman Karr's efforts to revise her design team's internal buyer persona construction process to better engage DEI issues. This article considers the successes and challenges of applying an ethics of care informed by Graham's Black feminist ethics in order to analyze how designers think about "the good life" (flourishing) in persona redesign.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3713049

June 2024

  1. Dr. Halcyon Lawrence: A Resounding Legacy
    Abstract

    I last heard from Dr. Lawrence about two weeks before she died when she responded to my request for her expertise: Dr. Neefe, Attached are my comments on the 2 surveys. I'm concerned about the length of the POE survey in particular...It's long and I'm assuming if people are responding to this this [sic] on their way out of the building, they are not going to give it the careful thought and reflection that many of the questions require. But maybe I have the context of the survey wrong... I hope my comments are helpful --- this is such an exciting project, Halcyon

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655740
  2. (Re)Designing Privacy Literacy in the Age of Generative AI
    Abstract

    In this article, we propose (re)designing privacy literacy as an essential component of our digital lives in an age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI). Our study emphasizes the layered digital, technical, rhetorical, and algorithmic literacies associated with design thinking and genAI to support theorizing privacy literacy. We introduce Design as an analytical element complementary to Woods and Wason's (2021) multi-pronged framework for analyzing Terms of Service (ToS) documents. Using a cluster of Adobe Generative AI ToS, we illustrate the necessity of including Design , which allows those invested in Communication Design (CD) and Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) to interrogate how or if design supports or undermines values related to user privacy, data ownership, and informed consent. We conclude by detailing how collective surveillance apathy regarding emergent data infrastructures signal a Post-Surveillance era in our global society and digital lives.

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655736
  3. The Post-Digital Life of Transnational Activists: Develop a Tactical Technological Literacy
    Abstract

    This article examines the technological literacies reflected by participants in the transnational "White Paper Movement"/"A4 Revolution" in the Chinese diaspora, against the Chinese government's stringent "dynamic zero-COVID" policy. The analysis reveals how protestors engaged with the technological literacy framework of Hovde and Renguette (2017): functional and conceptual; critical and evaluative, in layered and interconnected ways. But these literacy skills are also extended tactically where they must not only know how to use technologies well, but also understand how a technology works enough in order to use it subversively. Thus, this article proposes a tactical technological literacy to contribute to the theorization of a "post-digital" life-especially in transnational activism contexts-where not only do people have to consider how (not) to use technologies (in the broadest sense) in both online and offline spaces but also how technologies may impose constraints and oppression on their daily life. The article ends with some pedagogical implications on how to foster a tactical technological literacy in TPC classrooms.

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655729
  4. A Glimpse of Lawrence's Legacy: From "Siri Discipline" to Disciplining Artificial Intelligence
    Abstract

    Have you ever wondered how a researcher from the periphery can gain an enduring foothold in the pantheon of researchers from the center? This essay will attempt to answer that question. Halcyon Lawrence was a researcher, writer, and professor from the Global South who has made a mark on a community of technical communication scholars, writers, researchers, and professors with her widely discussed research articles dealing with the pros and cons, perils and promises, boon and bane of speech recognition tools and technology. Lawrence's research explores the thickets of speech recognition and proposes strategic and revisionary measures toward neutralizing the lopsided corpora of speech recognition software, vaporware, and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology. To crystalize her contributions to justice, data justice, and racial-linguistic justice, I chose a chapter, "Siri Discipline," she (2021) wrote for the book Your Computer is on Fire (Mullaney et al, 2021). My essay highlights how her ideas have gained more traction in relation to the current disruption of the AI revolution (Gopal, 2020). That disruption is often exemplified through ChatGPT, a platform that shows how Lawrence's core insight from "Siri Discipline" can have a direct bearing on normative frameworks being developed to address burgeoning challenges ushered in by the AI revolution.

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655739
  5. Honoring Dr. Halcyon Lawrence's Legacy in the Technical Communication Classroom
    Abstract

    Over the course of my friendship with Dr. Halcyon Lawrence, I would often spend weekday evenings completing a mundane chore like washing dishes or feeding the cat. I would then hear my phone's alert for an incoming text message: "I need company. Are you working tonight?" Within 30 minutes or so Halcyon and I were on Zoom, cameras off, and nothing displayed on screen but our login names. Other times I'd receive a text like "I need your advice. Do you have time?" and we convened over the phone. When we talked, answers to our mutual question "How was your day?" prompted stories, and those stories led to musings and reflections. When I became befuddled when an assignment would flop or disappointed by a flat discussion, Halcyon gently queried, "So what were you trying to do?" or "Why do you think that activity didn't go well?" Her responses always reoriented me. When venting was no longer productive, we teased apart the problem, speculating what skill or knowledge students needed but had not sufficiently developed. These conversations often gave me enthusiasm for a new pedagogical approach or revealed insights about the gaps in our teaching and our students' learning. In the months since Halcyon's passing, I miss most acutely these nightly conversations about what was happening in our classrooms. My goal in this essay is to underscore the fact that part of Halcyon's legacy as a social justice-oriented technical communication scholar is her ethos as a teacher and collaborator who cared capaciously about student learning and the development of teaching practices and assignments.

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655738
  6. Redrawing the Maps: Digital Literacy Practices of Grassroots Activists
    Abstract

    This research used a participant observer method to describe and analyze the digital literacy practices of one grassroots community group that organized around the issue of municipal city council redistricting. The group proposed and advocated for city council district lines that reflected the minority-majority makeup of the city's population. The group effectively crafted different genres, including informational Google Docs, maps, form letters, petitions, social media graphics, press releases, and public speeches to advocate for their position. This research argues for the study of activists' digital literacy practices and the role of digital technology in activist efforts.

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655730
  7. The Digital "Good Life": The Limits of Applying an Ethics of Care to a Company "Running with Scissors."
    Abstract

    This article explores the challenge of implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion literacies in popular buyer persona platforms such as HubSpot and FlowMapp. Drawing on a practitioner interview with a public relations and marketing director, Dr. Danielle Feldman Karr, this article contextualizes Feldman Karr's efforts to revise her design team's internal buyer persona construction process to better engage DEI issues. This article considers the successes and challenges of applying an ethics of care informed by Graham's Black feminist ethics in order to analyze how designers think about "the good life" (flourishing) in persona redesign.

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655733
  8. Dr. Halcyon Lawrence's "Siri Disciplines": Examining Accented English and Pedagogical Implications of Biased Technologies through an African Diasporic Lens
    Abstract

    In the Fall of 2023, my professor, a fellow graduate student, and I dedicated months of intensive work to a project that held great significance for us because of its relevance to human values and the broader conversation on social justice. We applied to a conference and were eager to disseminate our methodology and findings. This conference promised to be a landmark experience for me; it was going to be my first time attending this conference and an opportunity to present our work to a like-minded audience. We were accepted and the schedule listed our presentation last on the panel. I anticipated our presentation with a mix of excitement and responsibility.

    doi:10.1145/3655727.3655741

March 2024

  1. Review of "Privacy matters: Conversations about surveillance in and beyond the classroom by Estee Beck and Les Hutchinson Campos," Beck E, &amp; Hutchinson Campos, L. (Eds.). (2020). <i>Privacy Matters: Conversations about surveillance in and beyond the classroom.</i> Utah State University Press
    Abstract

    Privacy matters: Conversations about surveillance within and beyond the classroom presents a salient investigation into the impacts of surveillance upon writing education, embodiment, and culture. Authors Estee Beck and Les Hutchinson Campos set out to constellate surveillance-focused rhetoric, writing, and technical communication scholarship to empower educators, administrators, and professionals to "subvert the state" by investigating how privacy and surveillance impact writing practices, agency, community, identity formation, and citizenship. Organized thematically into three parts---surveillance and classrooms, surveillance and bodies, and surveillance and culture---this 2020 edited collection presents a snapshot in time of surveillance in writing technology as it is broadly defined, inviting scholars to continue the discussion as surveillance and cultures continue an entangled evolution.

    doi:10.1145/3627691.3627699
  2. Review of "Salt of the earth: Rhetoric, preservation and white supremacy by James Chase Sanchez," Sanchez, J. C. (2021). <i>Salt of the earth: Rhetoric, preservation, and white supremacy.</i> Conference on College Composition and Communication, NCTE Press.
    Abstract

    In Salt of the earth: Rhetoric, preservation, and white supremacy , James Chase Sanchez examined rhetorical processes that sustain white supremacy: identity construction, storytelling, and silencing. This cultural rhetorics project used narrative inquiry, autoethnography, and constellation to explore "hegemonic storytelling" (p. 47--48). Sanchez centered narratives about growing up "Brown" (p. 10) in Grand Saline, Texas and returning to his hometown years later to create a documentary film, Man on Fire , about minister Charles Moore's self-immolation in a local parking lot. Ultimately, Sanchez argued that a deeper understanding of oppressive rhetorics is useful for rhetorical scholars, communications practitioners, and storytellers of all types (historians, journalists, filmmakers, archivists, etc.). He guided rhetoric and communications design towards more thoughtful consideration of embedded communicative norms and the harmful practices they conceal.

    doi:10.1145/3627691.3627698
  3. Review of "Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication by Samuel Stinson and Mary Le Rouge," Stinson, S., &amp; Le Rouge, M. (Eds.). (2022). <i>Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication.</i> Routledge.
    Abstract

    Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication , edited by Samuel Stinson and Mary Le Rouge, is a timely collection of essays addressing the ways that humans conceptualize and interact with their environment when attempting to communicate the dangers of crises---such as climate change and COVID-19. Explicitly responding to the work of Jeffrey Grabill and Michelle Simmons (e.g., in their seminal 1998 essay, "Toward a Critical Rhetoric of Risk Communication"), this collection offers a broad variety of lenses for thinking about humans' relationships to their surroundings, especially while communicating environmental risk. The 14 chapters in this volume apply methodologies including rhetorical and discourse analysis, ethnography, integrated risk communication, and antiracist framing to topics ranging from university communications about the pandemic to groundwater pollution to upcycled art installations, in the process complicating traditional understandings of risk as something that exists "'out there,' independent of our minds and cultures, waiting to be measured" (Slovic, 1999, p. 690). Considered broadly, the collection offers human bodies and ecological impact as more effective barometers for risk than abstract calculations; individual chapters offer heuristics grounded in human experience or environmental considerations, along with discussion questions and assignments for use in classroom settings. The diversity of topics and methodologies represented ensure that the collection offers something of interest to most scholars and practitioners of risk communication, environmental communication, or embodiment in technical communication.

    doi:10.1145/3627691.3627700
  4. Review of "Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing by John R. Gallagher," Gallagher, J. R. (2019). <i>Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing.</i> Utah University State Press.
    Abstract

    Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing represents an ambitious project in which John R. Gallagher explores two primary claims. First, he introduces the idea of "interactive and participatory internet (IPI) templates" (p. 8) as structures that allow for constant rewriting and rereading of digital content. He argues that these templates foster communication by providing a model that encourages users to compose to each other based on certain characteristics, and arguably constraints, unique to digital environments. Second, he explores the idea that digital writers have developed new strategies that impact how they (re)compose, as well as interact, with participatory audiences who are closer to writers than ever before. In order to analyze these claims, Gallagher performs a series of interviews with forty writers who are top performing Redditors, Amazon reviewers, and online journalists/bloggers. Through these interviews, Gallagher connects common writing strategies that are employed by the writers as they work within the framework of specific templates and interact with their different audiences.

    doi:10.1145/3627691.3627701
  5. Developing Asynchronous Workshop Models for Professional Development
    Abstract

    Asynchronous workshops have potential as a flexible and accessible tool for instructor professional development. Translating synchronous workshops into asynchronous versions represents an opportunity to expand access to training materials, but translating across modalities is a challenge. As facilitators of the Colleges Online Learning Academy summer fellowship program, we outline our process for developing asynchronous workshops focused on pedagogy and digital learning for graduate student instructors. We evaluated participant engagement and accessibility based on survey responses (n=10) and workshop artifacts. Our four asynchronous workshops consisted of multimodal modules with video clips from the synchronous sessions and engagement opportunities on Jamboard. We found low Jamboard engagement from asynchronous participants, but high engagement in multimodal modules. Potential barriers to access included mental health, Wi-Fi access, English language comprehension, and a lack of discussion, but many participants (4 of 9) reported no access barriers. We provide recommendations for developing engaging, accessible, and content-rich asynchronous workshops from synchronous workshop materials.

    doi:10.1145/3627691.3627695
  6. The Political Impact of the Default of GenAI
    Abstract

    The first time I recall encountering artificial intelligence was in the early 2000s while working in a recording studio. After singing a take of a song, I watched as an engineer opened a plug-in called Auto-tune and then listened as he worked on tuning my vocals. I recall him explaining to me that the vocal had to be pretty close to the note I was trying to sing, otherwise the tuned version would sound fake. He demonstrated by tuning my vocal too sharp and then too flat. The sound of the stressed vocal created a distorted tremolo effect, with maybe even a bit of delay. It no longer sounded like me. It sounded like a robot who was impersonating me. I bristled. "No, not like that," I said uncomfortably laughing. "That doesn't sound like me."

    doi:10.1145/3627691.3627697

September 2023

  1. Community-Engaged User Experience Pedagogy: Stories, Emergent Strategy, and Possibilities
    Abstract

    In this article, we discuss the unique challenges of Community-Engaged User Experience (CEUX) by using storytelling and present a framework of emergent patterns (brown, 2017) to make visible labor, practice, and messiness of the process of building, maintaining, and renewing partnerships with community members and partners. We share three models for CEUX engagements: one-to-many, many-to-many, and one-to-plural. Within the models, we detail the structure of each CEUX engagement, what students did, and the affordances and constraints of each model. In addition, we share thoughts or voices from the community partners or collaborators or students engaged in the projects. We conclude by connecting the models to the elements of Emergent Strategy in the section From Patterns to Possibilities where we call on fellow instructors and community partners to embrace abundance-oriented questions.

    doi:10.1145/3592367.3592371
  2. Review of "Writing in the Clouds: Inventing and Composing in Internetworked Writing Spaces by John Logie," Logie, J. (2021). Writing in the clouds: Inventing and composing in internetworked writing spaces. Parlor Press.
    Abstract

    In the wake of the controversy surrounding the new AI chatbot application, ChatGPT, I wonder how Logie would seek to include this new technology in his work. I ponder this because, throughout the book, Logie presents compelling evidence for why the concepts of invention, composition, and internetworked writing should be embraced and not feared. While some denounce the application and take to social media to disparage the possible negative impact on students, creativity, and composition, ChatGPT, I believe Logie would argue, would be a powerful tool we can implement to become "composers." He believes that through cloud computing services we are now more apt to collaborate, use, remix, and create rhetorical modes that extend far beyond the formulaic argument, therefore we are composers. So, Logie applies the idea of a composer as someone who is a "prosumer" (Toffler). This composer is media literate and transforms traditional rhetorical canons into multimodal compositions such as memes, Google Docs, and digital collages. However, his overarching argument is that internetworked writing tools have democratized writing through that same offering of innovative outlets. His book is arranged in a way that walks the reader through this argument.

    doi:10.1145/3592367.3617935
  3. Review of "User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice by Kate Crane and Kelli Cargile Cook," Crane, K., &amp; Cargile Cook, K. (Eds.). (2022). User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.37514/TPC-B.2022.1367
    Abstract

    In User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice , editors Kate Crane and Kelli Cargile Cook present and curate fresh perspectives for instructional and curriculum design by arguing that technical and professional communication (TPC) programs will benefit if user experience (UX) methodologies are applied in pedagogical settings to gain greater insight into the student user's needs, challenges, and environments, thereby not only making student users the center of the course design process, but also co-creators of instructional materials and strategies. To support the effectiveness of UX methodologies in learning about student needs and assessing program success, Crane and Cargile Cook bring together authors who present case studies where UX methods such as user profiles, journey maps, usability studies, diary entries, affinity diagramming, and so on were applied in various aspects of pedagogic design and re-design.

    doi:10.1145/3592367.3592376
  4. Story of a Community-Based Writing Resource - And a Call to Engage
    Abstract

    This article tells the story of YpsiWrites, a community writing resource that provides support, resources, and programs for all writers. It shows how ideas from adrienne maree brown's Emergent Strategy (2017) provide a generative framework for community-engaged initiatives. It uses this framework to examine the work of YpsiWrites, and, in doing so, illustrates the value of the framework for planning, carrying out, and assessing community-engaged work (CEW). The authors share responses to questions they posed to stakeholders, along with themes from those responses, which paint a more nuanced picture of the nature and potential of this work. They conclude with a call to engage and an invitation for others to use these questions as a heuristic in pursuing their own, unique community-engaged work.

    doi:10.1145/3592367.3592372

March 2023

  1. Exploring Healthcare Communication Gaps Between US Universities and Their International Students: A Technical Communication Approach
    Abstract

    US healthcare is a complicated system not just for US-born citizens but also international students in the US. While universities inform international students about how US healthcare functions, these students still struggle with navigating healthcare owing to the cultural and technical challenges they face with the system. This paper investigates how US healthcare information can be conveyed effectively by universities so that international students navigate healthcare with fewer challenges. This research was conducted using qualitative methods with 12 international student participants at a US university. Using the collected data, the study provides recommendations to improve healthcare communication on campuses and insights to increase the scope of this study to further investigate international students' healthcare access challenges.

    doi:10.1145/3563890.3563892