Quick and dirty usability testing in the technical communication classroom

Usability practices and rhetorical awareness can be usefully paired in teaching technical or engineering communication. Designing and conducting usability tests and revising documents based on user feedback sharpen students' sense of audience and the other elements of rhetorical situations throughout the different stages of the writing process. To meet the challenge of incorporating a usability project that will take just a few weeks, we have taken two alternative approaches: 1) students created and tested paper prototypes of mobile applications; and 2) students modified and tested existing products using documentation/instruction sets rather than starting from scratch. The first approach led to stronger student investment, while the second approach led to more polished final writing products. Both approaches successfully achieved desired instructor and student outcomes, and could be easily adopted and adapted.