This seminar shares findings of a user experience (UX) test conducted on a popular interactive sea level rise viewer, which asked 41 participants to complete a series of tasks and answer a set of questions aimed at better understanding of how lay public users interact with risk visualizations in ways pertaining to themselves, their community, and the projected future of their region. This research is located firmly within the interpretative framework of usefulness, in that this study advocates for designing such viewers in ways that are receptive to the problem-solving concerns of the general public under the larger umbrella of climate change and sea level rise. This study tested the usefulness of the tool in regard to risk assessments and decision-making, but also listened to the general public in inquiring how such tools as sea level rise viewers can better facilitate the types of decisions and actions they would like to make. In this sense, it champions a dialogic design process in tools that have to this point overlooked their widest user base. More than just revealing the importance of the role of technical communicators in the continued developmental and testing phases of these tools, this presentation suggests pathways forward to better design risk visualization technologies for a broader audience and usage.

Daniel P. Richards is an assistant professor of English at Old Dominion University, where he teaches courses in technical communication, rhetoric, and pedagogy in the department's undergraduate and doctoral programs. His research currently focuses on the intersection of risk communication, user experience, and the public understanding of science. He has published in Technical Communication Quarterly, Communication Design Quarterly, and Intercom, as well as several scholarly collections. His recently published co-edited collection, Posthuman Praxis in Technical Communication (2018, Routledge), explores the value of posthuman and new materialist theories in facilitating better communication practices in a broad array of public, government, and scientific workplaces.

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