Room 42

In this episode Room 42, we discuss how to increase diversity in the field of Technical and Professional Communications.

Chris Dayley is an assistant professor of English and director of the Master of Arts in Technical Communication program at Texas State University. Chris has over 13 years of professional experience in higher education and his scholarly work has been featured in the academic journals Technical Communication Quarterly and Programmatic Perspectives. Chris’ research focuses on issues of social justice with a specific emphasis on diversity and inclusion in technical and professional communication (TPC) academic programs.  

Today's technical communication students will become tomorrow's technical communication professionals. Increasing diversity in technical communication academic programs is a very important part of increasing diversity in the field in general. What can academic administrators do to increase diversity in technical communication programs? What can professionals do to help increase diversity in academic programs? How does increasing diversity in the field help technical communication as a profession? 

For transcript, links, and show notes: https://tccamp.org/episodes/how-to-increase-diversity-in-the-field-of-technical-and-professional-communications/

In this session, we talk about some very important lessons learned in a look back at what the COVID crisis has taught us all. We discuss guidelines for creating accurate, accessible, and eye-catching charts about COVID-19, particularly for sharing via social media. 

Dr. Sara Doan is an Assistant Professor of Technical Communication at Kennesaw State University, where she teaches data visualization, information design, and Health and Medicine in Technical Communication. Dr. Doan's previous research on instructor feedback has appeared in IEEE Transactions on Technical Communication; her research on COVID-19 charts is appearing this January in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication.

There is nothing like a global pandemic to bring to the front and center the need for accurate and understandable graphics.The use of visual aids in communicating important information to a diverse audience is nothing new. 

We know the importance of citing sources and accuracy, but stunning graphics with colors and lines influence our understanding and can shape behaviors and beliefs.  With the advent of Social media and non-traditional news outlets, a new emphasis on stimulating data visualization is first priority.  

As professional communicators, it is paramount that we understand data visualization so that we can pair our technical accuracy with the human psychology of aesthetics. 

From good graphics gone bad when taken out of context to blatant manipulations to sway opinion with no foundation in fact. We’ll also talk about the need for us to focus on accessibility and the democratization of information especially in times of crisis.

For transcript, links, and show notes: https://tccamp.org/episodes/what-covid-can-teach-us-about-the-power-of-data-visualization/

A panel of academics from Michigan State University -- Ben Lauren, Stuart Blythe, Shannon Kelly, and Kaitlyn Nguyen -- discuss how they developed trauma-informed approaches to research and design practice. 

Ben Lauren is a songwriter, scholar, and Associate Professor at Michigan State University in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. Most recently his work has focused on institutional and social change. His first book Communicating Project Management was published by Routledge’s ATTW series. 

Stuart Blythe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University. He teaches a range of courses in the undergraduate program in professional and public writing as well as the graduate program in rhetoric and writing.

Shannon Kelly is a doctoral student at Michigan State University in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. Most recently, her work is focused on institutional change with trauma-informed methods and relationality. As a former assistant writing-program-director, she is also excited about curriculum design and the role of mentorship in how learners learn to teach.

Kaitlyn Nguyen is an undergraduate studying Experience Architecture at Michigan State University. Kaitlyn works as a Design Researcher for the MSU Essential Needs portal and a User Interface/User Experience Intern for the MSU Content Studio. She is currently researching how design impacts user interaction and response to products.

In this episode, we discuss the SEEN (Supporting Equity in Essential Needs) project at Michigan State University. SEEN is an institutional and organizational change project designed to improve the university's responsiveness to students’ essential needs that came to life through the collaboration of this interdisciplinary group of MSU academics.

Learn how practitioners in the field can benefit from working within trauma-informed frameworks and how trauma-informed approaches to design practice can improve organizational change.

For transcript, links, and show notes: https://tccamp.org/episodes/using-trauma-informed-design-to-support-equity-in-essential-needs/

In this episode we discuss the relationship between User Experience and Technical Communication. Are they the same field, do they overlap, or are they distinct? How should we be preparing the next generation of technical communicators to work at the intersection between UX and TC? What skills do professionals need to be successful?

Emma Rose has spent her career crossing the academic and industry divide. She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Washington Tacoma and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Human Centered Design & Engineering at University of Washington Seattle. Her research interests include participatory and human-centered design and developing methods to engage communities and marginalized populations in the design process. She is also the Past Chair of ACM SIGDOC, a professional organization dedicated to the design of communication. Prior to her academic career, she spent over a decade working at a User Experience consultancy helping organizations bring design thinking into their practices and product development. 

Emma  discusses the evolving state of UX and Technical Communication. She shares some of her recent research results that examine how the UX industry is changing. She also discusses the specific skills and dispositions early career professionals need to succeed in UX and how that is informing teaching and practice.

For transcript, links, and show notes: https://tccamp.org/episodes/exploring-the-intersections-of-ux-and-technical-communication/

In this episode of Room 42, he discusses how technical communicators can create user-focused, context-driven content to improve the customer experience.

Guiseppe Getto is an Associate Professor of Technical and Professional Communication at East Carolina University and is President and Founder of Content Garden, Inc., a digital marketing, content strategy, and UX firm: http://contentgarden.org/. His research focuses on utilizing user experience (UX) design, content strategy, and other participatory research methods to help people improve their communities and organizations. He has published a co-edited collection, Content Strategy in Technical Communication, with Routledge. The findings of his research have been published in many peer-reviewed journals such as IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication; Technical Communication; and Computers and Composition. His work has also appeared in industry-based publications such as Intercom and Boxes and Arrows.

Technical content is increasingly valuable to organizations as savvy consumers search for reviews, tutorials, and technical specifications for their favorite products and services. Technical communicators exist at the crossroads of the customer journey, where information gathering, buying habits, and loyalty coalesce. But in many organizations, no one is truly in charge of improving the customer experience across all content channels. Someone needs to be. And maybe that someone is you!

For transcript, links, and show notes:   https://tccamp.org/episodes/how-techcomm-driven-content-improves-customer-experience/