What’s in a name: Catbird Content
A little gray bird who is poised for success
Once I decided to start a dedicated UX content agency, I was looking for a name. Getting to Catbird Content was a journey that started with my 2018 book, Strategic Writing for UX.
O’Reilly authors don’t choose their book cover animal.
Before my contract with O’Reilly was formalized, I was already thinking about the book cover.
The animals on O’Reilly covers are iconic. They’re how the reader recognizes the book. They don’t use the same animal on two different covers. Everyone I knew was asking me: “What’s your animal going to be?”
The thing is, the decision of the book cover design is entirely up to the publisher. It’s not something the author can even formally request — but what authors can do is make an argument, with supporting evidence. (And we can check animals.oreilly.com to see what animals are already taken.)
My argument: Catbirds are like great UX writing.
Just like great UX writing, the catbird is ubiquitous in its ecosystem. Once you start paying attention to it, you see it all around you. There are several messages on every door you walk through. There are frequently more than a hundred words on app screens. It feels lightweight, familiar, and like something would be missing without its familiar-yet-unstudied song.
Just like great UX writing, the catbird isn’t flashy. It’s not seeking attention like a peacock — it avoids the hook of a marketing tagline. It’s not predatory like a raptor, promising to detach you from your money like the fine print of a sales contract. Until you’re looking for it, it blends in. It’s easy to ignore until you need it.
Just like great UX writing, the catbird mimics the sounds of its environment. Catbirds include parts of other birds’ songs in their own if they think it’ll work better for them. Content designers do the same: Even if it’s not a phrase they would normally use, they know that UX content is most effective when it’s using the words that are already in its users’ minds. One of the most effective ways to improve UX content is to conduct research to find out what those words are.
When it came time to find a name for my UX content agency, one of my friends recalled my reasoning and suggested Catbird Content. I was stunned with its immediate appeal to me — but I thought I was biased. So I did some research to validate, and here we are.
Sitting in the Catbird seat
According to the American idiom, someone who is sitting in the catbird seat has an enviable advantage. They might even be a little smug, because they know they have the upper hand, that they’re ideally situated.
That’s what I want for Catbird Content clients: to know that they have the best possible UX content strategy, confident they’ll meet or exceed their business goals. Even a little smug.
What Catbird Content does for our clients might not be flashy, or predatory, or take up bothersome space in their users’ brains. But we can improve customer adoption, engagement, and retention through excellent UX and content strategy. That’s enough to be smug about, right there.
