Designing From Data: Rhetorical Appeals in Support of Design Decisions

Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2010

Designing From Data: Rhetorical Appeals in Support of Design Decisions

Erin Friess University of North Texas

Abstract

This case study investigates how a group of novice technical communicators used appeals to support their design decisions during group meetings. The results of this ethnographic study suggest that although these technical communicators were well acquainted with user-centered design (UCD) concepts and claimed to actively practice UCD, their appeals often did not reference data collected within user-centered research and instead referenced designer-centric appeals to support their claims. This group’s overall use of appeals to support their design decisions suggests that more empirical study into UCD theory and practice as well as students’ argumentation skills is warranted.

Journal: Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published: 2010-10-01
DOI: 10.1177/1050651910371197
Open Access: Closed
Topics: empirical research qualitative research multimodality multilingual writers argument

Citation Context

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