Crossing the UX Interdisciplinary Divide: Technical Communication and UX

Kathie GossettAsst. Professor of Digital Humanities & Human Computing InteractionIowa State University | @gossettphd

Laying Groundwork & Building Bridges• Making partnerships

• Administrative buy-in

• Different disciplines

• 32 departments

• 7 colleges

Laying Groundwork & Building Bridges• Making partnerships

• Administrative buy-in

• Different disciplines

• Cultures

• Vocabularies

• Classroom Practices

Laying Groundwork & Building Bridges• Making partnerships

• Administrative buy-in

• Different disciplines

• Cultures

• Vocabularies

• Architecture & Classroom Practices

• Tenure & Promotion

• Publication venues

• Scholarship

• Conferences

• SIGDOC vs SIGCHI

Technical Communication & UXCommunication as:

• Participation

• Interaction

• Design

• Structure

• Writing

“...Technical communication as a problem-solving activity.”

~Johnson-Eilola & Selber, 2013

Technical Communication & UX

• Humanistic approach to technology

• Technical communication as problem solving

“Our field’s strengths in information design, project management, and content strategy coupled with our foundation in rhetoric are a strong fit for leading the development of programs that produce professionals capable of creating robust digital projects and services built around exciting new user experiences.”

~ Getto, Potts, Salvo, & Gossett, 2013

Learn More• Organizations

• SIGDOC: http://www.sigdoc.org

• SIGCHI: http://www.sigchi.org/

• IxDA: http://www.ixda.org/en

• IA Institute: http://iainstitute.org

• UPA: http://www.upassoc.org

• Iowa State User Experience Lab: http://projects.vrac.iastate.edu/uxlab/

Thank you

Dr. Kathie Gossett | kgossett@iastate.edu | @gossettphd