How UX Writer Contributes to Make Product Development Process More Efficient
The digitization on everything nowadays makes a great demand for building products (i.e software, mobile applications, websites, and services). This situation leads to how people are compelling reasons to consider agile development as the best method to fulfil requests. Two of the crucial roles are Product Owner and Scrum Master, besides there are still many other roles like a development team and stakeholders. But I’m not talking about those, I’m only focussing on how a typical writer person, can contribute effectively to the agile team.
Let me introduce you to what actually UX writer is, and what they do. People may think that it is a writer, has a role to communicate something in writing. But as the initial name of UX (User Experience), Edwin Mohammad, Go-Jek Lead UX Writer told me that it is someone who writes for user experience. UX writers write the words user need to be read or hear when they use a digital product.
Their texts must be clear, concise, and useful. Their goal is to help and guide the user so that they understand and comfortable to use the products.
For many people, sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between copywriter, social media writer, blogger and UX writer itself. They are delivering information to the readers, it’s a little bit related to advertising material, and contains a persuasive statement to engage people. UX writer tends to work with the product manager, development team, and product designer / creative teams. They also deal with a user by assuming whether they are satisfied with the product or not, by gathering feedback from Google Analytics and Firebase, and focus on refinement in case of delivering the message.
The art of value delivering
Things can get a bit perplexing if you do not know how to deliver a product message to your user. UX writer is used to abridging streamline of a value that is brainstormed by the stakeholders (as a business team), that is interpreted by the product owner, then to be communicated with development and creative team about how to deliver it, and ends in user. At this side, UX writer may seat with two or more departments, including the business, to package product to be more attractive.
Of course, this process becomes more challenging for me day by day. As a UX writer, I tend to work with Photoshop and Illustrator also just for tasting the looks of my words, is it convenient with the font or I have to change a little bit? Should I decrease or increase the font, as well as make it stretched or loose.
So I think, it is clearly different from Copywriter or content writer. UX writer needs to think twice, of how they deliver the words in aesthetical aspect and efficient use.
In another case, I think UX writer should understand the flow of web-designing, at least know how to code with HTML and CSS, accustomed using element inspector, and again to taste the look. Let the web designer, work with the web composition, and take the rest of the words to be well-placed.
Getting Acquaintance With the Business Model
Carston Johannsen, Senior UX Writer and Content Strategist Google, Once Said that a UX Writer is a valuable talent that a company had — as they are the best person to deliver the value of the company’s business model to its users in an effective way. They know how to communicate to, and gather the insights from their users, through various methods that are implemented on the product, like for example doing A/B testing, tracking user acquisition rate, user journey, getting familiar with Google Analytics, Firebase, and even campaign leads.
At this point, UX writer can be described as a dynamic role in the organization structure. In the business department, for instance, I think UX writer also has a crucial part to map the customer journey through a screen board, or page board. Site map surgical may be common with their lives, including the tone of their words that are specified by their user specification (as you know, it’s not same when we talk to millennials compared to a professional). They also can standardize the glossary that is used, in the most proper tone.
UX Writer is also very useful to be asked for the best insights on how the product is delivered. Sometimes for the more expert level, they also can bring reason in a concise way, yap! with data. So they won’t talk digressively, but rather with a deep finding of their methodologies that are implemented. At some points, it may be handled by UX researcher, however, it can be a promising blend.
And I think in the end, they have a good potential to be a promising Business Intelligence, for sure.
Just enjoy the path, and let the adventure begin!
