Faculty Profile

Erin Pavlak

Title
Professor
Department
Technical Communication
College
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

    

Education

PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008.
Major: Rhetoric
Dissertation Title: The User-Centered Design Process: Novice Designers' Use of Evidence in Designing from Data
MA, Carnegie Mellon University, 2002.
Major: Professional Writing
BA, Trinity University, 2001.
Major: English and History

Current Scheduled Teaching*

TECM 5750.001, Measuring Usability and User Experience for Professional and Technical Communication, Summer 2024
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 2024
TECM 3100.001, Visual Technical Communication, Spring 2024 Syllabus

* Texas Education Code 51.974 (HB 2504) requires each institution of higher education to make available to the public, a syllabus for undergraduate lecture courses offered for credit by the institution.

Previous Scheduled Teaching*

TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Summer 8W1 2023 SPOT
TECM 4180.005, Advanced Technical Communication, Spring 2023 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5750.001, Measuring Usability and User Experience for Professional and Technical Communication, Spring 8W2 2023 SPOT
TECM 4900.003, Special Problems, Spring 2023
TECM 5900.700, Special Problems, Spring 2023
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Fall 8W2 2022 SPOT
TECM 5185.801, Principles of Technical Communication, Fall 8W1 2022 SPOT
TECM 5280.301, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 8W2 2022 SPOT
TECM 5750.301, Measuring Usability and User Experience for Professional and Technical Communication, Spring 8W1 2022 SPOT
TECM 5750.601, Measuring Usability and User Experience for Professional and Technical Communication, Spring 8W1 2022 SPOT
TECM 5900.700, Special Problems, Spring 2022
TECM 4180.007, Advanced Technical Communication, Fall 2021 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5185.601, Principles of Technical Communication, Fall 8W1 2021 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5185.801, Principles of Technical Communication, Fall 8W1 2021 SPOT
TECM 5185.805, Principles of Technical Communication, Fall 8W1 2021 SPOT
TECM 5280.801, Designing Technical Documents, Summer 8W1 2021 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 4180.003, Advanced Technical Communication, Spring 2021 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5900.706, Special Problems, Spring 2021
TECM 4300.001, Usability and User Experience in Technical Communication, Spring 2021 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5280.301, Designing Technical Documents, Fall 8W2 2020 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5740.001, Research in Technical Communication, Fall 2020 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5900.702, Special Problems, Fall 2020
TECM 4800.001, Topics in Technical and Professional Communication, Fall 2020 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5280.301, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 8W2 2020 Syllabus
TECM 5900.700, Special Problems, Spring 8W2 2020
TECM 4300.001, Usability and User Experience in Technical Communication, Spring 2020 Syllabus
TECM 5185.001, Principles of Technical Communication, Fall 8W1 2019 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 3100.001, Visual Technical Communication, Fall 2019 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 3100.301, Visual Technical Communication, Fall 2019
TECM 5280.801, Designing Technical Documents, Summer 8W2 2019 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 4180.001, Advanced Technical Communication, Spring 2019 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 4180.003, Advanced Technical Communication, Spring 2019 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 4900.703, Special Problems, Spring 2019
TECM 4300.001, Usability and User Experience in Technical Communication, Spring 2019 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5280.801, Designing Technical Documents, Fall 8W2 2018 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5280.805, Designing Technical Documents, Fall 8W2 2018 SPOT
TECM 4900.011, Special Problems, Fall 2018
TECM 4920.702, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Summer 10W 2018
TECM 4920.732, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Summer 10W 2018
TECM 4920.702, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Spring 2018
TECM 5280.801, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 8W2 2018 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5750.001, Measuring Usability and User Experience for Professional and Technical Communication, Spring 8W1 2018 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 4300.001, Usability and User Experience in Technical Communication, Fall 2017 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 3100.001, Visual Technical Communication, Fall 2017 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 3100.301, Visual Technical Communication, Fall 2017 SPOT
TECM 3100.302, Visual Technical Communication, Fall 2017 SPOT
TECM 4180.002, Advanced Technical Writing, Spring 2017 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 2017 SPOT
TECM 4920.702, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Fall 2016
TECM 4920.702, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Spring 2016
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 2016 SPOT
TECM 5180.001, Professional Writing, Spring 2016 SPOT
TECM 4800.001, Topics in Technical and Professional Communication, Spring 2016 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 3100.001, Commercial Publications for High Tech Industries, Fall 2015 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 3100.301, Commercial Publications for High Tech Industries, Fall 2015 SPOT
TECM 4180.001, Advanced Technical Writing, Summer 5W1 2015 Syllabus SPOT
TECM 4920.702, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Summer 5W1 2015
TECM 4920.732, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Summer 5W2 2015
TECM 4920.702, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Spring 2015
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 2015
TECM 4920.702, Cooperative Education in Technical Communication, Fall 2014
TECM 5185.001, Principles of Technical Communication, Fall 2014
TECM 5900.702, Special Problems, Fall 2014
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 2014
TECM 5180.002, Professional Writing, Spring 2014
TECM 4180.002, Advanced Technical Writing, Fall 2013 Syllabus
TECM 4180.003, Advanced Technical Writing, Fall 2013 Syllabus
TECM 5185.001, Principles of Technical Communication, Fall 2013
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 2013
TECM 5740.001, Research in Technical Communication, Spring 2013
TECM 4180.002, Advanced Technical Writing, Fall 2012 Syllabus
TECM 4180.004, Advanced Technical Writing, Fall 2012 Syllabus
TECM 5280.001, Designing Technical Documents, Spring 2012
TECM 2700.023, Technical Writing, Spring 2012 Syllabus
TECM 5180.001, Professional Writing, Fall 2011
TECM 5740.001, Research in Technical Communication, Spring 2011
TECM 5285.001, Technical Presentations, Spring 2011
TECM 4250.001, Writing Technical Procedures and Manuals, Fall 2010 Syllabus
TECM 4250.002, Writing Technical Procedures and Manuals, Fall 2010 Syllabus
TECM 5191.001, Communication and Information Technologies, Spring 2010
TECM 5285.001, Technical Presentations, Spring 2010
ENGL 4180.003, Advanced Technical Writing, Fall 2009
ENGL 6941.501, Directed Research, Fall 2009
ENGL 2700.006, Technical Writing, Fall 2009
ENGL 4250.002, Writing Technical Procedures and Manuals, Fall 2009 Syllabus
ENTW 5285.001, Technical Presentations, Spring 2009
ENGL 4250.003, Writing Technical Procedures and Manuals, Spring 2009
ENGL 4180.003, Advanced Technical Writing, Fall 2008
ENGL 4250.001, Writing Technical Procedures and Manuals, Fall 2008

* Texas Education Code 51.974 (HB 2504) requires each institution of higher education to make available to the public, a syllabus for undergraduate lecture courses offered for credit by the institution.

Published Publications

Published Intellectual Contributions

Book Chapter
Friess, E. (2017). Personas as rhetorically rich and complex mechanisms for design. Rhetoric and Experience Architecture. Parlor Press. https://www.parlorpress.com/rhetoric_experience_architecture
Book Review
Friess, E. (2008). Thomas Klikauer, Communication and management at work. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Pp. xvi, 327. Hb. $80.00. Language in Society. 37(05), 768. Cambridge University Press (CUP). http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0047404508081153
Conference Proceeding
Friess, E. (2017). "I guess I'll give it a 13": Exploring the language of agile-oriented software design teams. IEEE International Professional Communication Society (ProComm).
Friess, E., Campbell, K. S., Boettger, R. K., Lam, C. Y. (2017). Are we missing the boat? A roundtable discussion on research methods and how they define the field. IEEE International Professional Communication Society (ProComm).
Friess, E., Boettger, R. K. (2016). Extended abstract: The presence of professionalism in technical communication: Views from industry and the academy. 2016 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ipcc.2016.7740485
Boettger, R. K., Friess, E., Carliner, S. (2015). Update to who says what to whom? Assessing the alignment of content and audience between scholarly and professional publications in technical communication (1996-2013). 2015 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ipcc.2015.7235812
Boettger, R. K., Friess, E. (2014). What are the most common title words in technical communication publications?. 2014 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ipcc.2014.7020350
Boettger, R. K., Friess, E., Carliner, S. (2014). Who says what to whom? Assessing the alignment of content and audience between scholarly and professional publications in technical communication (1996-2013). 2014 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ipcc.2014.7020398
Friess, E. (2012). Personas and decision making in the design process. Proceedings of the 2012 ACM annual conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '12. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2208572
Friess, E. (2012). Personas and Decision Making in the Design Process: An Ethnographic Case Study. . ACM CHI ’12. Archival Research Papers on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 1209-1218. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/2207676.2208572?casa_token=0waY-swTQ30AAAAA:EXEN8ARi_qPvgkMUbRceApn9L8X_AWx7qNF7cqr629krVi35dyrmuInvzK_T2Cf6WpqD09KmQqoZkBM
Friess, E. (2008). Defending design decisions with usability evidence. Proceeding of the twenty-sixth annual CHI conference extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '08. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1358628.1358631
Friess, E. (2007). Decision-making strategies in design meetings. CHI '07 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '07. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1240866.1240873
Dissertation
Friess, E. The User-Centered Design Process: Novice Designers' Use of Evidence in Designing from Data (Dissertation)Related Links:http://gradworks.umi.com/33/05/3305813.html.
Journal Article
Friess, E., Liles, C. (2023). Longitudinal Study of Usability and User Experience in Technical and Professional Communication Research. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 66(4), 338-355. IEEE.
Friess, E. (2023). Scrum in Classroom Collaborations: A Quasi-Experimental Study. Journal of Business and Technical Communication. 37(1), 68-94. Sage.
Friess, E., Boettger, R. (2021). Identifying commonalities and divergences between technical communication scholarly and trade publications (1996–2017). Journal of Business and Technical Communication. 35(4), 407-432.
Friess, E., Lam, C. Y., (2021). "Dude, that sucks": Examining Scrum's Influence on Empathy in Student Teams. Technical Communication Quarterly. 30(2), 189-203. Taylor and Francis.
Boettger, R. K., Friess, E. (2020). Content and authorship patterns in technical communication journals (1996–2017)—A quantitative content analysis. Technical Communication. 67(3), 5-25.
Friess, E. (2019). Scrum Language Use in a Software Engineering Firm: An Exploratory Study. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 62(2), 130-147. IEEE.
Friess, E., Lam, C. Y. (2018). Cultivating a sense of belonging: Using Twitter to Establish a Community in an Introductory Technical Communication Classroom. Technical Communication Quarterly. 27(4), 343-361.
Friess, E. (2018). "Filling to capacity": An exploratory study of project management language in Agile scrum teams. Technical Communication. N/A. 65(2), 169-180. Fairfax, VA: Society for Technical Communication.
Boettger, R. K., Friess, E. (2016). Academics are from Mars, practitioners are from Venus: Analyzing content alignment within technical communication forums. Technical Communication. 63(4), 314-327. Society for Technical Communication.
Lam, C. Y., Hannah, M. A., Friess, (2016). Connecting programmatic research with social media: Using data from Twitter to inform programmatic decisions. Programmatic Perspectives. 8(2), 47-71.
Friess, E. (2015). Personas in Heuristic Evaluation: An Exploratory Study. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 58(2), 176-191. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tpc.2015.2429971
Friess, E. (2013). Rhetorical Appeals of Professional Designers in Decision-Making Sessions. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 56(4), 313-331. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tpc.2013.2286224
Friess, E. (2013). “Bring the Newbie Into the Fold”: Politeness Strategies of Newcomers and Existing Group Members Within Workplace Meetings. Technical Communication Quarterly. 22(4), 304-322. Informa UK Limited. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2013.782261
Friess, E. (2012). Do usability evaluators do what we think usability evaluators do?. Other. 13(1), 9-13. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2424837.2424838
Friess, E. (2011). Discourse variation between usability evaluations and usability reports.. Journal of Usability Studies. 6(3), 102-116. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Erin-Friess/publication/228896926_Discourse_Variations_Between_Usability_Tests_and_Usability_Reports/links/556c48e808aeccd7773a4e4c/Discourse-Variations-Between-Usability-Tests-and-Usability-Reports.pdf
Friess, E. (2011). Politeness, Time Constraints, and Collaboration in Decision-Making Meetings: A Case Study. Technical Communication Quarterly. 20(2), 114-138. Informa UK Limited. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2011.551507
Friess, E. (2010). Designing from data: Rhetorical appeals in support of design decisions.. Journal of Business and Technical Communication. 24(4), 403-444.
Friess, E. (2010). The Sword of Data: Does Human-Centered Design Fulfill Its Rhetorical Responsibility?. Other. 26(3), 40-50. MIT Press - Journals. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/desi_a_00028

Awarded Grants

Contracts, Grants and Sponsored Research

Grant - Research
Friess, E. (Principal), "Arguments and Decision-Making in Workplace Meetings," Sponsored by Research Initiation Grant/University of North Texas, University of North Texas, $4250 Funded. (20112011).
Friess, E. (Principal), "Argumentation Strategies and Language Use in Workplace Meetings," Sponsored by Junior Faculty Summer Research Fellowship/ University of North Texas, University of North Texas, $5000 Funded. (20102010).
Friess, E. (Principal), "Argumentation Strategies in the Workplace," Sponsored by Small Grant/ University of North Texas, University of North Texas, $1000 Funded. (20102010).
,
Overall
Summative Rating
Challenge and
Engagement Index
Response Rate

out of 5

out of 7
%
of
students responded
  • Overall Summative Rating (median):
    This rating represents the combined responses of students to the four global summative items and is presented to provide an overall index of the class’s quality. Overall summative statements include the following (response options include a Likert scale ranging from 5 = Excellent, 3 = Good, and 1= Very poor):
    • The course as a whole was
    • The course content was
    • The instructor’s contribution to the course was
    • The instructor’s effectiveness in teaching the subject matter was
  • Challenge and Engagement Index:
    This rating combines student responses to several SPOT items relating to how academically challenging students found the course to be and how engaged they were. Challenge and Engagement Index items include the following (response options include a Likert scale ranging from 7 = Much higher, 4 = Average, and 1 = Much lower):
    • Do you expect your grade in this course to be
    • The intellectual challenge presented was
    • The amount of effort you put into this course was
    • The amount of effort to succeed in this course was
    • Your involvement in course (doing assignments, attending classes, etc.) was
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