Web 2.0 Usability and Participatory Design

I came to some conclusion for these questions about Web 2.0 Usability.  I read an article from Clay Spinuzzi called the "The Methodology of Participatory Design."  Participatory design calls for an open relationship between designers and users in the development of a product.  This methodology indirectly affected the on-going design of Twitter (and other Web 2.0 products) as it moved from an application that enables users to broadcast to a application that allows users to broadcast, network, and have dialogue.  These developments of Twitter came through user influence as I detailed in previous entries.  Basically, users and designers developed this weak partnership to optimize the application.  Spinuzzi calls for strong partnerships between users and designers in Participatory Design. In Web 2.0 dynamics, there exists this sense of "weak cooperation" among users, who upload and content on these applications (YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook, etc.) (Aguiton and Cardon, 2008).  In the case of Twitter, this weak cooperation has grown not just among users but among users and designers.  The objective seems to be to create a sustainable system of use.  

One thing to think about is the affect on Professional Writing.  Organizations are often looking to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogger, etc. for market outreach in communication with their stakeholders.  I will write about these examples as we go along.  Professional Writers may be asked to organize this Web 2.0 outreach.  But, there is a difference between Professional Writers who are asked to use these Web 2.0 tools and those who are asked to create an application.  In the latter, the Professional Writer can act as a designer and has control over the tool and the system.  But, in the former, the Professional Writer has influence over the system of communication and production but not the design.  In this situation, analysis of the user's objective is important in choice of the appropriate tool.  

Aguiton, C. and Cardon, D. (2007). The Strength of Weak Cooperation:  An Attempt to Understand the meaning of Web 2.0.  Communications & Strategies. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from General BusinessFile ASAP.

Spinuzzi, C. (2005).  The Methodology of Participatory Design.  Technical Communication.  52(2). 163.

   

Major Project Revision: Why 3

Downstream, I hope this study effect the way we think about user contexts as technical writers in the user-centered design process.  Web 2.0 is not just about user interactivity, but it is about beckoning the user to take part in the production process itself.   The user is gaining a familiarity with Web 2.0 technologies that is creating a context in and of itself.  The user context is being created by the discourse of products.  Academically, this is adding on to the discussion of Barbara Mirel who argues that we cannot ignore user contexts in which they complete their tasks.  But this study argues that user context cannot be ignored because the users’ experiences with the technologies are creating a context of its vey own.  At least, Web 2.0 applications are building user expectations about how these products should look and act not just based on tasks they perform but the ways in which these products are determining the types of tasks that are possible and how that carries over from new product to new product.  

Major Project Revision: Why 2

To answer these questions, I plan to write a research design that outlines methodologies to use in data collection and a literature review to build a theoretical framework for analyzing technical writing for users who are literate in Web 2.0 products.  The research design will outline the ways in which I can collect information about the ways in which users learn how to use new Web 2.0 applications, what expectations they bring with them, and what happens when those expectations are not met?  To argue that this is something that technical writing has to take into consideration, I hope to analyze case studies in which technical writers are forced to accommodate a product to a user who is well versed in the product family (Web 2.0 genre).  The Twitter case may be an example of this.  Now, the literature review will begin to build a framework of study for these concepts.  I will be looking in large part at user centered design studies particularly focusing on the work of Barbara Mirel and her analysis of the user in a particular context that influences their expectations of how the products should work.  John Carroll can also offer a strong discussion through his book Minimalism Beyond the Nuremburg Funnel.  This study will also draw on the work of Clay Spinuzzi and his focus on activity and genre theory in technical writing.