Recently, the attw listserv has been having several good discussions on usability class materials and culture of technology class materials. One of the most fascinating things about this listserv is the heterogeneity of technical writing. We have our classical rhetoric wonks, our technogeeks, pedagogy experts, newbies, composition junkies, and assorted other groups. One nugget I expecially appreciated was someone pointing me to a nice WIRED story on the development of the iPod. As a technical writing teacher, I try to get my writing students to appreciate the effectiveness of prototypes, especially in engineering cultures. This single picture of the iPod prototype will hopefully convince a few of my students to go along with the process, rather than prejudging the effectiveness of a process before they try it in a work enviroment.
3 comments:
I'm glad you found it useful; that was me.
His book extends the work from the article. A light, but useful read.
Thanks phil. Do you study the subject?
Jeff, thanks for the tip. Technology journalism has been invaluable to my work, as a lot of the psychological and cultural work of technology lives in the "light" stuff we don't allow into our "serious" journals. I looked up his blog and will be looking up his books.
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