Expectations Mapping

A Cognitive Approach to Teaching Audience in Technical Communication Programs

Abstract

Usability is central to creating effective technical content. Audience expectations for usable content, however, are neither fixed nor universal. For this reason, technical communication students can benefit from approaches that help them effectively identify the usability expectations an audience has for technical content. Technical communication programs that provide an effective foundation in this area can help students succeed in a variety of contexts after graduation. This entry presents an approach for teaching audience usability expectations in technical communication classes and across overall technical communication curricula. Known as expectations mapping, the approach focuses on teaching students to identify the cognitive factors that affect an audience’s usability expectations. This entry first explains how the experience mapping process works and then discusses how to apply expectations mapping when teaching students about audience expectations in different technical communication classes. The entry then concludes by providing suggestions on how to integrate expectations into an overall technical communication program. Through this format, the entry provides technical communication educators and program administrators with a curriculum-focused approach to teaching students how to identify and understand the usability expectations of different audiences.