Immutable Mobiles Revisited: A Framework for Evaluating the Function of Ephemeral Texts in Design Arguments

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 2012

Immutable Mobiles Revisited: A Framework for Evaluating the Function of Ephemeral Texts in Design Arguments

Stewart Whittemore Auburn University

Abstract

This article makes the argument that material evidence for many of the most valuable contributions that contemporary technical communicators make to their organizations is often found not in the traditional documentation that they produce but, rather, in the more fragmentary and provisional documents they create as daily participants in their work teams. To make this argument, the article presents data from a case study of a technical communicator at a software firm, showing how a reminder note he carried to a meeting helped him achieve an important design change. The article unpacks the concept of immutable mobiles from actor network theory to derive a framework that helps us interpret the multiple functions of this note in helping the technical communicator warrant and win a design argument with software developers.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 2012-10-01
DOI: 10.2190/tw.42.4.e
Open Access: Closed
Topics: qualitative research multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

Friess (2023)

Scrum in Classroom Collaborations: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Robles (2018)

Visualizing Certainty: What the Cultural History of the Gantt Chart Teaches Tec…

Technical Communication Quarterly
Getto et al. (2017)

Mapping Personas: Designing UX Relationships for an Online Coastal Atlas

Computers and Composition

Cites in this index (6)

Friess (2010)

Designing From Data: Rhetorical Appeals in Support of Design Decisions

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Winsor (2006)

Using Writing to Structure Agency: An Examination of Engineers' Practice

Technical Communication Quarterly
Anderson (2004)

The Textualizing Functions of Writing for Organizational Change

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Swarts (2004)

Textual Grounding: How People Turn Texts into Tools

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Salvo (2001)

Ethics of Engagement: User-Centered Design and Rhetorical Methodology

Technical Communication Quarterly

Show all 6 →

Johnson-Eilola (1996)

Relocating the Value of Work: Technical Communication in a Post-Industrial Age

Technical Communication Quarterly

Also cites 6 works outside this index ↓

10.2190/PL1C6

↗
10.4324/9781410603739

↗
10.2307/357883

↗
10.1093/oso/9780199256044.001.0001

↗
10.1086/427303

↗
Whittemore Stewart, Finding and Learning: Exploring the Information Management Practices of a Technical Commu…

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 4 View in citation network →