Communication Design Quarterly Jun 2015 Open Access

Testing the waters: local users, sea level rise, and the productive usability of interactive geovisualizations

Daniel Richards

Abstract

This paper explores the potential for technical communicators to employ usability research with risk-based interactive geovisualization technologies as a method of cultivating "critical rhetorics of risk communication" for local communities. Through integrating theories from usability studies and risk communication, I offer some new directions for thinking about the productive usability of online, participatory technologies that promote citizen engagement in science. I argue that the key tenets of productive usability afford technical communicators the opportunity to build localized knowledge of risk in real, local users, which in turn improves the capacity for a community and its stakeholders to more effectively communicate risk.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2015-06-16
DOI
10.1145/2792989.2792992
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Topics
rhetorical criticism technical communication
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Mysore et al. (2026)
    Visualizing Heat Risk: Infographics, Memorability, and Design
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Kong (2025)
    Visualizing Flint Lead Contamination Risks: Building a Critical Rhetorical Risk…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  3. Hunter (2024)
    Toward TPC-UX: UX Topics in TPC Journals 2013–2022
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. DeVasto (2024)
    Toward Rhetorically Infused Methods for Relational Network Modeling: The Visual…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Richards et al. (2022)
    How Real Is Too Real? User-Testing the Effects of Realism as a Risk Communicati…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 7 →
  1. Richards (2019)
    An Ethic of Constraint: Citizens, Sea-Level Rise Viewers, and the Limits of Agency
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Richards (2018)
    Not a cape, but a life preserver: the importance of designer localization in in…
    Communication Design Quarterly

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CrossRef global citation count: 15 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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