Communication Design Quarterly Dec 2025 Open Access

Visualizing Flint Lead Contamination Risks: Building a Critical Rhetorical Risk Visualization Ecology

Yeqing Kong Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract

This study examines the role of risk visualizations in public health communication through an analysis of the MyWater-Flint Map and Flint Service Line Map , developed during the Flint water crisis. Applying a newly proposed social justice-oriented framework for risk visual design, the study evaluates these maps' effectiveness in communicating risk through dimensions of accessibility, accountability, ethics, productive usability, hybrid collectivity, open systems, and circulation. Findings highlight the importance of community participation in the production and dissemination of risk visualizations. This work sheds light on visual risk communication theory, professional practice, and technical communication instruction.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2025-12-01
DOI
10.1145/3787586.3787590
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Topics
rhetorical criticism technical communication race and writing
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