Rhetorical Research: Toward a User-Centered Approach

Abstract

This paper builds on the calls and responses of the last two decades to methodological interdisciplinarity. It proposes that as we set goals for the next decade's research, we ask ourselves who benefits from our work. Scholars motivated by their desire to contribute to the study of rhetoric and to its pedagogy are certainly beneficiaries. And researchers interested in building bridges between their schools and neighborhoods are as well. But in addition to those who belong to professional organizations, attend academic conferences, and read journals, who benefits? I hope here to suggest that those members of our communities who participate in our research projects are some of the most important beneficiaries, or users, of the information our projects offer. I propose ways to work toward a more reciprocal research methodology by including project participants in discussions about the purpose and design of our research before we launch it and as we navigate it. To demonstrate how reciprocity like this might work, I describe human factors, usability, and participatory design theory and explain how they have been useful in my own work. Combining these principles from professional communication offers a new approach to research, which I call "user-centered" and which can be valuable to rhetorical studies for a variety of practical and philosophical reasons.