Creating a work process between UX Writers and UX Designers
Fellows UX Writers,
Have you ever felt like you were being included too late in the design process?
Or were you presented with a shiny navigable prototype without having had a chance to understand the discovery process or participate in solution ideas and discussions?
Have you ever been called just to proofread the text? 👀
If you feel like you still don’t have space in the Design team or that people still don’t know what you do as a UX Writer… Do not be sad! I’ve been through this, and I’m sure most UX Writers out there too!
Wipe these tears and read this because I will tell you about my way of adjusting my work until I reach what I consider to be a process that works with our designers here at RD Station.
Challenges
Big team with different types of people
In our Design Chapter, as in any group of human beings, there are people with the most different personalities (thankfully, right?). Here we have people who like to work more collaboratively, others who prefer to work individually with timely meetings. Some have a greater textual “maturity,” and others are still working on it, and this implies a more dedicated look or not over the content…
In other words, it is practically impossible for you to have a single way of working with your design team. You can’t expect people to adapt to your way of working, and you will have to be flexible and get to know as much as possible all the people on your team and pick out these nuances in each one. Sometimes, this will determine the level of depth your work should have with each of them.
Different types of requests
Cool! We know we have a diverse work team. But what about our demands? Here at RD Station, we have several Squads, and they bring different types of requests with varying degrees of urgency, so the way of acting also needs to be personalized.
There are more dense works, such as redesigning or creating new features, and more punctual demands, such as improvement of some component, instructions, or error message. Depending on the type of demand, you will also need to make your acting more flexible.
Project entry time
I was the first UX Writer here on RD Station, and it took a while for people to get to know me and understand what I do. I was often included in a project or demand too late, making it difficult for further development, questions, and exchanges with the team.
Sometimes, the work of UX Writing was perceived as a review of the texts or just a validation of what was proposed, and if there was something really wrong with them, I was expected to point out.
Here comes the one thing that I used to repeat a lot on the team: don’t forget about me! And that was very necessary in the beginning.
People didn’t have the experience of working with someone in my field, so they ended up forgetting to include me in the demands 😭 but over time, and a lot of insistence, it became more natural.
Tools
I wouldn’t say it’s the most important thing, but creating some UX Writing guides for the team can make your role more solid.
I developed a writing style guide, glossary, content testing guide, framework for creating texts for the product, which made the perception of my work greater.
People came to talk about these materials. I was able to speak about them and share knowledge with the company. All of this helped strengthen relationships and make people understand my scope of work.
Open your horizons
At RD Station, I had numerous opportunities for professional growth. I learned a lot about UX Research, Compliance, Data, and more, and I always took the UX Writing vision to these areas of knowledge.
These opportunities were precious for me, and, again, they helped to consolidate UX Writing as an area that doesn’t need to be closed in the product text. Our perspective on flows and overall content is very valuable for the most diverse areas.
Lessons
With time, the team and I got in tune, and after the adaptation phase, we learned a lot from each other.
- Working in a team with different people, I needed to create different work models. With some people, I do 60-minute meetings, and in that time, we solve a demand. I have weekly syncs with others, where we discuss in more depth, do planning together, and even do UX surveys.
- I always tried to clarify that the type of demand or the amount of text involved was not a determinant of the time needed to develop the work. So it was essential to have this lined up because people think that because it is, for example, a button label, the work will be “quick.”
- The sooner the UX Writing person is included in the development process, the better. Understanding problems is faster, doubts are resolved more shortly, the conversational flow becomes more cohesive, and the whole user experience is more likely to be better.
- Working together has the potential to raise the UX Writing bar for everyone. Designers start to understand better the nuances of Writing, and with time, they bring a much deeper look over the words we use. And from the Writing perspective as well: being able to participate in the initial conversations makes it possible to understand better our clients, the business objectives, metrics, and specifics of Design decisions.
So don’t be discouraged, the path of UX Writing is beautiful, and it’s just getting started.
