An examination of the visual composing process of graph, chart and table designers.

Abstract

In most Technical Writing courses, the study of graphics is introduced in short units with a focus on a product-centered instructional methodology. Most Technical Writing textbooks also follow the same pattern by devoting only a small amount of space to graphics and relying on directives which address how a graphic should look, not how it should be designed. This kind of presentation is ineffective and does not meet the needs of students because it does not take into account the increasingly large role that graphics play in a technical communicator's work. The hypothesis of this study is that research which examines how technical communicators design could provide information which might help improve instruction, in much the same way as research studies on the writing process have resulted in improvements in writing instruction. In this research, senior engineering students were asked to design a small set of graphics. They were then interviewed about how and why they made their decisions, and their graphics were evaluated by professional graphic designers. These evaluations were then studied and correlated with the information from the interviews. The results of this study indicate that successful designers are very similar to successful writers; they plan, revise and edit more than unsuccessful designers. In addition, they make decisions which are consistent with visual design principles. The implications of this research are that Technical Communication professionals should consider making substantial changes relative to the graphics portion of technical writing courses. First, instructors in technical writing courses should consider focusing their graphics instruction on process skills and on teaching graphic design principles. Second, scholars should discuss how a new and expanded role for graphics will affect courses and materials. Third, researchers should conduct new studies which will examine other forms of visual communication.