Content Writing vs UX Writing
Writing is something that we all do. Communicating with someone? We write text messages. Pursuing a study/degree? We write paper after paper along the way. Even a day-to-day activity such as doing groceries often requires writing down the things we should buy. But, how about writing as a career? Is it as simple as writing a groceries list?
I’ve always been keen on writing since a young age. Short stories and messy poems are my go-to creations during my free time. Back then, little did I know that I could pursue a writing career that isn’t around literature (novels, poems, etc). In fact, there are many career options for writers nowadays: content writer, copywriter, UX writer, and perhaps more.
As a fresh graduate, I’ve got the chance to pursue some writing fields through internship programs. I was a content writer for 8 months and am currently in my 4th month as a UX writer at Blibli. As a content writer, I produced informative and engaging contents, such as articles, social media posts, or anything else online. Meanwhile, as a UX writer I produces copy for websites, mobile applications, or any other digital products.
Now, I’d like to share my thoughts about the differences between content writing and UX writing based on my internship experiences. If you’ve been wondering about these two writing fields or just curious in general, this one’s for you!
Space to write
Nobody told me that switching from a blank Word document to a layered Figma file would be a mind-altering experience! My canvas as a content writer was a blank page. I’d have a whole page and other new pages to write on. Usually, the guidelines for content writing are bound to word/page count. This wasn’t hard to manage since I can still pour my ideas into several paragraphs.
On the other hand, the space for UX writing is extremely limited in most cases. In Blibli, we use Figma to create the product design along with all the wordings in it. UI/UX designers (or product designers) would provide the completed design and pass it to UX writers in order to craft/adjust the copy.
As a UX writer, all I have is tiny spaces in between a well-designed user journey. One example is the purple box in the picture above. With such spaces, UX writers need to provide helpful information for users in the most humane way possible. That’s why the famous saying about UX principles is: the copy needs to be clear, concise, and conversational.
End-to-end process
During my time as a content writer, I could handle the entire content-making process by myself, especially for article contents. From deciding and researching topics, writing, editing, all the way to publishing and optimizing the SEO bits. Aside from me, myself, and I, I mostly got help from the writers team or my mentor in proofreading my contents before they went further to publication.
The situation is so much different for UX writing. I don’t decide on what to write; a product manager does, most of the time. A product manager provides contexts or requirements for building/improving certain products. Then, the UX team will proceed to create a design based on the requirements. Hence, I have to change my thinking-to-writing process here. Instead of coming up with writing the material on my own, I receive it from someone else. To put it simply:
- Content writing: Internal idea → Write → Output (article)
- UX writing: External idea → Internalize the idea → Write → Output (product copy)
So the copy is completed, what’s next? It’s common for UX writers to ask for feedback to the UX team before finalizing the copy. Once it’s finalized, the team will pass the whole design to software developers, a.k.a the soldiers who will make the product come to live on our website and mobile applications. During the product development process, the UX team will keep a good eye on how the design will turn out.
Now, do you see that the UX writing process depends on so many people? I have to work with many other roles, such as product managers, product designers, and software developers. In other cases, the task can also involve external parties, such as suppliers or event organizers. I am no longer a lone ranger as I was in content writing!
Connection with the audience
Readers can easily connect with a content writer through one content. Through longer contents, content writers can say a lot about themselves. They can introduce their names, background, and even interests. Besides that, the writer’s personality is sometimes visible because each writer has their own unique style, voice, and tone of writing.
Meanwhile, it may take more than one product for users to connect with a UX writer. From my point of view, one product doesn’t necessarily represent the writer themself. Each product has different functions and targets. Thus, UX writers may use different approaches in representing the products. They also use different tones for different cases in the user journey. It can be error/success transactions, introducing new features, etc.
However, I found an interesting similarity between content writing and UX writing in this area. A little mistake from a writer could affect the connection they have with the audience. For example, a content writer can be biased or provide faulty arguments/information in their writings. A UX writer may provide unclear information or give zero solutions to a user’s problem. Both cases can make the audience stop consuming the contents/products for good because they’ve lost trust towards the writers.
To wrap up..
The differences between content writing and UX writing are pretty significant, even for a beginner like me. From the drastic gap in the writing space, stakeholders involvement in the writing process to connection with the audience. There could be more differences or even similarities that I haven’t come across yet! Will you stay tuned if I write more about it in the future? ;)
If you’re interested in applying for a full-time position or intern, Blibli is currently hiring! Send your resume to recruitment@blibli.com and get the chance to work with our PM and UX team and create our own unique stories.
