Liza PottsSenior Researcher, WIDE ResearchAssistant Professor of Digital Humanitieshttp://www.lizapotts.orglpotts@msu.edu @LizaPotts

From the Periphery to the Center Technical Communicators as Experience Architects

Experience Architecture

Experience Architects play a strategic role in building, maintaining, and sustaining experiences of participants within a given ecosystem

An experience is an ecosystem – not one interface, device, space

Experience architecture is an interdisciplinary exercise

Origin Story

Working Across Disciplines to Create Experiences

From Writing to Managing Content Across Organizations Technical Communication as Content Strategists

From Documenting Problems to Architecting Experience Technical Communicators as advocates and strategists

Cooperative Process of Communicating Experiences Managing teams, processes, and brands

Architects of Communication

“Experience design is all about solving problems and that requires both logical, analytical thinking as well as creative design thinking.”

– Lindsay Ratcliffe and Marc McNeill, authors of Agile Experience Design 2012

From Dan Willis presentation at DC Startup Weekend in 2011

Building the BA in XA

Early Career Faculty working in UX

Partnering Across the University

Selling the Program Up and Out

Partnering Outside the University

Faculty with Industry Experience and Connections

Experience Architecture

Rhetoric

Art

Computer Science

Philosophy

Writing

Coursework

Four core courses + capstone and internship Intro to XA User Research Project Management Prototyping

Additional coursework across multiple programs

content strategy, information design, web development, visual rhetoric, digital rhetoric

design thinking, graphic design, interaction design programming, algorithms, information technology logic (logical thinking - math in the Humanities)

Talking to Prospective Students

Sustainability

Finding New Faculty With practitioner contacts and experience

Building Partnerships With Industry Within Academia

Locating Useful Internships Experiences, Networks

Launching the XA Collective Open knowledge base, curriculum, syllabi

Thank you!

Come see us at SIGDOChttp://sigdoc.acm.org/conference/2014/

New BookSocial Media in Disaster Responsehttp://socialdisasterresponse.org/

CFP for Edited Collection in Rhetoric & UXComing soon with Michael Salvo!

Experience Architecture CollectiveLaunching Spring 2014http://xacollective.org

Follow-Up with LizaTwitter: @LizaPottsemail: lpotts@msu.edu