Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2019

Positive Deviance as Design Thinking: Challenging Notions of Stasis in Technical and Professional Communication

Lucía Durá The University of Texas at El Paso ; Lauren Perez ; Magdalena Chaparro

Abstract

In design thinking, extreme users have found work-arounds for common problems, but they are few in number and often overlooked in toolkits and write-ups. This article posits that positive deviance, an approach to social and behavioral change that is compatible with design thinking, offers technical and professional communicators an accessible and innovative methodology for engaging extreme users. The authors analyze a case study of how the positive deviance approach was used to address federal recidivism on the U.S.–Mexico border. They conducted a positive deviance inquiry to arrive at the everyday replicable behaviors that enabled released individuals to complete their terms of supervised release successfully, despite the odds against them and without access to special resources. The authors conclude by discussing the value and implications of focusing on extreme users.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2019-10-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651919854057
Open Access
Closed
Topics
qualitative research multimodality professional writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Sarraf (2024)
    Tying Creative Problem-Solving to Social Justice Work in Technical and Professi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Pellegrini (2022)
    Composing Like an Entrepreneur: The Pedagogical Implications of Design Thinking…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Pihlaja et al. (2020)
    Navigating Messy Research Methods and Mentoring Practices at a Bilingual Resear…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (5)

  1. DeVasto et al. (2016)
    Stasis and Matters of Concern
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Brizee (2008)
    Stasis Theory as a Strategy for Workplace Teaming and Decision Making
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Blythe et al. (2008)
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    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. FAHNESTOCK (1998)
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Also cites 2 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.21310/cnx.4.1.16dur
     ↗
  2. 10.1155/2018/9285164
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 10 View in citation network →

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