A Great Conference for UX Writers (Recap)
Following the inaugural online edition of the UX Writer Conference in June, Joe Welinske and co. hosted a second conference on October 6th and 7th. The virtual event was attended by over 260 participants representing 26 countries. Over two dozen speakers anchored the two-day knowledge-sharing and networking event, which included educational sessions, group discussions, vendor showcases, and even one-on-one virtual video networking.
While tailored to UX copywriters, and designed to help them sharpen their skills and expand their networks, attendees represented a variety of content-related roles. The breadth of the evolving UX content practice, and the different ways in which it can be positioned or realized, was made evident during the opening session (“Who We Are and What We Do”).
Key personalities on the opening call signalled a general shift from technical writing to product or experience content as something of a common theme. The importance of empathy in creating both better user experiences and better working environments was also a focus and has become something of a bellwether in the business of experience design.
(Select) Session Overview
The UX Writer Conference featured a roster of talented speakers, all passionate advocates for content and user experience. A broad range of topics explored ideas, frameworks, and techniques content creators can use to craft strategic, meaningful, and effective content. Presentations typically lasted about 30 minutes plus time for Q&A. Additional group discussion sessions were also available for further exploration. Sessions I attended included:
Ellen Feldman (UX writer for Allstate)
Flying Solo: How to Succeed as an Army of One
Ellen spoke to the realities of working as a solo content practitioner (whether within a company or a (UX) team). She shared her experience in this regard and tips for evangelizing content best practice across an organization, partnering effectively with other teams, and setting goals and priorities to keep yourself moving forward.
Oz Chen (Senior UX Writer and Content Strategist at Credit Karma)
UX Writing for Fintech
Oz provided a primer on best practices for UX writing in the financial technology (FinTech) space. He highlighted that, while customers may have less trust in brands, they are putting more trust in technology, particularly in the sense of the control and convenience it can provide them. This trust depends greatly on a seamless and secure user experience, of which UX writing is an essential part.
Amy Lanfear (Content + Learning Director at Microsoft Cloud + AI)
Modern Learning in the Flow of Work
Amy discussed the evolution of UX writing and methods for creating intuitive micro-learning moments. She outlined how UX writing has evolved at Microsoft, from a focus on user education cum assistance to content publishing cum experience. The key goals of this evolution: to proactively teach people in the flow of their work (i.e. contextually) and to help them discover knowledge with timely and relevant information (increasingly with the help of machine learning and predictive analytics).
Sergio Minor (UX Writer & Content Design at Citibanamex)
How to Support My UX Writing Decisions
Sergio challenged us to act as content guardians within our organizations by, among other things, ensuring our copy is supported by relevant and valuable research. He addressed points on:
>WHAT to research (determine priority, level of effort, potential impact)
>HOW to research
>>Desk research (gather knowledge in hand or easily accessible)
>>Exploratory research (conduct interviews, surveys, observational studies)
>>Testing and feedback (after initial draft, wires or conversational models/flows)
>>Measurement (metrics and KPIs) and iteration (after publication)
Erika Spoden (Design Researcher at Microsoft)
How to Simplify Descriptive Content and Still Spin a Good Yarn
Erika took a literary approach to illustrate the application of classic storytelling structures (e.g. goals, journeys, emotional engagement, outcomes) to UX content design. She challenged us to emulate creative writers in the sense of being unafraid to go with our guts (draw on our experience, write what we know). Key points included:
>Being memorable without being obstructive
>Being concise but using natural language
>Being conversational/thinking in questions
>Considering the experience through the eyes of a character (persona)
Jen Schaefer (Head of Content Design at Netflix)
Customer Call Centers: A UX Writer’s Secret Weapon
Jen shared insights from a recent visit by the Netflix content design team to one of their corporate call centers. She stressed the importance of a robust customer feedback loop as an invaluable resource for UX designers (source of pain points, product knowledge) and promoted the use of pervasive A/B testing to help iterate designs based on research outcomes.
General Impressions
The UX Writer Conference was/is a testament to the amazing growth in writing within the user experience field. We had access to some excellent speakers and a wealth of useful information at a very reasonable (inclusive) cost. Moreover, this event offered up more in the way of practical/actionable information than others I’ve attended in recent memory.
As for criticisms, the one-on-one video networking segments were rather awkward in my experience; very reminiscent of ChatRoulette, if you recall that defunct platform. We were connected randomly with a partner and limited to 3 minutes of conversation. The main value I got out of this was a list of people to connect with on LinkedIn.
Another disappointment was the “book club” sessions — billed as an opportunity to visit with authors and guest hosts featuring books relevant to the UX writing profession. In my experience, however, no authors were present and the guest hosts, in some cases, hadn’t even read the book supposed to be under discussion.
On the flip side, the conference was hosted on the Hopin platform, which uses a single virtual space to facilitate quick navigation in and between sessions. I found Hopin quite preferable to jumping between a series of disjointed Zoom connections, as other recent online events have required. Until we get back to in-person events (and perhaps even then), I think this experience provides a solid alternative.
Again, overall the UX Writers Conference was a well-organized production and a valuable learning experience. I expect the next event, scheduled for February 9–10, 2021, will be even better.
