User Experience Design as a Framework for Environmental and Political Negotiation in Decision-Making about Wind Energy

Abstract

This case study outlines a user experience design approach, with specific emphasis on persona building, of a web-based mapping and information tool aimed at helping developers site wind energy projects. Relying on philosophies of user experience in the field of technical communication, particularly ones that focus on usefulness, problem solving, and political participation, the authors of this paper present how user experience design was used as a framework for negotiating political differences between stakeholders in wind energy, namely the military and energy developers but also municipal permitting offices and state agencies overseeing energy regulation. In doing so, the authors speculate about the possibility of implementing user experience design as a method for political negotiation, particularly as it pertains to environmental regulation and communication.