User-Centered Technology : A Rhetorical Theory for Computers and Other Mundane Artifacts
Overview
Presents a theoretical model for examining technology through a user perspective.
Winner of the 1999 Best Book presented by the National Council of Teachers of English NCTE Awards for Excellence in Technical and Scientific Communication
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.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780791439326
- ISBN-10: 0791439321
- Publisher: State University of New York Press
- Publish Date: November 1998
- Dimensions: 8.85 x 5.83 x 0.47 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.62 pounds
- Page Count: 195
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