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Description :
User-Centered Technology presents a theoretical model for examining technology through a user perspective. Johnson begins with a historical overview of the problem of technological use from the ancient Greeks to the present day--a problem seen most clearly in historical discussions of rhetoric theory. The central portion of the book elaborates on user-centered theory by defining three focal issues of the theory: user knowledge, human-technology interaction, and technological determinism. Working from an interdisciplinary perspective, Johnson uses rhetoric theory to present a definition of user knowledge; human factors engineering to illuminate the ideological presuppositions built into technology design; and history, philosophy, and sociology to explain technological determinism, possibly the greatest impediment to user-centered technology development in modern times. The latter part of the book applies user-centered theory in two contexts: the nonacademic sphere, where the writing and design of computer user documentation is discussed, and the academic sphere, through a discussion of how user-centered concepts might drive university technical communication and composition curricula. "I believe that this book is a unique contribution to the field. The argument, based upon insightful analyses of a variety of sources, is enlightened. Robert R. Johnson has clearly revealed that the vast bulk of relevant research on technology and use/learning has been dominated by either system-centered or text-centered views. In addition, he places the evolution of these views in their theoretical/historical contexts. That alone is enlightening. But his analysis of the user-centered view is also a significant contribution because it provides a foundation, a rationale, if you will, for certain disparate but promising developments in ongoing efforts to adapt technological innovations for wide-ranging use." -- Stephen Doheny-Farina, Clarkson University
Robert R. Johnson is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Master's Program in Technical and Scientific Communication at Miami University.
Content :
"Table of Contents, List of Figures, Foreword, Preface, Acknowledgments, Part I. Situating Technology, 1. Users, Technology, and the Complex(ity) of the Mundane: Some "Out of the Ordinary" Thoughts, 2. Refiguring the End of Technology: Rhetoric and the Complex of Use
Part II. Complicating Technology, 3. Not Just for Idiots Anymore: Practice, Production, and Users’ Ways of Knowing, 4. Human Factors and the Tech(no)logical: Putting User-Centered Design into Perspective, 5. Sociology, History, and Philosophy: Technological Determinism Along the Disciplinary Divides, Part III. Communicating Technology, 6. When All Else Fails, Use the Instructions: Local Knowledge, Negotiation, and the Construction of User-Centered Computer Documentation, 7. Technical Communication, Ethics, Curricula: User-Centered Studies and the Technical Rhetorician, References, Index
" No other Books by the same author | |
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