Who’s going to do your UX writing?
*A previouse version of this post was published on InVision Blog
If you operate a website or app (or several of each) you have surely already faced the most practical of questions: who’s going to write their microcopy?
Who actually seats down to write these short significant texts that can make a tremendous difference? Who are the professionals that do it, and who should be doing it in big organizations or small businesses?
Which professional should you turn to?
Good microcopy (UX) writers have 3 affinities: Content, Technology and Business Goals.
They can be professionals from each of the 3 disciplines.
So, when seeking microcopy writers, look at professionals from the following groups and make sure they are expert practitioners in at least one of these disciplines and possess a high level of proficiency in the other two.
1. Microcopy (UX) writers
There are more and more professionals specializing in writing microcopy, doing mostly that and getting a deep understanding of the relationship between words and UI. Many large companies already recognize the work as a full-time job role, and so they should.
But from my experience with both corporations and small to medium businesses, hiring a microcopy writer isn’t always feasible for many reasons. Maybe someday a microcopy writer will be an essential part of every product team, but for now there are other professionals that can do the job if they only get the right training.
2. Content and copy writers
Writing for websites, social media, marketing and advertising, gives writers abundant experience in using words to engage and motivate. All that’s left is to make sure they are also familiar with the pre-requisite knowledge in UX and user behavior.
This body of knowledge isn’t obvious and isn’t taught at copywriting schools. This includes for example: what is an error message — when does it appear and what information should it contain? Why are users reluctant to subscribe to websites or newsletters, and how can you overcome these obstacles? Why is it sometimes wise to write a short text as a placeholder, and when should you not do it? What are the elements of a good, engagement enhancing, confirmation message? What are tooltips, what kinds of tooltips are there, and what should you write in them? Etc.
Content writers can definitely take on microcopy projects without prior experience or knowledge — that is how I started as well — but both sides should be ready to ask questions, clarify issues and learn together along the way. The UX and technology members of the team working on the project, should also be willing to explain and teach (which from my experience they are usually happy to do).
Some beginner writers are diamonds in the rough. If you come across one, it can be a wise short-term investment to give them a chance, and maybe win an excellent and dedicated writer in the long-term.
3. Marketing people
Many marketing people already know how to write in a way that’s nuanced and user-oriented — so, like the content writers, all they need is a firm working knowledge in UX and they’re ready to go.
4. UX/UI designers
These professionals can easily become UX writers as well, getting the microcopy done while, or soon after, designing the wireframes — but they don’t have to.
There should be no expectation that visually and technologically inclined professionals be proficient in writing, much like there isn’t one for writers doing visual design.
This being said, many UX\UI designers have ventured into UX writing, as the fields are closely aligned, so if your designer has an affinity for words and the desire to accomplish both tasks — count yourself lucky. It’s wise to still make sure they have a working knowledge of writing for interfaces, as well as marketing and branding writing-basics relevant to the user experience.
For example: UX designers are well apt at defining and handling empty states (be it an empty cart or no search results found), but to write microcopy for them requires an understanding of how to take advantage of an empty state to promote business objectives, and how to choose and phrase a relevant and effective CTA. You don’t have to go to copywriting school to learn this, but you still need to know the specific principles of writing for digital products.
And no, this is not a case where two tasks become one. If you want your designer to write the microcopy as well, you still need to consider it as two separate tasks. You need to allot the time and plan the cost for each part, design and writing, separately.
5. Technical writers
Technical writers have the unique advantage of understanding interfaces and how to explain complex concepts with simple words — so if you’re going to have them writing your microcopy you need to make sure they are aware how it differs from technical writing, and know how to re-focus it on users instead of systems.
Technical writing focuses on what systems can and cannot do and how to use them; microcopy is focused on the users and is about what systems can do for them and what value does it give them. This shift demands a change in language and replacing the words of product managers and developers with words said by users.*
* Though I very sincerely hope that one day everything will be written with a user-centric focus, technical writing included.
The best example of this kind of shift in language is in error messages and other alerts. Technical writers usually tend to report the error or scenario from the system’s viewpoint; for example, Invalid value. In a user-centric focus we will use simple unthreatening language to explain what went wrong, why did it happen, and mainly — how are we going to fix it and move on, while all the time using a natural simple tone (which can sometimes even be humorous, go ahead and try to book a hotel room for longer than 30 days on Hipmunk).
Who in the organization should write the microcopy?
In large corporations
The larger the organization the more likely it is to find a clear distinction between its writers and the work assigned to them. That’s why in big corporations, abundant both in resources and digital products, microcopy (UX) writing usually receives its own separate and special consideration.
In such places you usually find the following 3 groups of writers:
1. Copywriters — producing slogans, banner texts and hard-sale pages (as members on an advertisement team or sometimes working in the marketing department).
2. Content writers — producing texts for the newsletter, website, landing pages and social media.
3. Microcopy (UX) writers — producing the text that appears in the UI.
If all your writers cover all three types of work — all is well, but they must possess knowledge and experience on each, as they are fundamentally different (and at any case, they all should write according to your voice and tone design, to reflect the brand in a unified coherent manner across all mediums).
For a one-time project in a big company, like a new stand-alone digital product, you can outsource the task of writing its microcopy to a freelance writer. Together you’ll go through the process of designing the voice and tone and writing the microcopy.
If you have many digital products constantly evolving while new ones are being added, hiring a freelance, paid by the hour or on retainer, is a possibility. A better choice would be to hire in-house microcopy writers that can be there as early as possible in the products life-cycle, contribute their input during the design phase, and gain comprehensive insight into the product’s unique attributes, challenges and target audience.
If you go for writing the microcopy with your own in-house resources, the writers’ identity will be determined by your organizational structure, and the position of the digital products in it. In some companies the marketing department is responsible for writing all the texts for digital products; others have a dedicated content department that can undertake the job; and others yet (which mostly deal with complex digital systems) have their technical writers also writing the microcopy.
In small to medium businesses
The smaller the organization the more the writing jobs tend to merge. A small business launching an online shop would rightly prefer that the writer of the sites’ content (the about page for example), also write the microcopy for the purchase process. Splitting the writing tasks will mean the extra-hassle of working with multiple service providers, and tracking their work to assure they all write with a unified-coherent voice and tone.
Make sure your content writer has the requisite knowledge or training in microcopy, otherwise its best to give the work on business-sensitive processes, like purchasing or lead forms, to someone knowledgeable in user behavior, helping users throughout processes and increasing conversion rates.
Either way, you have to make sure your microcopy gets written by someone well versed in marketing writing and user experience, so you can fully realize the potential of the words in your digital products.
