I will be presenting at the Writing and Computers Conference with other presenters at the University of Wisconsin Stout at the end of May.

1. Proposal Title:
UxD and Online Writing Labs: Meeting the Needs of a Changing Global Audience
Abstract:
This presentation describes the Purdue OWL’s newest usability study focusing on userexperience design
(UxD). The study,a result of on-going collaboration between the Writing Lab and Professional Writing program,
brings togetherimportant, programmatic resources necessary for sustaining a literacy technology and provides
professional development opportunities to both graduate and undergraduate students.Attendees will learn about
recent developments with the OWL UxD project, including students’roles in the project, study methodology, and
data collection. This panel will address attendees’interests in UxD and user-centered design,research, writing
centers and OWLs, and technological artifacts.
Proposal:
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL), which recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the web version of the
site, has a rich history of providing free literacy and writing resources to the world. The OWL began as a gopher
site distributing writing-related handouts,and it has undergone numerous revisions. The last large-scale usability
study,conducted during 2006-2007, led to several significant changes in response to users’needs. However, user-
centered design is a recursive process,and OWL staff have begun working with Purdue’s Professional Writing
program to conduct new research focusing specifically on userexperience design or UxD--bringing attention to
users’experiences within the OWL as a space.
Students in ENGL 515, a Professional Writing Capstone course,have served as UxD consultants,offering advice
about where to focus and prioritize our research, what testing instruments to use, and how to incorporate tools such
as online card sorts and eye-tracking devices to learn more about users’experiences within the OWL.
The collaboration between the Writing Lab and PW program not only brings togetherimportant, programmatic
resources necessary for sustaining a literacy technology,it also provides professionaldevelopment opportunities to
both graduate and undergraduate students.Attendees will learn about recent developments with the OWL UxD
project, including students’roles in the project, study methodology, and data collection. This panel will address
attendees’interests in UxD and user-centered design,research, writing centers and OWLs, and technological
artifacts.
Presenter 1, a writing center administrator, will provide context about the overall project and will focus on a new
element of the current UxD study: public documentation of the project, including preparation, research, instruments,
and data. This public dissemination opens up the entire project from the beginning, allowing other researchers to
observe and participate, and aligns with the public, Land Grant mission of the Purdue OWL.
Presenter 2, an undergraduate professionalwriting major, will demonstrate his growing proficiency with UxD
design by outlining his experiences as project manager for ENGL 515, a role that carries great responsibilities to
communicate client needs and practitioner expertise. Presenter 2 will discuss his interactions with the OWL staff
and students in the course,describing how students generated new ideas to improve the Purdue OWL.
Presenter 3, Content Coordinator for the Purdue OWL, will discuss intersections between the UXD study,content
development, and revisions. This will be tied to creation of a Purdue OWL style guide to help ensure continuity and
sustainability across changing staff of graduate content developers and coordinators. Presenter 3 will also discuss

2. being a newcomer to usability testing and his interest in “shoestring” usability testing for institutions with limited
resources.
Presenter 4, the Purdue OWL Webmaster, will explore changes in technology that factor into the usability of the
OWL. The shift toward web applications that behave like desktop applications has significant impact on how users
expect to interact with the OWL. Presenter 4 will considerthe affordances and limitations of this move on the OWL,
and how that change will affect OWL users.Presenter 4 will also considerhow the increasing use of mobile
technology will need to be considered in ongoing OWL usability efforts.
The director of the Professional Writing Program, who is also the instructorfor ENGL 515, will serve as
moderator/respondent for the panel.