NDLI: How do writers view usability information? A case study of a developing documentation writer

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Volume 14, Issue 4, 1990

The editorial role in developing an online user interface

HELPing writer and product team communication through online document design

Visual syntax diagrams for programming language statements

How do writers view usability information? A case study of a developing documentation writer

The role of indexing in technical communication

How usability testing can aid the development of online documentation

Putting a local information system online using pre-packaged software

User-centeredness, situatedness, and designing the media of computer documentation

Documentation design based upon intuitive feature taxonomy and use logging

Usability and hardcopy manuals: evaluating research designs and methods

Document means more than manual: document design outside the computer industry

Designing and prototyping a portable hypertext application

Artificial neural networks as cognitive tools for professional writing

The why, where and how of minimalism

A stepwise approach to developing software documentation

Documenting the software development process

The mythical task

An interactive source commenter for Prolog programs

RAP: relocation allowance planner, a rule-based expert system with self-defining documentation features

Writing instructional materials for computing service courses

Playing detective with full text searching software

Volume 14, Issue 3, Winter 1988

Volume 14, Issue 2, Summer 1988

Volume 14, Issue 1, March, 1988

Issue SI, December 1990

How do writers view usability information? A case study of a developing documentation writer

Content Provider	ACM Digital Library
Author	Sullivan, Patricia A. Porter, James E.
Abstract	As Dieli (1989) notes, writers sometimes have trouble focusing their concerns into questions that usability groups can test. As teachers of future documentation writers, we have observed that writers also have trouble turning the results of those usability tests into strategies for document revision. Our first investigation into these issues—see Sullivan & Porter (1990)—described a class of fifteen professional writing students employing usability information to write computer documentation. That study indicated that the writer's use of information is guided by that writer's rhetorical orientation, particularly his/her view of the audience/user. Though all the writers in the study conducted the same type of usability test (modeled after Atlas' “user edit”—see Atlas, 1981), they interpreted their test results in different ways.This investigation continues the Sullivan & Porter (1990) study using a longitudinal case study of one professional writer, called “Max.” This follow-up study aims to probe how the writer's rhetorical orientation guides that writer's interpretation of usability test results.We take a slightly uncommon view of usability. We have opted to focus on the writer's view of users' actions—both what is noticed and how it is interpreted. Typically, usability studies have examined the interaction between texts/systems and readers/users (see McDonald & Schvaneveldt, 1988; Ramey, 1988; Rubens & Rubens, 1988), subordinating the important variable of how the writer interprets and uses results. Although both Sullivan (March, 1985) and Schriver (1987) suggest that writers can be trained to successfully use user information in revising documents they do not author, usability studies still have not examined how writers view the findings from usability studies run on their own work.Our study examines how, and to what degree, one writer's rhetorical orientation filters results from usability tests.what is his rhetorical orientation?what value does he place on, and how does he classify and apply, usability test information?
Starting Page	29
Ending Page	35
Page Count	7
File Format	PDF
ISSN	07311001
DOI	10.1145/97435.97988
Journal	ACM SIGDOC Asterisk Journal of Computer Documentation (ASTR)
Volume Number	14
Issue Number	4
Language	English
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Publisher Date	1977-05-01
Publisher Place	New York
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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