My newest article, Localizing UX advocacy and accountability: Using personas to amplify user agency, is currently available in Technical Communication (Issue 69(4)). In the article, Suzan Flanagan and I explore findings from a UX research project to help develop a mobile app for recreational boaters. Our findings indicate that an effective way to advocate for users is to craft personas that can be used to hold organizations accountable.

Why Should We Care About UX Advocacy?

Successful design processes must align business goals with user goals to achieve organizational sustainability
and user adoption. Design processes must consider the goals and pain points of actual users. UX researchers and others interested in user advocacy can use personas to amplify the impact that users have on design processes by providing
developers with a means to understand user needs and to translate these needs into features.

How Can Technical Communicators Use UX Advocacy to Amplify User Agency?

Though personas are limited as far as representing actual users, if used properly within a design process, they are a powerful tool for ensuring that resulting apps achieve user adoption. We call this organizational accountability.

Get the Full Article

https://www.stc.org/techcomm/ (permanent; issue 69(4)) (subscription required)

Cite The Article (APA)

Getto, G. & Flanagan, S. (2022). Localizing UX advocacy and accountability: Using personas to amplify user agency. Technical Communication, 69(4), 97-113.