Dissertations and Theses

Dissertations

Since HCDE started its PhD program, two student have graduated with the following dissertation:

  • Mobile Hybridity: Supporting Personal and Romantic Relationships with Mobile Phones in Digitally Emergent Spaces. (Carolyn Wei, 2007)
  • QuikScan: Facilitating Document Use Through Innovative Formatting (Quan Zhou, 2008)

Theses

Most Masters' theses from the University of Washington are divided by subject in the UW Libraries, and can be searched using the UW Libraries Catalog. For more information about searching the UW Library for one of the below theses, visit http://www.lib.washington.edu/engineering/collres/theses.html

  • An Adaptive Hypertext System for Advanced Learning with Complex and Ill-Structured Information. (Marsha Haney, Spring 1999)
  • An Analysis of Passenger Preparedness Information on U.S. Commercial Airport Web Site (Winter 2004)
  • Analysis of Past & Future Computing Resource Management Strategies in the Program in Scientific & Technical Communication (Katherine Murphy, Spring 1989)
  • Analysis of the Effects of Multiple Colors, Information Density, and Traffic Complexity on Plan View and Perspective Air Traffic Control Radar Displays (Autumn 1991)
  • Applications for Natural-Language Processing in Online Help (Jeannine Nelson, Autumn 1997)
  • Author's Voice and the Reader's Role: An Analysis of Style in How-to Texts (Carl Chatfield, Autumn 1995)
  • The Challenges of Collaboration within Virtual Teams (Carolyn Wei, Spring 2002)
  • Cognitive Style & Menu Maps for Computer Information Retrieval Systems: Effects on Performance (Carolyn Plumb, Summer 1988)
  • Coherent Light: Virtual Reality Culture, Politics, and the New Humanism in Science (Julian Bleeker, Autumn 1992)
  • Communicating Health Care Issues to Non-readers in Developing Countries (Charlene Johnson, Summer 1988)
  • Comprehensibility of Simplified English in Airplane Procedure Documents (Serena Shubert, Autumn 1994)
  • Conceptual Framework for Scientific Visualization (Ellen Hobbs, Fall 1990)
  • Conceptual Model: The Underutilized Link Between Humans and Computers (Susan Scott, Summer 1982)
  • Conducting Verbal Protocols in Usability Testing: Theory and Practice (Ted Boren, Winter 1999)
  • Cooperative Approach to Computer Systems Development: A Community-Based Model (Tom Kraft, Spring 1990)
  • Decorum for Disclusure: A Study of the Wartime Diary of Franklin T. Matthia, Commander of the Hanford Engineer Works (Michael Stivers, Autumn 1997)
  • Design Response to Usability Test Findings, The: A Case Study Based on Artifacts and Interviews (Marcia Ruthford, 1999)
  • Designing Cross-Cultural Messages (Susan Hawkins, Autumn 1993)
  • Designing an Esthetic Experience with Technology: Narrative and Experiential Approaches in the Design of Presence and Immersion (Spring 2003)
  • Designing Software Development Models for Internet-Based Products through Evaluation of Existing Software Development Models in Software Environments (Bojana Ostojic, 1998)
  • Development of Automated Information Systems to Support Communications Groups (Katherine Atkins, Spring 1990)
  • Diary and Phone Transcriptions of Colonel Franklin Matthias, Army Corps of Engineers, 1943-1945: A Discourse Analysis (Mary Nell Harris, Autumn 1994)
  • Discovering Metaphor Through Usability Testing and Considering Design Applications (Erin Schulz, Winter 1995)
  • Effect of User Input on Icon Interpretability (Lisa Louise Davis, Autumn 1993)
  • Effects of Nominalization on Recall and Comprehension (Carol S. Isakson, Winter 1995)
  • Evaluation of 2-D and 3-D Hypertext Maps as an Information Access Tool (Anne Bockman, Summer 1996)
  • Evaluation of Research Methodology: Moving From a Fragmentary to a Complementary Approach in Library and Information Science (Summer 1996)
  • Examination of Factors that Affect the Credibility of Health Information on the Internet (Krisandra Freeman, Autumn 2002)
  • Examining the Interview as a Tool for Usability Engineering (Kelcie Guiberson, Autumn 1995)
  • How the Technical Communicator can Help to Expedite the FDA Approval Process for New Products of Biotechnology (Larry Happ, Spring 1990)
  • Hypertext Dreams and Realities (Chet Hedden, Fall 1991)
  • Hypertext: Exploring Inventive Hypertexts (Patricia Semple, Spring 1995)
  • Identifying De-Facto Standards in E-Commerce Web Sites (Heidi Adkisson, Autumn 2002)
  • Image in Technical Communication (Joan Hutfles, Autumn 1989)
  • The Impact of Personalization and Prior Attendance on Response Rates to a Business Award Event with University Sponsorship: An Empirical Study (Spring 2005)
  • Improving the Much-Maligned Bureaucratic Writing Style: A Case for Technical Communicators in the Federal Government (Rosalinda Jill DeMarco, Winter 1996)
  • Job Performance Aids for Complex Interactive Systems: Presenting Non-Linear Procedural Information through Step-by-Step Procedures, Flowchart-Format Procedures, and Hypertext Delivery Systems (Christopher Moore, Spring 1991)
  • Legislators as an Audience: An Analysis of Their Functional Needs for Policy Information (Carolyn Pendle, Summer 1992)
  • Legitimate Usability Testing: Does the Scientific Method Apply? (Cherie Luckhurst, Spring 1996)
  • Metaphoric Cognition: The Role of Metaphor in Scientific and Technical Communication (Lisa Allen Osse, Spring 1990)
  • Moving Technologists Into Management: Current Practice, Associated Problems, and the Challenges Facing the Digital Media Industry (Cindy King, Summer 1995)
  • Multimedia and Interactive Marketing in the Digital Age (Bruce Gibbs, Autumn 1995)
  • New Standards for a New Literacy (Mary Nystrom, Summer 2000)
  • Not All Widget Features Are Equal: What Dissimilarity Ratings of Two Surface-Level Interface Characteristics Reveal About Multi-Device Consistency (Roxane Neal, Autumn 2005)
  • Online Medical Information: Heading Frequency, Comprehension, and Participants' Emotional States (Laura Schultz, Autumn 2002)
  • Online Science and Engineering Journals: Guidelines for their Design (Christine Loucks, Spring, 1999)
  • Plain Language Statutes and the Purpose of Legal Instruments: Does Simplification Increase Comprehension? (Susan Rhodes, Spring 1988)
  • Power, Authority, and the Constructed User in User-Centered Design Teams (Timothy Greenzweig, Spring 2002)
  • Presence & Performance in Virtual Environments as a Function of Copresence & Degree of Participant Movement (Karl-Erik Bystrom, Autumn 1995)
  • Reader Performance as a Function of Document Demands (Michael Wenger, Spring 1989)
  • Redefining the Documentation Process (Wendy Simonson, Summer 1990)
  • Rhetoric in Everyday Documents (Amy Scott, Spring 1998)
  • Role of Constraint Analysis in the Design of Instructional Material (Linn Compton, Winter 1997)
  • Role of Cross Boundary Communication Mechanisms in Organization-wide Projects: A Case Study of the Washington State Department of Transportation (Autumn 2002)
  • Role of the Reader in Technical Writing: An Ethnomethodological Examination (Hunter Thompson, Winter 1993)
  • Roles of Technical Communicators in Optimized Software Design and Development Environments (Spring 1996)
  • Searching for an Aura: Planning the Design of Museum Web Sites (Spring 2004)
  • Sensing and Measurement of Frustration with Computers (Carson Reynolds, 2001)
  • Societal Impact of Multimedia (Alan Marks, Autumn 1992)
  • Socio-political Processes Affecting the Planning, Development, and Deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) (Kathy Semple, Summer 1995)
  • Specification for an On-Line Writers' Guide (Doug Wieringa, Spring 1991)
  • Storytelling as Community and Collaboration: Designing an Interactive Multi-Author Environment for Hypertext Fiction (Christopher Holstrom, Spring 2002)
  • Structural Norms in Japanese Expository Texts (Waka Fukuoka, Spring 1998)
  • System Initiated Advice for Menu Navigation (Aviva Furman, Spring 1990)
  • US Space Program and the Design of Space Station Freedom: An Innovative Engineering Instructional Module (Theodore J. Heller III, Summer 1992)
  • Usability Testing for Localized Interfaces (Lily Sun, Spring 2002)
  • Use of Arrow Keys Versus Mouse Interfaces to Edit Text, Lists, & Tables (Barbara Lewton, Summer 1988)
  • User-Friendly Usability Reports: The Effect of Praise on Product-Improvement Efforts by Teams (Connie Missimer, Spring 2002)
  • User Input and the Interpretability of Icons (Autumn 1993)
  • Virtual Reality and the Future of the Human-Computer Interface (Randolph Jackson, Summer 1995)
  • A Web-Based Study of the Effect of Explicitness of Local Navigational Links on Comprehension and Perceptions of Use (Kathryn Mobrand, Winter 2003)

Project Reports Titles

  • Adaptation of an Ethnographic Method: Observation as a Software Evaluation Tool (Summer 1997)
  • An Ambient Media Presence Awareness Device (Spring 2001)
  • An Analysis of Theoretical and Applied Documentation Processes: Current Approaches and an Industry Case Study (2001)
  • Apple Help and John Carroll's Minimalism (Autumn 2002)
  • Applying HCI User-centered Design to HMIs: The LINK Food Processing Control System (Winter 2003)
  • Applying Schema Theory During Audience Analysis: Selecting Content, Constructing Reader Roles, and Choosing Text Structure. (Winter 2000)
  • Biology for Engineers: A Multimedia Design Project (Spring 2004)
  • Buttonless Trackpad : A Case Study in Input Device Development (Summer 1996)
  • Charting Safe Passage through the Valley of Death: The Role of Technical Communication in High-tech Marketing (Spring 1993)
  • Conflicts in Medical Writing for the Mass Media (Autumn 1992)
  • Content Analysis, Ergonomics and The World Wide Web: A Case Study (Spring 2002)
  • Creating an Interactive Multi Media Experience to Introduce Young Women to Engineering "Engineering Rocks!!" (Summer 1998)
  • Critical Ethnography as a Communication Tool: Evaluating GIS Documentation within a Habermas Framework (Summer 2000)
  • DatStat's iManager: A Heuristic Evaluation (Spring 2001)
  • Design and Usability Testing of an Interactive, Web-Based Grammar and Punctuation Diagnostic Test (Summer1998)
  • Design Factors for Improving the Effectiveness of Mathematics Texts: The Case of Underrepresented Minority College Students (Spring 2000)
  • Designing an "Intelligent" Method for Producing Warning Labels (Autumn 1992)
  • Discovering a Discourse Community Facilitated by Electronic means (Winter 2000)
  • The Document Review Process in Industry: Recent Research and Current Approaches (Summer 1999)
  • Ecology of Writing (Autumn 1993)
  • Editorial Selection of Attention-Getting Graphics at Science News Magazines: A Research Proposal Based on an Internship at Northwest Science & Technology (Spring 2000)
  • Enhancing Usability: Redesigning the EServer's Film and Television Collection (Autumn 2001)
  • Finding Our Users: A Case Study in the Evolution of a Technical Writing Group (Winter 2002)
  • Finding the Author, Audience, and Text in Courseware Development (2000)
  • Flexibility of Usability Testing at Microsoft: Responding to Corporate Requirements (Autumn 1991)
  • From Hardcopy to Online, Command Line to GUI: Updating the AS/400 (Autumn 1999)
  • Graduate School Web Site (Spring 1997)
  • Guidelines for Developing Online Help: A Proposal for Experts in Print Documentation Design (Summer 1998)
  • Home Care: How to Make Home Care Products (Summer 1994)
  • Howja Dudat: An Interactive Graphics Tutorial and Gallery (Summer 1996)
  • How the Technical Communicator can Help to Expedite the FDA Approval Process for New Products of Biotechnology (Spring 1990)
  • How to Develop Effective Training Videos and Dramatic Scripts: A Guide for Technical Communicators (Spring 1997)
  • Hypermedia for Language Learning: Report on the Half Moon Project (Winter 1999)
  • ILPSeattle.com A Collaborative Website Project for Teenagers Transitioning Out of the Foster Care System (Spring 2003)
  • International Usability Testing: Do Our Methods Work Abroad? (Spring 2000)
  • The Intranet as Ecosystem: A Model for Sustaining Development (Spring 2000)
  • Keeping Pace with the Evolution of Web Content Management: A Business Example (Spring 2003)
  • Los Alamos Universe (Autumn 1996)
  • The M31 Project: Designing the Total Customer Experience (Summer 2003)
  • Managing Technical Communicators: Old Traditions and New Horizons (Autumn 1992)
  • Milliman Care Guidelines Intranet Redesign (Autumn 2005)
  • Online Science and Engineering Journals: Guidelines for their Design (Spring 1999)
  • Organizational Structure and Culture: Effects on the Technical Communicator in the Software Development Process (Summer 1998)
  • Perception of Scientific Uncertainty in Science News Writing (Spring 2002)
  • Perceptions of Accuracy in Science News Writing: A Case Study (Autumn 2001)
  • Perpetual Novice, Perpetual Expert: Domain Knowledge in Usability Engineering. (Winter 2001)
  • The Political Science Department Website: A Study in Better Design (2001)
  • Rhetorical Challenges in the Wireless Industry: Case Studies from a Technical Writing Group (Spring 2003)
  • Risks of Risk Communication (Summer 1989)
  • Role of Procedure Writers in Improving the Handling of Abnormal Conditions in Nuclear Power Plants (Winter 1992)
  • Single Sourcing, Content Management and the Otobase Project (Spring 2002)
  • Science News Magazine Writing and Readership (Spring 1999)
  • Streaming Academic Presentations: A Web Site Redesigned (Spring 2002)
  • Structural Underpinnings of Verbal Protocol Analysis: An Experiential Guide (Summer 1999)
  • Structuring Proposal Writing Instructions Using Rogerian Argument (Spring 1989)
  • Tapping Into the Technology: How to Produce a State-of-the-Art Review (Spring 1994)
  • TC Kiosk: Hypermedia for the Department of Technical Communication (Spring 1991)
  • Traveler Information on the Web: A Usability Study for the Washington Department of Transportation (Summer 2002)
  • Treasure Island as Computer-Assisted Readings: Helping Students Navigate Books (Summer 1991)
  • Understanding Your Audience: Using Ethnography in the Design Process (Summer 1992)
  • University-Industry Partnerships: The Effect of Corporate Sponsorship on University Research (Spring 1988)
  • Usability Evaluation Methodologies: Choosing the Right Tool for the Task (Autumn 1993)
  • Usability Evaluation of the Document Management Platform and Recommendations on Transferring the System to a Hypertext Design (Autumn 1996)
  • Usability Testing: Unraveling the Web of Complexities and Controversies (Spring 1991)
  • Users Behind the One-Way Mirror: Improving Usability Data Collection and Analysis Tools (Winter 1996)
  • Using Document Templates to Streamline the Documentation Process: A Case Study (Spring 1994)
  • Web Accessibility: Are the W3C's Accessibility Guidelines Useful (Spring 2002)
  • Web Design: An Empiricist's Guide (Spring 1998)
  • XML from a Writing Perspective (Winter 2001)