UX Writer | Content Strategist | Product Writer | UI Writer | Content Designer | Editorial Manager | Software Copywriter
All of the above job titles are used to describe the person responsible for the words found in and around a web or mobile application. While the task of writing copy for user interfaces isn’t new, the consideration of it as crucial to successful product development is a fairly fresh idea. The wide variance of job titles is evidence that companies are still figuring out what it means to staff this sort of work.
It’s also telling that this was the first year, since its beginning in 2008, that Google I/O featured a talk devoted to UX Writing. The conference is an annual event that engages developers from around the world to introduce new tools and instruct on best practices. In a session titled, “How Words Can Make Your Product Stand Out,” UX pros Maggie Stanphill, Alison Rung, and Juliana Appenrodt discussed why app developers should care about good writing, and intro’d a few writing strategies for achieving it.
Image sourced from UX Booth
As a Senior Content Strategist at Google, it’s exciting to see my colleagues on stage demonstrating how writers contribute to improving the user experience of an app. In addition to working on in-app copy, my team has the special privilege of writing product documentation, support content, and email communications. It can be challenging to wrangle all that messaging – on various platforms and in different stages of the user journey. However, it creates an advantageous, high-level perspective that expands user experience into customer experience. Good UX makes for higher adoption & engagement. And what does good customer experience make?