Microcopy & UX Writing: Yotpo
These days, I am creating a series of interviews with top UX writers of product teams from all over the world.
Check out the first part of the series with A UX writer from Fiverr
This time I am hosting Avi Cohen, a UX writer from the User Generated Content Marketing Solution — Yotpo.
Let’s go!
Hi Avi, tell us about yourself and add something that no one knows?
I was born in Israel and raised in LA. At age 21, I decided to take a break from life in California (I know) and made the move to Israel for what was supposed to be two or three years. Ten years later, I’m still here :) I live in Tel Aviv and when I’m not writing for UX I’m usually trying to decide what to eat or digging for vinyl records (or both).
Fun fact: My full name is Avinoam, my family calls me Noam, and I’ve lost count of all the nicknames I’ve been given over the years. Most people call me Avi so we can stick with that :) It’s really gotten out of control over the years. I’ll respond to pretty much anything at this point.
How did you get into UX writing?
After several years in different customer support roles and tiers at IBM-Trusteer and Wix.com, it only felt natural to merge my technical background with my writing skills to help people and computers communicate better. Working in tech support, I saw first-hand the effect that poor (or excellent) product copy could have on usability. With that in mind, the shift to UX writing made a lot of sense.
Where do you find inspiration for the projects you are working on?
Since I started writing for UX, my awareness of user experience has increased dramatically.
I find inspiration in many of the apps, sites, and interfaces I come across on a daily basis.
Some of them speak clearly and some of them don’t. I try to take what I can from each experience and use it to improve my writing.
Ultimately though, the best place to find inspiration is your users themselves. If I’m working on a project and I’m missing context, it helps to speak with customer-facing teams who could give me a better sense of who I’m writing for and why. Those discussions help connect the dots and it’s then a lot easier to see the full picture. Reading support tickets and watching product demos also offer a lot of great insight into the goals our users are trying to accomplish and the hurdles they encounter. It’s always really inspiring to hear users refer to features in their own words and terminology.
What does your UX writing process look like?
It starts out pretty dry and high-level and then gets gradually granular as I go. I’ll start by reading over product requirements and user stories to get a sense of who I’m writing for, what I’m writing, and what I’m solving for. I do a bit of research to see how others solve similar issues and then I’ll start to evaluate what I could do better given the resources I have. Then the writing begins.
I try keep it as light and human as possible. A great rule of thumb is to read your content aloud and ask yourself if it sounds natural. Is that how I’d speak if I was trying to explain the concept over the phone or in person? If not, it could probably be communicated better.
I also find it helpful to propose a few different versions of the messaging I’m trying to deliver and then share it with friends around the office. The less technical they are, the better and even better is getting feedback from a non-native English speaker. If you can get your message across to them, it’s a good sign. Lastly, I like to let my drafts chill for a day or two and revisit them when I’ve gone fuzzy on the details. If the content doesn’t immediately jog my memory, I’ll refine it or even start over.
What is your method for finding your brand’s voice ?
A big part of finding your brand’s voice means listening to your audience. How do they perceive you and how would they describe your brand to their friends or colleagues? As a company whose bread and butter is user-generated content, listening to your audience is the ethos of the products we build at Yotpo. If you listen close enough, you can begin to understand who you’re writing for and it becomes a lot easier to find your voice.
Usability sessions, support tickets, and just plain dialogue are a great listening channels and have been a source of inspiration for new feature names and terminology. As a content marketing solution for eCommerce brands, Yotpo’s voice is very much in line with the business personas that use our products — concise, passionate, and human.
As a writer in a product team, what is your super power?
Finding my comfort zone, and taking a big step outside of it. That means taking on new tasks, trying new methods and ideas, reverse engineering things, and not being afraid to make mistakes. If you maintain a “can’t fail” attitude and venture outside of your comfort zone, great things happen.
Do you think that UX writing would allow more writers to enter the tech industry? How?
For sure. New technologies are constantly being introduced to the marketplace and with that comes growing demand for frictionless interfaces that virtually anyone can use. Whether that interface is textual, vocal, visual, or all of the above, it’s going to need a personality. That’s where UX writers come in. Ten years ago we barely had smartphones, now you’ve got bots and IoT devices that talk to you and we’re just at the tip of the augmented-reality iceberg. As these technologies reach more and more markets, the need to communicate with a growing audiences will also increase and with that, the demand for more UX writers who can help bridge that gap.
3 useful tips for people that want to get into the field of UX writing?
- Open your eyes and develop an heightened awareness of your surroundings and your interactions with people and technology alike. When ordering those shoes online, how was your experience? How did you feel and what made you feel that way?
- Study the creative process of artists and designers. I was surprised by the number of similarities I found between songwriting and UX writing in terms of phrasing, tone, and delivery.
- If you’re applying for a UX writing position, make sure you’re really channeling yourself through your CV and not just listing various accomplishments and things you’ve done. Many people fail to realize that when applying for a UX writing position, your CV is your first interview. Personally, I’ll always prefer a candidate with a well-written CV over a candidate who graduated from a fancy school but wrote a boring CV.
If you had the opportunity to grab a beer with one person that inspires you, who would you choose?
Wow that’s a tough one.. There are so many! Stephen Colbert would be fun to grab a drink with. While most of his lines are put together by a team of writers, his delivery is impeccable. I think I could learn a lot from him just by having a conversation with him. In general, late-night TV hosts are masters of matching tone to their guests and maintaining the same voice night after night year after year. It’s pretty remarkable when you think about it.
Just for fun, give us your fave microcopy example?
I use Slack at work everyday and I’m always blown away by their content strategy and delivery. Slackbot is really great.
Their strategy is on point and does a great job of answering questions I didn’t even know I had. We’ve come a long way since Clippy the MS Office Assistant paperclip :)
That’s it for today!
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