{"id":14814,"date":"2022-11-30T08:51:50","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T16:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=14814"},"modified":"2025-01-27T04:34:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T12:34:33","slug":"what-is-ux-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/design\/what-is-ux-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"UX Writing 101: What Does a UX Writer Do in 2025?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In recent years, user experience (UX) writers have emerged as a critical part of the UX design process. UX writing is a field that emerged out of the necessity for digital products to communicate with users effectively. We are all surrounded by user interfaces constantly these days, and it is the job of UX writers to ensure that we can get things done on them easily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, UX writing has become one of the more lucrative portfolios in the world of tech. Glassdoor currently lists UX writing jobs that start at $63,000 and go all the way up to $210,000 a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019re going to tell you all about UX writing, including what it is, how it fits into the product design process, and why it\u2019s one of those writing jobs that\u2019s become so important in the world of tech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is UX Writing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Source: UX Knowledge Base Sketch<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

User experience writing is the development of written content that helps users understand how to navigate websites, apps, and other digital products. Essentially, UX writers are content strategists who write for digital products and their users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does a UX Writer Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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UX writers are multidisciplinary professionals with an understanding of content strategy, interaction design, and content design, among other things. They combine their knowledge of these areas to write copy that helps users have intuitive experiences while using digital products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UX Writing Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Source: Zeta Design<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this section, we take a look at how UX writers go about doing their job within a tech company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand the User and the Context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UX writing is a job that demands empathy toward users. It is essential that UX writers put themselves in the shoes of potential customers so that they can come up with a larger content strategy that serves their needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UX writers use various means to get to know their users better. Some might employ user personas<\/a> to understand their target audience. There are various other quantitative and qualitative UX research methods<\/a> that can come in handy in this undertaking.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The context that you are writing in is also an important consideration. There are significant differences that emerge when you\u2019re writing the copy for a form field, as opposed to writing it for calls to action. UX writers need to factor in the context so that they produce copy that is appropriate to that use case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Define the Problem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every piece of copy produced by a UX writer solves a problem. And before you can begin to solve a problem, you need to define it. That might involve talking to the product design team, product team, and other stakeholders to find out the requirements for a particular project. Once that\u2019s done, it helps to have a written statement delineating exactly what problem you\u2019ve been tasked with solving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you have a problem statement ready, it\u2019s time to start doing your research. That can mean looking at numerous examples to figure out how a particular problem can be solved by employing UX writing techniques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking up competitors can also play a key role in your research process. You don\u2019t necessarily have to copy what they\u2019re doing, but it helps to know how others in your industry address the issues that you\u2019re facing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The benefit of doing some UX research<\/a> is that you don\u2019t need to come up with your own groundbreaking ideas every time. Rather, you can see how other UX writers solve similar problems and then come up with an action plan that fits your user context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the ideation process needs to be highly specific to the product and user demographic that you\u2019re targeting. You will have to spend some time brainstorming ideas and then culling that list down based on what you think will work best for the market that you will be serving with your UX writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The final version of your work will emerge only through an iterative process. You will find that you will have to constantly come up with new copy and refine it based on your own knowledge as a UX writer and the qualitative and quantitative feedback you receive from focus groups and such. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prototype and Review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prototyping can help you see your writing through the lens of a digital product. It\u2019s one thing to see your words in a document and a whole another to see them in the prototype of a website or app. There are a few different prototyping tools<\/a> that you can use to get that done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, it\u2019s time to review your work. That means going all the way back to the problem statement and seeing whether the UX writing that you\u2019ve done helps solve it. The review process in your company might include interactions or presentations with the design department and other stakeholders where you defend the decisions that you\u2019ve taken as a UX writer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Role of a UX Writer in the Design Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Role<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As we\u2019ve already seen, UX writing is multidisciplinary and requires an understanding of a few different fields. Among them, design is one of the most important areas that UX writers need to understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider a case where the UX team is tasked with creating a search box in an app. The design team would deal with the positioning of the box and its appearance. The UX writer would determine what text users would see that would convey that they\u2019re looking at a search box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two elements need to work together seamlessly. Users would infer both visual and textual cues to figure out how a search box works. And that\u2019s why UX writers need to understand the design process and be able to work with designers\u2014whether that\u2019s graphic designers, product designers, or other kinds of designers\u2014as part of their work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few design practices that you should be familiar with as a UX writer: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design Thinking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Design thinking<\/a> covers the broad design principles involved in developing human-centric designs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product Design<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A product designer<\/a> works across the product development lifecycle to ensure that the product is designed to cater to a user\u2019s needs. It helps UX writers to understand the basics of product design so they can communicate with product designers and understand requirements quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interaction Design<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Users don\u2019t interact with a microwave in the same way that they do with a phone. UX writers need to know how interaction design<\/a> factors into their work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prerequisites to Becoming a UX Writer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Prerequisites<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now that we have a better understanding of what the job involves, here are a few prerequisites that come ahead of a career in UX writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UX writing is a new field, and not one that\u2019s well-represented in academia at the moment. For that reason, those who enter the field tend to have degrees in areas like marketing, communications, or English. You could also enter UX writing as somebody who has experience in UX design<\/a>. Companies are open to hiring candidates who\u2019ve completed UX design bootcamps<\/a> and want to apply their learnings to a job in UX writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essential Skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more important than your educational background is the skills that you possess. Below are the most important technical and soft skills you need to have for the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical Skills<\/h4>\n\n\n\n