Information-technology (IT) professionals play an important organizational role within service-oriented business environments through both their technical and their strong communication skills. However, developing communication competence as a part of IT higher education does not receive enough attention, especially since communication apprehension is a key obstacle in terms of achieving communication effectiveness. Thus, the research questions in this study are as follows: What kinds of activities applied in a classroom setting can increase students' communication competence? What are the effects of active learning strategies on students' communication apprehension? Situating the case: Understanding communication apprehension and its relationship with communication competence is necessary for designing effective communication courses for management information systems students. How the case was studied: This study implemented active learning strategies in three classes to develop students' communication competence while decreasing their communication apprehension level. Surveys were administered to students to evaluate their level of communication apprehension. About the case: Adopting psychoeducation intervention strategies from occupational therapy, this study implemented different active learning strategies to further develop students' communication competence as well as decrease their communication apprehension. The results show that the levels of communication apprehension among these classes decreased significantly following adoption of these strategies. Conclusions: Active learning strategies adopted in these classes were effective in terms of decreasing communication anxiety by increasing students' willingness to communicate, which is the prerequisite for developing effective communication.

This tutorial explores ethical implications of cognitive load theory and intersectional theory on technical and professional communication, and proposes plain language as an ethical imperative to redress social inequities. Key concepts: When the cognitive load of a learning task is too high and overwhelms working memory, learning is impaired. The greater stress and mental burden that marginalized populations experience can leave less working memory available for reading and learning. Using plain language to reduce cognitive load can be considered a political act that increases marginalized populations' opportunities to understand. Key lessons: 1. Consider whether marginalized populations are part of your audience. 2. Using personas to represent those populations, audit their mental burden to exercise cognitive empathy. 3. Consider reducing cognitive load via plain language an ethical imperative. Implications for practice: Assessing the presence and absence of specific marginalized groups is iterative and takes practice, but developing plain-language communications that accommodate these audiences reduces cognitive load for all readers. And although personas are useful for developing cognitive empathy, nothing replaces user testing in determining your communication's effectiveness.

Introduction: This study investigates how plain language, examined from a social justice perspective, is implemented in mortgage documents and what the implications are for African-American homebuyers. About the case: We argue that plain language has the potential to engage issues of human dignity and human rights because language accessibility in documents plays a large role in how citizens engage in civic and social activities. In regard to the home ownership process, in which African-American homebuyers are more likely to experience discrimination, we need a study of the implementation of plain language in documents that might contribute to communication breakdowns between the banking industry and this historically marginalized group. Situating the case: We examine plain language from a social-justice stance by turning a more critical eye toward how and why plain-language guidelines are implemented. Methods/approach: Our study focused on the initial disclosure statements for adjustable-rate mortgages. We paired critical discourse analysis with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Plain English Handbook guidelines for disclosure statements to analyze three disclosure statements. Results/discussion: We found that, generally speaking, each of the three disclosure statements effectively adhered to plain-language recommendations. However, the idea that plain language increases accessibility, reader comprehension, and usability is complicated, and the accessibility and usability of each document varied. Conclusions: We advocate for a human-centered approach that explores ways that plain-language guidelines can be applied along with a critical focus on amplifying agency and reducing inequity.

Research problem: Studies by the American Institute of Medicine and the European Health Literacy Survey describe considerable levels of either inadequate or problematic health literacy. This health literacy problem is intensified when frontline healthcare practitioners must rely on printed education materials to compensate for the lack of time to instruct patients about their health management. Applying plain-language guidelines to health promotion materials may increase their effectiveness, particularly for patients with low health literacy. Research questions: 1. In what ways have plain-language guidelines been applied in health information materials for patients with varying degrees of health literacy, according to recent studies? 2. Have studies found that materials that apply plain-language guidelines are effective in health information promotion? Methodology: This article presents the findings from an integrative literature review of research into the use of plain language to promote health literacy. The systematic review identified scholarly, evidence-based studies that included reference to the use of plain-language guidelines. This article describes the detailed selection process and characterizes the corpus of articles along four dimensions: objectives, methodology, plain-language guidelines used, and findings. Results and conclusions: The review identified 13 articles that explored the use of plain-language guidelines in health literacy promotion. Analysis of these articles demonstrates that plain-language guidelines could play a strategic role in educating patients. Use of plain language could help healthcare practitioners to communicate critical and sometimes very complex health information effectively.

Research problem: Interest in plain-language communication has been growing in many sectors of business and government, but knowledge about its development is scattered and in need of synthesis. Research questions: 1. How did plain language in the US evolve to gain acceptance by industry, government, and the public? 2. In what ways have advocates changed their vision of plain language? Literature review: My review identified a corpus of more than 100 publications relevant to the history of plain language from 1940 to 2015. Methodology: I evaluated the literature on plain language to identify milestones, events, and trends between 1940 and 2015. I focused on the evolution of plain language and on ways that practitioners altered their perspective of the field. Results: Between 1940 and 1970, plain language focused mainly on readability. During the 1970s, some practitioners began to employ usability testing. By the mid-1980s, there was a widespread sense that plain-language advocates had shifted priorities from readability to usability. Between 1980 and 2000, advocates broadened their vision-beyond word- and sentence-level concerns to include discourse-level issues, information design, and accessibility. Between 2000 and 2015, advocates continued to worry over their old questions (“Can people understand and use the content?”), but also asked, “Will people believe the content? Do they trust the message?” By 2015, plain language had gained significant momentum in business, government, medicine, and education. Conclusions: Plain language evolved over the past 75 years from a sentence-based activity focused on readability of paper documents to a whole-text-based activity, emphasizing evidence-based principles of writing and visual design for paper, multimedia, and electronic artifacts. Plain-language practitioners expanded their concerns from how people understand the content-the usability and accessibility of the content-to whether people trust the content. In addition to a narrative about the field's evolution, I offer a Timeline of Plain Language from 1940-2015, which chronicles the field's highlights. Together, the narrative and timeline offer a fairly comprehensive view of the current state of plain language and allow those with an interest to dig deeper.

Background: Although plain language is almost universally promoted by teachers of professional writing, editors, and communication professionals, some have argued that the effects of and preferences for plain style in written messages differ among groups of individuals. Research questions: 1. Do professionals prefer plain style? 2a. Do preferences differ for different categories of style? 2b. Do preferences differ for different groups of workers? Literature review: Style, the word- and sentence-level elements in a written text, is a critical element of plain language. There is evidence that plain style, however, affects readers differently based on their level of subject matter knowledge. Plain style is even criticized by a few. There is a long history of tensions surrounding linguistic prescriptivism, the notion that one manner of language use is superior to all others. Further, readers' preferences for writing style, plain or otherwise, may not be consistent across occupational positions, education levels, nationalities, personality types, or genders. Research methodology: We conducted a quantitative study of preferences for two major style categories (conciseness and word choice) using an online survey instrument. The student-recruiter technique provided us with usable responses from 614 working adults in the US. Using that data, we calculated proportions of respondents, with confidence intervals, who chose the plain-style options. We also used statistical tests to explore associations between preferences and respondent characteristics. Results and conclusions: Our findings support an overwhelming preference for plain style among US professionals who are native speakers of English. Reader preferences were stronger for elements associated with word choice than with conciseness. Those with lower education levels and blue-collar occupations had lower preferences for plain style. The study had two major limitations: 1. We investigated only two aspects of plain style rather than the full range of elements that make up plain language. 2. Our data-collection instrument presented readers with an artificial rather than an authentic reading experience. Future research may investigate the role of personality on stylistic preferences and the attributions readers make about writers based on their style.

Background: In policy and law contexts, plain-language practice and research tend to focus on the benefits of plain language for specific nonexpert or public audiences. However, as plain-language use has proliferated, documents targeted for revision increasingly include those with insider and expert primary audiences. This study investigates the effects of plain-language revision on insider audiences following the adoption of a revised city charter in a Midwestern US city. Research questions: 1. How does plain-language revision affect the way that insider city-government users make sense of the city charter? 2. How does plain-language revision affect the way that insider city-government users act on the city charter? Literature review: Plain language-a strategy that writers use to make texts more effective for users-is historically and ideologically associated with helping public or vulnerable audiences to access complex information. This core priority toward public or nonexpert audiences is important; however, it has also resulted in a limited understanding of the full scope of plain-language audiences, especially in contexts where insider and expert audiences are primary users. Methodology: This study, informed by genre theory, is a qualitative case study in which textual artifacts and interview data were collected and analyzed using a two-cycle qualitative coding process. Results: The analysis showed many effects, nearly all positive, for insiders and experts. Conclusions: This article focuses on two areas of impact: charter authority and user practices. I explore these areas, which include improved navigation, organization, and processes, through the concept of interplay between the unrevised and revised charters.

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This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

Documentation for consumers is frequently complex, convoluted, and hard to follow. Bureaucratic organizations such as insurance companies, government agencies, hospitals, and law firms often have reputations for communicating poorly. Such poorly prepared documents diminish consumers’ abilities to make informed decisions about their health, rights, and finances. When these documents leave consumers with more questions than answers, organizations must try again (and again) to communicate more clearly. With the ease of accessing documents online, organizations face increasing pressure to create effective content appropriate for broad audiences. Plain language offers an approach to language and design for producing accessible and readable public documents. This movement, which gained traction in several countries in the 1970s, has regained its momentum with recent legislation and new public and private sector initiatives. Then-US-President Barack Obama signed the Plain Writing Act in 2010 and Executive Order 13563 in 2011, requiring clear communication in plain writing from US government agencies. Other sectors have responded as well. Practitioners use plain language in a range of other areas such as healthcare, business, science, engineering, and law. In keeping with these developments, we provide this special issue to reintroduce the discussion of plain language in professional and technical communication research and practice.

Crossing disciplinary boundaries is a common practice for today’s technical writer. The author offers an insightful look at how neurobiological and multimodal rhetorical concepts can inform instructional document design to improve learning. This book addresses an interdisciplinary audience of academic and industry professionals involved in employee training or instructional training material design. The goal here is to answer the question, “How does one learn new technical concepts?. To answer this, the book bridges theoretical concepts in the seemingly dissimilar fields of cognitive psychology, neurobiology, and rhetoric. While there is still much to be discussed within this vast interdisciplinary conversation, the author's synthesis and his resulting analysis model hold workplace and pedagogical value by providing an entry point through a shared goal: cognitive gain through effective technical instructional materials.

Risk communication professionals, teachers, and trainers will find this book useful and practical. It accomplishes its purpose of presenting, in plain language, several historical cases of risk communication—good and bad—as object lessons for extrapolating best practices to follow and worst practices to avoid. Chapter 1 stresses the importance of considering and incorporating the reader’s background, knowledge, expectations, and reading process when writing about risk prediction, as illustrated by correspondence from two cases: memos between the Bureau of Bridges and the Department of Transportation that warned about leaks that caused the Chicago Floods in 1992, and a memo from Morton Thiokol, Inc., responding to questions from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center about whether to proceed with the Challenger launch in 1986. The author defines the reader-centered context upon which risk communicators should concentrate. The author also encourages writers to avoid writer-based documents and favor reader-based documents, which anticipate why readers need the information, how they will use it, what decisions they will make with it, and how they will read it.

Background: This study examines the generic structure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, which are becoming standard practice for corporate communication of social and environmental performance beyond financial disclosure. Literature review: Genre theories provide a framework for exploring genres contextualized in different cultures. Based on the English for Specific Purposes approach of genre analysis, this study compares the move structure of CSR reports in Italian, Chinese, and English from a corpus-based perspective. Research questions: 1. What are the main moves used in CSR reports? 2. Are there any cross-cultural similarities or variations in terms of generic features? Methodology: Combining genre theories with concepts from Systemic Functional Linguistics, we designed an observational framework for move identification. Based on a 15-move scheme, we annotated 18 CSR reports for comparative analysis. Results and conclusions: The CSR report is characterized by rhetorical recursivity and hybridity of speech acts: beyond “reporting” and “presenting,” it is also “demonstrating,” “evaluating,” and “committing.”As a globally established genre, it presents noticeable generic similarity in different languages, suggesting that the communicative purposes of CSR reports are recognized by different cultures. The top six moves in the Performance-reporting section of the CSR reports present identical trends in terms of extensiveness ranking in all three languages. Cross-cultural variations mainly involve the use of optional moves, such as the dominant use of the move “Presenting individual cases” in the Chinese sample. The observational framework for move identification may also be transferable to other genres. The limitations of this study include the sample size and the absence of an author survey. Future research could investigate the CSR report from a diachronic perspective, to explore how its genre structure has developed over time.

Research problem: In the current information age, people are increasingly accustomed to sharing their special interests online and are influenced by the relationships developed from that sharing. The purpose of this study was to better measure peer influence in these online communities. Research questions: 1. How can peer influence in online communities be measured in a way that comprehensively incorporates peer-based characteristics, the homophily effect, and the structural position of a user in the network? 2. Is the method proposed in this study superior to other existing methods? Literature review: Previous literature on measuring online user influence can be classified into two streams: 1. Those that focus on the intrinsic characteristics of social media players to measure peer influence; 2. Those that address social network structure. Relevant computing algorithms include Topic-Based PageRank, Quality-Structure index, and so on. Although the first stream considers afocal peer's intrinsic characteristics, it overlooks the interpeer attraction in terms of similarity and discrepant knowledge among peers. The second stream mostly stresses the structures of social networks to measure network-wide peer influence but underestimates the effect of interpeer attraction that may leverage every diffusion step of peer influence through the network. To fill this research gap, this study proposes a new method of measuring network user influence that incorporates peers' intrinsic factors, interpeer influence factors as homophily effect, and network structure. Homophily refers to the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are similar with respect to certain attributes. Methodology: From the communication sender-receiver perspective, we developed a computable method that incorporates peer-based characteristics, the homophily effect, and the structural position of a user in the network to measure the social network user influence. Two empirical studies were subsequently conducted in a social network service-based online community and an online professional logistics community to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results and conclusions: The empirical results show that our proposed method provides higher prediction accuracy of user influence rank in an online community than the other existing methods. These findings lay a foundation for future theoretical exploration and provide a useful tool for targeting influential users in online communities such as blogs, bulletin board systems, and forums.

Research problem: The purpose of the study was to fill gaps in our knowledge about technical editors' work practices and perceptions, knowledge that might be useful for teachers and practitioners, as well as current and prospective students. Research questions: (1) What work activities do technical editors engage in? (2) How do people become and progress in careers as technical editors? (3) What do technical editors perceive about the complexity of their work and its value to themselves and others? Literature review: The literature review focuses on previous surveys of technical editors, which have tended to focus on technology-related issues and been largely limited to samples obtained from the Society for Technical Communication.Methodology: A link to an online survey was sent to 32 professional organizations for technical and other professional, nonliterary, and nonjournalism editors. The leadership of each organization was asked to forward the link to its members; 12 complied, with a resulting 253 respondents. Responses to closed-ended questions were tabulated, while responses to the open-ended questions were analyzed thematically.Results and conclusions:The results revealed a broad range of job titles, disciplinary and professional fields, genres and media, editing-related tasks, and extent and type of collaboration. Respondents perceived as useful several forms of academic preparation, personality traits, and attitudes. About half the respondents had become editors through deliberate preparation during college (direct route) and half had not (indirect route). Thus, one implication of the results is that college students majoring in the sciences and other technical fields (indirect route) might be attracted to complementary minors and certificate programs in technical communication/editing. The sample was obtained from among a broader range of technical editors than samples used in previous surveys but was relatively small and, therefore, nongeneralizable. Future surveys should strive for a larger sample size and include questions about a wide range of demographic variables that can be correlated with the independent variables.

Research problem: In the educational arena, virtual teams made up of students who are located in more than one country are becoming increasingly commonplace. However, studies of the technological, social, and organizational factors that contribute to the success of these global virtual student teams (GVSTs) have yet to be systematically identified and discussed. In this paper, we seek to address this gap in our knowledge, drawing on several years of experience with GVSTs and addressing the following research question: How can university instructors establish effective GVST projects? Situating the case: The cases that we explore in this paper involve GVSTs with team members located variously in Hong Kong (all four cases), the USA (two cases), the UK (one case), and Singapore (one case). Students are a mix of undergraduate and graduate. How the case was studied: Our pedagogical purpose for running the GVST projects was to expose students to international communication and negotiation practices. The case designs involved situations where the student team members had to work collaboratively on a variety of tasks. We collected observational data and survey data, and required the team members to submit individual reflective reports about their learning experiences. About the case: We examine cultural differences among teams. We also note how issues of time and space vary across these teams, and consider how sufficient trust may be developed between team members to ensure productive work. Conclusion: From the four cases, we elicit 10 pertinent operational factors that should be of value to educators planning GVST projects.

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Introduction: Stereotypes about generational cohorts have been spread widely among current literature; this study challenges those stereotypes and provides a simple method for managers to learn how to effectively communicate with, motivate, and retain employees, no matter what cohort they belong to. Research questions: (1) Do people in a particular generational cohort behave according to the stereotypes assigned to their cohort? (2) Do people in a particular generation believe that the stereotypes assigned to their generation are accurate? Literature review: Current literature promulgates generational stereotypes and encourages managers to learn about the differences of each cohort so that they can tailor their communication to each cohort. Knowing the differences allegedly provides managers of technical communication teams or any team with more effective strategies to communicate with, motivate, and retain members of each cohort. Much of the literature examined was not based on rigorous research, and some that was rigorous and empirical claims there are more similarities than differences among the cohorts. Methodology: The findings from this study are based on answers to surveys from 107 participants and semistructured interviews with eight of those participants who were employees at a software company or were students or employees at a local university. The findings challenge the stereotypes found in the current literature, specifically concerning longevity in a job and workplace compliance. Conclusions, limitations, and future research: Managers need to learn more about individual employees rather than relying on stereotypes of generational cohorts when communicating with employees. Learning about individuals is simple and can foster more effective communication, which will enhance employees' job satisfaction and engagement, and ultimately employee retention. As the research reported in this study shows, these are crucial variables to consider about a person's tenure in a position and workplace compliance behavior but are not included by most when studying generational cohorts. Further research could help us learn how managers can best develop employees and recognize and reward employees' workplace achievements.

This case study reports on the experiences of designing and assessing the effectiveness of a faculty development program on writing across the curriculum (WAC). The report focuses on the question: What are the key components of an effective faculty development program to integrate WAC into engineering and scientific courses taught by faculty in those disciplines? Situating the case: Two main models of WAC implementation exist: direct instruction, which uses writing specialists to deliver instruction to engineering and science students, and the department-centered model, which instructs faculty in engineering and scientific disciplines to teach writing as part of technical courses. How the case was studied: A report of the experiences of the authors and the feedback from the participants. About the case: The workshop was aimed at teachers in various disciplines and covered these main topics: fundamentals of writing theory and pedagogy, writing assignment design and assessment, and situating writing assignments in courses across the disciplinary curriculum. It took place over 10 weeks during a 15-week semester and included large- and small-group meetings, consultations with the members of the university WAC program, and peer review of writing assignment drafts. Conclusions, limitations, and suggestions for future research: Key challenges in developing the workshop included designing ways to bridge the conceptual gap between the participants' and WAC instructors' understanding of the role of writing in disciplinary courses, limited time available to the participants, and scheduling challenges. The workshop was given seven times. Most of the faculty participants (90%) generally found it to be very effective or effective. Studies of workshops with larger populations of trainees are suggested.

This book examines some of the many struggles that various programs in the field have endured in light of the "Great Recession" and shares the faculty’s initiative to take action to ensure the sustainability of their programs. Eleven essays written by 20 different contributors from a range of institutions assist in successfully achieving the book’s purpose—namely, providing methods and models for how academic programs can “do more with less” in an age of austerity. Program coordinators and those who teach program assessment should take heart in knowing that they do not face these challenges alone, and they might use this book to brainstorm and identify solutions for their programs.

Research problem:Communication affects many aspects of the software engineering process. In addition, poor team communication is often a root cause of failure for complex engineering projects. In global software engineering, communication and coordination become more challenging, and that fact affects the quality of the product. The goal of this study is to analyze the type and quality of research performed on software development team communication, and to present data to guide future research in these areas. Research questions:(1) How much communication research activity in the area of software development teams has been described in the literature from 2005 to 2015? (2) What is the current state of software development team communication research (what has been done and to what degree)? (3) What is the predominant research methodology of software development team communication research? (4) Where are the gaps in the current state of software development team communication research? (5) What are the major, common findings about communication in software development teams?Methodology:We reviewed 184 journal papers and performed a content analysis of the keywords from the relevant papers to create a software engineering team research taxonomy. We utilized this taxonomy to categorize the context of communication research papers. We then used the categorization results to determine the most active software development team communication research areas. In addition, we analyzed the quality of the journals (using impact factor and H-index as metrics) and the type of research performed in these areas (i.e., qualitative, quantitative, survey, social network analysis, or literature review).Results and conclusions:The results showed that the most active software development team communication research areas are global software development, project effectiveness, and effective teamwork. The most prevalent research methodology is a survey among those research areas. We conclude this paper with a presentation and discussion of the major findings of each research paper as well as the common themes among those findings in each of the top research areas.

Chinese people have actively engaged in transnational and cross-cultural business activities in recent decades. Some Chinese people have moved their business activities to overseas countries, in particular, to developed countries. Some of them have migrated and settled down in a host space. About the case: This study aims to examine the identity work-in particular, the construction of a hybrid identity-and the business communication of a Chinese-Australian migrant, Jack, from the perspective of Chinese researchers. Situating the case: The communication characteristics of Chinese people are reviewed, and some factors related to identity work are examined. These interrelated strands provide a foundation for analyzing Jack's business communication and identity work in a host context. Research questions: (1) As an immigrant, how has Jack managed his identities in his business communication with self and Others during his life experience of more than 20 years in Australia? (2) Has Jack achieved a hybrid identity that enables him to switch his identities as he confronts the communication challenges of business situations? (3) What forces affect Jack's everyday business communication and identity work as a Chinese-Australian migrant in Australia? Methodology: Theories are applied to analyze anecdotes relating to the business communication and identity work of the migrant chosen for this case study. The first author is positioned as a cultural insider and ethnographer, observing, experiencing, and reflecting on some episodes in Jack's everyday business communication and identity work. The second author's informed input as an outsider to the case study provides interpretation of data and adds balance and a measure of objectivity. Results: Jack's communication with self and cultural Others is presented and analyzed to examine his complicated identity work in a host business arena. His shifting hybrid identity helps him to cross the border of his host culture and obtain privileges in business competition. These stories reveal that Jack's identity is continually changed and reconstructed as he builds social and cultural capital in his new business arena. Conclusions: This study captures characteristics of the transnational and cross-cultural business communication practices of Chinese migrants from the inside looking out, and it suggests that identity work is an ongoing and complex project, and that stereotypes should be avoided in transnational and cross-cultural business communication practices.

Research problem: Gamification is a concept that originates from the digital media domain. It includes a process of enhancing a service using game design elements in nongame contexts. Although much research exists on gamification, very few studies focus on the application of gamification in the enterprise. Research questions: (1) How do managers currently use and experience gamification as a communication medium? (2) Why is it that few instances of gamification exist in enterprise management? (3) Is gamification's own branding somehow cannibalizing itself in enterprise applications? Literature review: We reviewed gamification literature in the workplace and looked at the applicability of game design elements within the enterprise culture. Enterprise gamification is still considered uncharted territory, and more research on gamification in the enterprise is needed. But existing research studies support our claims that there is high potential for enterprise gamification that needs to be explored. Methodology: Observations were made during fieldwork with an exploratory interview research approach. These observations were put to test via an online psychological single-blind controlled quantitative experiment conducted with 198 survey respondents to investigate the effect of branding on gamification and its perception in the enterprise context. Results and conclusions: The results show that using the “gamification” brand clearly drives lower rates of perceived acceptance of the concept, whereas using an “unbranded” version of the same gamification concepts results in comparatively higher rates of perceived acceptance and a general willingness to adopt within the enterprise context. The results also confirm that “interest” and “branding” are interrelated, and that gamification faces higher rates of resistance, lower rates of adoption, and lower success rates in the enterprise compared to other fields. Thus, enterprise gamification may not be correctly branded, and our research recommends the use of a set of procedural, prepackaged best practices, in the form of an implementation framework, to guarantee optimal design and implementation.

Research problem: Business-to-business contracts are complex communication artifacts, often considered “legal stuff” and the exclusive domain of lawyers. However, many other stakeholders without a legal background are involved in the negotiation, drafting, approval, and implementation of contracts, and their contributions are essential for successful business relationships. How can we ensure that all stakeholders in the global business context-whatever their native language or professional background-easily and accurately understand contract documents? This study suggests that integrating diagrams in contracts can result in faster and more accurate comprehension, for both native and non-native speakers of English. Literature review: We focused on the following research topics: (1) ways to integrate text and visuals to create more effective instructions, since we conceptualize contracts as a type of business instructions; (2) cognitive load theory, as it may help explain why contracts are so hard to understand and why text-visuals integration may ameliorate their understandability; (3) cognitive styles, as individual differences may affect how individuals process verbal and visual information, thus allowing us to explore the limitations of our suggested approach; (4) the English lingua franca spoken by business professionals in international settings, their needs and challenges, and the fact that pragmatic approaches are needed to ensure successful communication. Methodology: We conducted an experiment with 122 contract experts from 24 countries. The research participants were asked to complete a series of comprehension tasks regarding a contract, which was provided in either a traditional, text-only version or in a version that included diagrams as complements to the text. In addition to measuring answering speed and accuracy, we asked the participants to provide information about their educational background, mother tongue, and perceived mental effort in task completion, and to complete an object-spatial imagery and verbal questionnaire to assess their cognitive style. Conclusions: We found that integrating diagrams into contracts supports faster and more accurate comprehension; unexpectedly, legal background and different cognitive styles do not interact with this main effect. We also discovered that both native and non-native speakers of English benefit from the presence of diagrams in terms of accuracy, but that this effect is particularly strong for non-native speakers. The implication of this study is that adding diagrams to contracts can help global communicators to understand such documents more quickly and accurately. The need for well-designed contracts may open new opportunities for professional writers and information designers. Future research may also go beyond experimental evaluations: by observing this new genre of contracts in vivo, it would be possible to shed light on how contract visualizations would be perceived and interpreted in a global communication environment.

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The book’s 11 chapters consider the importance of theorizing, initiating, and sustaining relationships between academia and industries that employ graduates of those programs. The editors argue that a strong future for the field depends on more research into shared interests. Through asking both spheres to take action, Carolyn Rude’s Foreword clarifies that the audience for the book is both academics and industry professionals. Comprehensively, the book fulfills its goal to initiate a conversation; it is a sourcebook that explores multiple contexts and lenses. Therefore, readers looking for a practical resource for initiating partnerships with businesses and industries can easily identify and select the chapters relevant to their situation.

Background: This paper examines creativity in content management (CM) by presenting a case study analysis of an original, open-source, Web-based learning-management system (LMS). It explores existing literature and suggests new ideas about creativity and CM. Research questions: How can we conceptualize creativity in relation to CM? How can creativity be operationalized into specific design practices within CM? What dimensions of creativity should be considered when designing or evaluating creative CM systems?Situating the case: Theoretical research in content-management systems (CMSs) and LMSs has revealed a gap in our field's current understanding of how creativity relates to CM. Research studies related to the measurement of creativity have provided insight into characteristics and methodologies that could be adopted and adapted to evaluate creativity in CM. Studies from the learning sciences have investigated where LMSs fall short and suggested where new opportunities exist to better facilitate the informational needs of users. These works have pointed to a need for research on integrating creativity and CM, both in content and in the systems that manage content, and have laid the groundwork for this study. Methodology: This research investigates theories of creativity as they relate to CM by conducting a case study analysis of unique instructional software designed to deliver content to students enrolled in a university course. The primary evidence is taken from notes about the design and evaluation of the software and from survey data illustrating students' user experiences. About the case: We developed a classification strategy for exploring creativity along three dimensions-importance, novelty, and affect-and then used this strategy to explore a unique system's approach to deal with content challenges in each of those areas. User experience impressions provide evidence of successes and failures of experimental CM in these domains. Conclusions: The study finds that this original LMS design did contain features that exhibited novelty, importance, and affect, and that such features can be used to identify creativity in product design as well as to assess the design of complex software systems such as CMSs and LMSs. This detailed analysis of an original design for an LMS suggests new ideas for implementing and using CMSs and LMSs in technical communication. The study concludes by presenting a rubric for evaluating creativity in CMSs and LMSs, or for designing such systems with creativity in mind.

User experience (UX), a common practice in corporate settings, is new for many nonprofit organizations. This case study details a community-based research project between nonprofit staff at a community health center and UX professionals to improve the design and usability of a document designed to help immigrant patients sign up for health insurance. UX professionals may need to adapt and be flexible with their efforts, but can offer valuable skills to community partners. Research questions: (1) What are the information needs and barriers faced by immigrant populations signing up for health insurance? (2) How does a usability study, adapted to meet the needs of immigrant populations, inform the design of a supplemental guidebook about health insurance? (3) What are the challenges and opportunities when engaging in community-based UX research projects? Situating the case: Other community-based research projects in technical communication and UX point to the need for a clear conceptualization of participation, a strong partnership with nonprofits, and the need to develop meaningful and actionable insights. Furthermore, when conducting studies with immigrant populations, the role of the translator on the research team is crucial. Methodology: As a community-based research project focused on the collaborative generation of practical knowledge, we conducted a usability study with 12 participants in two language groups, Chinese and Vietnamese, to evaluate the design and usability of a guidebook designed to provide guidance about enrolling in a health insurance plan. Data were analyzed to identify usability concerns and used to inform a second iteration of the guidebook. About the case: Immigrant populations struggle to sign up for health insurance for a variety of reasons, including limited English and health insurance literacy. As a result, a nonprofit community health center developed a guidebook to support immigrant populations. Version 1 of this guidebook was evaluated in a usability study, with results showing that users struggled to correctly choose a plan, determine their eligibility, and interpret abstract examples. As a result, Version 2 was designed to support the in-person experience, reduce visual complexity, and support patients' key questions. Conclusions: Community-based UX collaborations can amplify the expertise of UX and nonprofit professionals. However, UX methods may need to be adapted in community-based projects to better incorporate local knowledge and needs.

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Background: Patient-centered care emphasizes care coordination and communication through active involvement of patients, their families, physicians, and other professionals to improve decision making. Smart telecommunication technology and the Internet of Things, such as wireless-sensor-network-based smart home healthcare systems (WSN-SHHS) facilitate communication and collaboration among these different roles. Research problem: Despite the great potential of such systems to improve the quality and experience, and lower the cost of health care, the technology has not been widely adopted partly due to an inadequate understanding of user expectations, needs, and preferences. This study addresses facilitators and barriers with regard to WSN-SHHS adoption by identifying important sociotechnical, cognitive, affective, and contextual factors. Research questions: What are the main facilitators and barriers of patients' adoption of WSN-SHHS? How can we contextualize a generic technology adoption model for WSN-SHHS that takes into account unique characteristics of the domain? Literature review: We surveyed the literature in WSN-SHHS research and application, technology adoption theories, and the pleasure-arousal-dominance emotional state model. We discovered that WSN-SHHS research has focused on technology development but has given little attention to the issue of patients' adoption. Methodology: We used a mixed method design that combined an interview and survey over two studies. Participants were recruited from home healthcare agencies in the eastern US. In semistructured interviews, we collected data from 15 home healthcare patients and medical professionals, and analyzed the data using Kvale's approach. In our online- and paper-based surveys, we analyzed the data from 140 respondents using partial least square. Results and conclusions: We identified several new constructs in relation to WSN-SHHS adoption, including human detachment concerns, privacy concerns, life-quality expectancy and cost concerns. In addition, we confirmed the constructs from the general adoption model. Based on the findings of the qualitative study, the researchers created a research model. The quantitative study provided empirical support for the model, which has substantial predictive power accounting for more than half of the variance in WSN-SHHS adoption. In particular, our findings reveal that human detachment concerns rather than performance expectancy is the strongest predictor of patients' adoption of WSN-SHHS.