User-Centered Technology A Rhetorical Theory for Computers and Other Mundane Artifacts Book

Johnson's book is a cornerstone for re-imagining the relationships between users, developers, and the texts/spaces they create. Unfortunately, the field of technical communication is often seen as an arhetorical field that functions on the premise of a conduit. For technical documents to work, the writer merely has to get the information down with clarity. Johnson is making the argument that technical writers need to take into account the ecologies of use and consider users as situated, knowledge producers. Though not a recent book in technological terms, the argument is still surprisingly relevant, especially as Web 2.0 and social software re-imagine user relationships to the web (even if we don't).