Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 2017

The Roles of Technical Communication Researchers in Design Scholarship

Fernando Sánchez University of St. Thomas - Minnesota

Abstract

Design has come to be understood as an essential aspect of the work that technical communicators claim. As a result, research in the field of technical communication has approached studies of design in numerous ways. This article showcases how technical communication researchers assume the roles of observers, testers, critics, creators, and consultants in their handling of design artifacts. Such a model regarding these roles may help us to better understand the design relationships researchers presume as they further knowledge of design within our field. This article offers a framework to leverage into a comprehensive and integrated model for explaining our work on design to others outside of technical communication.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2017-07-01
DOI
10.1177/0047281616641929
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Madson (2023)
    You Shall Not Pass? The Design of Age Gates in an Emerging Cannabis Market
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. King (2023)
    Guided Reading: The Influence of Visual Design on Writing with Sources
    College English
  3. Tham et al. (2023)
    Examining Multimodal Community-Engaged Projects for Technical and Professional …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Williams (2022)
    Day or Night at the Museum: A UX Analysis of Virtual Exhibits
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Brock et al. (2018)
    Rhetorical Genres in Code
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (74)

  1. Rawlins et al. (2014)
    Agency and Interactive Data Displays: Internet Graphics as Co-Created Rhetorica…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Cushman (2014)
    Our Unstable Artistry
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Gaffney (2014)
    Communication Instruction in Landscape Architecture Courses
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Galbraith et al. (2014)
    The Impact of Presentation Form, Entrepreneurial Passion, and Perceived Prepare…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Ramey (2014)
    <i>The Coffee Planter of Saint Domingo:</i>A Technical Manual for the Caribbean…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 74 →
  1. Wickman (2014)
    Wicked Problems in Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Lauer (2013)
    Examining the Effect of Reflective Assessment on the Quality of Visual Design A…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Youngblood (2013)
    Communicating Web Accessibility to the Novice Developer
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Agboka (2013)
    Participatory Localization: A Social Justice Approach to Navigating Unenfranchi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Kimball (2013)
    Visual Design Principles: An Empirical Study of Design Lore
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  6. Bellwoar (2012)
    Everyday Matters: Reception and Use as Productive Design of Health-Related Texts
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  7. Bacha (2012)
    Taxonomies, Folksonomies, and Semantics: Establishing Functional Meaning in Nav…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  8. Andrews et al. (2012)
    A New Method in User-Centered Design: Collaborative Prototype Design Process (CPDP)
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  9. Mackiewicz (2012)
    Relying on Writing Consultants
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  10. Wright (2012)
    Redesigning Informed Consent Tools for Specific Research
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  11. Albers (2011)
    Design and Usability: Beginner Interactions with Complex Software
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  12. Potts et al. (2011)
    Contextualizing Experiences: Tracing the Relationships Between People and Techn…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  13. Lauer et al. (2011)
    Visuospatial Thinking in the Professional Writing Classroom
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  14. Friess (2011)
    Politeness, Time Constraints, and Collaboration in Decision-Making Meetings: A …
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  15. Willerton et al. (2011)
    Evaluating Applications for an Informal Approach to Information Design: Readers…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  16. Friess (2010)
    Designing From Data: Rhetorical Appeals in Support of Design Decisions
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  17. Williams (2010)
    Interpretive Discourse and other Models from Communication Studies: Expanding t…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  18. Walters (2010)
    Toward an Accessible Pedagogy: Dis/ability, Multimodality, and Universal Design…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  19. Salvo et al. (2010)
    The Children of Aramis
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  20. Catanio et al. (2010)
    The Effects of Integrating On-Going Training for Technical Documentation Teams
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  21. Ward (2010)
    The Ethic of Exigence
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  22. Dannels (2009)
    Features of Success in Engineering Design Presentations
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  23. Ganier (2009)
    Observational Data on Practical Experience and Conditions of Use of Written Ins…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  24. Sherlock (2009)
    Genre, Activity, and Collaborative Work and Play in World of Warcraft
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  25. Stolley (2009)
    Integrating Social Media Into Existing Work Environments
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  26. Albers (2009)
    Design for Effective Support of User Intentions in Information-Rich Interactions
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  27. Blakeslee (2009)
    The Technical Communication Research Landscape
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  28. Rude (2009)
    Mapping the Research Questions in Technical Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  29. Richards (2009)
    Music, Transtextuality, and the World Wide Web
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  30. Scott (2008)
    The Practice of Usability: Teaching User Engagement Through Service-Learning
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  31. Kim et al. (2008)
    Keeping Users at the Center: Developing a Multimedia Interface for Informed Consent
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  32. Johnson-Sheehan et al. (2008)
    Darwin's Dilemma: Science in the Public Forum
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  33. Tebeaux (2008)
    Technical Writing in English Renaissance Shipwrightery: Breaching the Shoals of…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  34. Clark (2007)
    Content Management and the Separation of Presentation and Content
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  35. Longo et al. (2007)
    Implementation of Medical Research Findings through Insulin Protocols: Initial …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  36. Varpio et al. (2007)
    Seeing and Listening
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  37. Brumberger (2007)
    Visual Communication in the Workplace: A Survey of Practice
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  38. Zdenek (2007)
    “Just Roll Your Mouse Over Me”: Designing Virtual Women for Customer Service on…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  39. Johnson (2006)
    A Decade of Research: Assessing Change in the Technical Communication Classroom…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  40. Sun (2006)
    The Triumph of Users: Achieving Cultural Usability Goals With User Localization
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  41. Starke-Meyerring (2005)
    Meeting the Challenges of Globalization
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  42. Schneider (2005)
    Usable Pedagogies: Usability, Rhetoric, and Sociocultural Pedagogy in the Techn…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  43. Welch (2005)
    Technical Communication and Physical Location: Topoi and Architecture in Comput…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  44. Brasseur (2005)
    Florence Nightingale's Visual Rhetoric in the Rose Diagrams
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  45. Henson (2005)
    Using the Internet as a Tool for Public Service: Creating a Community History W…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  46. Amant (2005)
    A Prototype Theory Approach to International Website Analysis and Design
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  47. O'Hara (2004)
    "Curb Cuts" on the Information Highway: Older Adults and the Internet
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  48. Rude (2004)
    Toward an Expanded Concept of Rhetorical Delivery: The Uses of Reports in Publi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  49. Blakeslee et al. (2004)
    The State of Research in Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  50. Lavid et al. (2004)
    Stylistic Differences in Multilingual Administrative Forms: A Cross-Linguistic …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  51. Portewig (2004)
    Making Sense of the Visual in Technical Communication: A Visual Literacy Approa…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  52. Cooke (2003)
    Information Acceleration and Visual Trends in Print, Television, and Web News Sources
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  53. Salinas (2002)
    Technical Rhetoricians and the Art of Configuring Images
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  54. Sapienza (2002)
    Does Being Technical Matter? Xml, Single Source, and Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  55. Smart et al. (2002)
    Using Customer Data to Drive Documentation Design Decisions
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  56. Spinuzzi (2002)
    Toward Integrating Our Research Scope
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  57. Walker (2002)
    Theoretical Foundations for Website Design Courses
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  58. Jong et al. (2001)
    Focus: Design and Evaluation of a Software Tool for Collecting Reader Feedback
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  59. Thatcher (2001)
    Issues of Validity in Intercultural Professional Communication Research
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  60. Salvo (2001)
    Ethics of Engagement: User-Centered Design and Rhetorical Methodology
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  61. Wolfe et al. (2001)
    From the Margins to the Center
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  62. Artemeva et al. (2001)
    “Just the Boys Playing on Computers”
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  63. David (2001)
    Investitures of Power: Portraits of Professional Women
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  64. Tebeaux (2000)
    Visual Texts: Format and the Evolution of English Accounting Texts, 1100–1700
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  65. Carliner (2000)
    Taking Cues from the Culture
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  66. Ding (2000)
    Influence of Burke and Lessing on the Semiotic Theory of Document Design: Ideol…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  67. Tebeaux (1999)
    Designing Written Business Communication along the Shifting Cultural Continuum
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  68. SULLIVAN et al. (1993)
    Remapping Curricular Geography
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  69. Connors (1982)
    The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Also cites 6 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
     ↗
  2. 10.1109/IPCC.2013.6623932
     ↗
  3. 10.2307/j.ctt46nrfk.7
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/j.ctt4cgjsj.7
     ↗
  5. 10.1177/030631289019003001
     ↗
  6. 10.1017/CBO9780511803932
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 10 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    Developing Intercultural Socioemotional Communication Skills: A Hybrid Student Exchange Project Between Kenya, Ireland, and Germany ↗
    Belinda Oechsler; Yvonne Cleary; Sissi Closs
    multimodality technical communication
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    What Video Games Can Tell Us About Interactive Technical Communication ↗
    Emily Kuzneski Johnson
    multimodality technical communication multilingual writers
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    “Is This Ethical?” New Data on the Ethical Principles and Practices of Document Design ↗
    Leslie Seawright; Amy Hodges; Timothy Ponce
    multimodality technical communication disability studies multilingual writers
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    qualitative research multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  5. Computers and Composition Mar 2026
    From vision to insight: Enhancing students’ user-centered design skills with eye-tracking technology and usability tests ↗
    Meng Yu
    multimodality technical communication