Beardsley

How do we research users in a way that incorporates empathy? We’ll apply design thinking as a technique that professional writers use to research and interpret their audiences’ needs to create user-centered documents. Working in teams, you’ll write, design, and test documents. Your team will conduct a usability test to analyze print and online documents from a user’s perspective.

Learning Outcomes

• Define usability studies and the role of professional communication in the field
• Use research methods to understand a text’s audience, purpose, and context
• Develop criteria to evaluate a text’s strengths and weaknesses for a specific audience, purpose, and context
• Analyze the results accurately and coherently in a written report

Course Texts & Required Materials

• Clary-Lemon, J., Mueller, D. & Pantelides, K. (2022). Try This: Research Methods for Writers.
• Tham, Jason C. K. (Ed.). (2022). Keywords in design thinking: A lexical primer for technical communicators & designers.
• Other readings posted on Canvas
• Discord

View the complete syllabus for course policies.