User-Centered Technology (Suny Series in Studies in Scientific and Technical Communication)

By Robert R. Johnson

Book 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791439321
• ISBN13: 9780791439326
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.8" x 8.8"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher