Yes, the title is a pun. A pun for UX Writing. But I confess, I often hear this question,
even at UX Design meetups.
“Writing?”, “Are you a Copywriter?”, “Do you write content?”, “Marketing?”. And the
popular: “What exactly does a UX Writer do?”.
Don’t feel bad if you have the same doubts. And welcome to the club. I also asked
myself these questions when I began my studies in UX.
Let me explain…
UX Writing is a subfield of UX Design that creates the words on a website,
application, or service, that help the user to complete a task.
The task can be a login page, a shopping cart checkout, a chatbot conversation, or
even words on a game (any Candy Crush fan out there?).
We must not mistake UX Writing and Copywriting. We work for the same company
but in different departments. While Copywriters study keywords that sell, UX Writers
craft them to guide people.
Here’s an example…
Imagine that you’re late to catch a session at the cinema. The movie has already
started, and the room is pitch dark. You look for the led lights on the floor while
carefully climbing the stairs so you don’t fall.
Perhaps you’ll find your seat easily if you’re a regular. But if the place is unfamiliar,
anxiety could hit, and you only want someone to help you.
The usher suddenly appears and asks for your ticket. “Ufa! Someone came to
rescue me”. So you’re ushered to your seat, sit comfortably, and eat your popcorn.
UX Writers do an usher’s job. They “talk” to you through carefully crafted microcopy
in menus, buttons, error messages, or pop-ups, and show you how to find your seat.
And for that to happen smoothly, UX Writers must follow some guidelines. But that’s
a chat for another session. Hopefully, you won’t be late this time.
Wrote by: Monique Angeli
