July
15th: Writing for the User
Rhetoric of Technology (intro)
Make sure you turn in your Prose Revisions before you leave class...
Overview
for Today
Of course, we always stick to what we're doing, so here's a roadmap:
Writing For the User
Let's head over to last Thursday's (7/11) discussion on writing for the user and Ch. 5 and 10 in Tebeaux & Dragga.
Thinking about the Digital Void...I Mean
World
What do you think about these Websites?
Guggenheim
Museum – New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
English Department Webpages:
Electronic Gamming Monthly at
1UP
ATI
Catalyst Control Center
PC Gamer Magazine Site
Style.Com Site
Also, what problems could arise if you
used Dr.
Eastin's monitor as the "typical" monitor for users of your webpage?
A Note or Two on E-mailing and
CMD/CMC*
*CMD--Computer Mediated
Discourse
-or-
CMC--Computer Mediated Communication
A good friend of mine, a software sales person, has very
specific guidelines for the employees he supervises:
-
Keep them short
-
Change the Reply Subject to something more accurate
-
Make them correct so the reader isn't confused
-
Use e-mail when appropriate...let's discuss
Is there a difference between how men and women participate more in
cyberspace?
When you have time, take a look at
this article "Gender and Internet Usage" by Dholakia, Dholakia, and Kshetri. (pdf)
Blogs and IM/texting: I realize
these are different things/activities, but I often think about them together.
Maybe that's just my peculiarity, but what do you think about the value (in
terms of communication) for each?
Set of
Instructions (DUE July 25th)
I have guidelines for your set of
instructions assignment on our Assignments Page. This should be longer than your "My First User Doc," which is instructing a UNCC student on how to upload a Webpage, but I'd be surprised if it was longer than 5 pages; however, it will depend on the number and size of your visuals. I also have a few other options for the
assignment.
Reading for Today
Today's reading discusses connections between technology and society by showing how technologies say much about the culture(s) from which they come.
I have a social construction of technology page for us to review. Additionally, I'd like to have topics for your midterm from you related
to technology in a social context, so pay attention.
Homework
and Future Work
We'll continue our discussion into tomorrow. On Wednesday, we'll get into an Introduction to Information design, so read Ch. 6 by then. Also, we'll get into an I, Robot preview. I know many of you have already started reading I, Robot, so that's good.
Your Midterm Exam will be on Thursday, 7/18.
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