[ATTW-L] 2Q18 Issue of IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

[George Hayhoe]

The June 2018 issue of the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication has recently been published online. If you are a paper subscriber, you will receive the issue, printed together with the March issue, in the next few weeks
Volume 61, Number 2, June 2018
Research Article—Users’ Personal Conceptions of Usability and User Experience of Electronic and Software Products, by T. R. Haaksma, M. D. T. de Jong, and J. Karreman
Despite abundant research on usability and user experience (UX), there is still debate about the relationship between these concepts, and the user perspective is underrepresented. This study examines users’ personal conceptions of usability and UX. In this experiment, 21 participants rated products on usability and UX, and responded to a questionnaire. Interviews examined their decisions and their views on usability and UX. A weak positive correlation between products’ usability and UX scores indicates that the relationship between both concepts is far from straightforward.
Research Article—Establishing a Territory in the Introductions of Engineering Research Articles Using a Problem-Solution Patterns Approach, by L. L. Kahaw and W. W. Tan
Swales’s Create a Research Space (CaRS) is a popular model for writing research article (RA) introductions. It prescribes three broad moves—establishing a territory, establishing a niche, and presenting the present work. This study assesses the applicability of a Problem-Solution Patterns (PSP) approach to facilitate Move 1 in CaRS by analyzing RAs in materials science and engineering. PSP was found in most of the RA introductions examined. By integrating PSP into CaRS, the proposed model can capture problem-solution cyclicity as a build-up move for territory and niche establishment.
Research Article—How Do Employees in Different Job Roles in the Insurance Industry Use Mobile Technology Differently at Work? by M.H. Lu, W. Lin, and H.-P. Yueh
Taiwan’s insurance industry has the highest willingness and the largest budgets to implement mobile technology. Exploration of how mobile technology can support the diverse job roles and tasks in insurance companies that have implemented mobile IT will improve implementation efficiency as well as organizational capacity. A survey showed that instant communication and information access were the most important tasks supported; that developing organizational culture can increase employees’ adoption of mobile devices; and that smartphones were thought to be more mobile and better support main job tasks than tablets.
Case Study—Implementing Usability Testing in Introductory Technical Communication Service Courses: Results and Lessons from a Local Study, by F. Chong
This case study examines students’ and instructors’ experiences with usability testing in technical communication service courses. Technical communication usability scholarship rarely addresses pedagogy, especially the practical challenges faced by students and instructors. Students in the course faced practical challenges such as time and resource constraints and collaboration with users. They found strategies such as in-class activities, readings, and examples, and working directly with users to be helpful in their usability efforts. Instructors expressed the need for better preparation.         .
Case Study—Automation of Quality Reports in the Aerospace Industry, by R. Eito-Brun and A. Amescua-Seco
This article describes the automated generation of software quality reports compliant with the European Cooperation for Space Standardization standards. The automation techniques were designed to create complex documents using XML for data exchange and integration, and a set of connectors to collect software engineering data. The proposed solution’s feasibility was validated in two projects and showed that the automatic generation of complex documents from multiple data sources is economically feasible and reduces time-to-delivery and production costs using existing XML technologies.
Case Study—Understanding Virtual Reality: Presence, Embodiment, and Professional Practice, by J. Tham, A. H. Duin, L. Gee, N. Ernst, B. Abdelqader, and M. McGrath
Virtual reality (VR) engages users on a level unprecedented by print or 2D media; however, few guidelines exist for using these technologies in technical and professional communication curricula. This experience report details the study of VR devices to promote understanding of how emerging technologies provide new approaches to pedagogy. Three concurrent case studies and qualitative interviews describe the deployment of three low-end to high-end VR devices: Google Cardboard, Google Daydream View, and HTC Vive. The authors assess the functions, features, and uses of the devices; showcase current or potential deployments; and for triangulation, provide a user study of two devices.
Teaching Case—Collaborating with Writing Centers on Interdisciplinary Peer Tutor Training to Improve Writing Support for Engineering Students, by R. S. Weissbach and R. C. Pflueger
Faculty members have little time and usually lack expertise to provide writing feedback on lab reports. Sending students to a writing center could help, but the majority of tutors are in nontechnical majors, and little research exists on training them to provide support for engineering students. Previously, students sent to the writing center did not see the value, and the tutors felt incapable of providing helpful feedback. To remedy this situation, training was developed by an engineering professor and the writing center director. Tutor feedback and student satisfaction significantly improved, though a few students wanted to have their reports reviewed by a tutor with a technical background.

Book Review—Richard House, Richard Layton, Jessica Livingston, and Sean Moseley, The Engineering Communication Manual, reviewed by T. Manz
Book Review—Jonathan Shariat and Cynthia Savard Saucier, Tragic Design: The Impact of Bad Product Design and How to Fix It, reviewed by M. Balagia

The issue is available online at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=47. Note that a user ID and password are required to view individual articles.

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