“It’s crucial to think how design, copy and code come together in products”
An interview with a mobile games UX Writer
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Mario Ferrer is a Senior UX Writer at King, the interactive entertainment company famous for the Candy Crush Saga y Bubble Witch Saga series, where he’s worked for almost 5 years in UX Writing roles. Previously, he’s taken on roles related to copywriting and content marketing. This interview is the third in a series curated by the Etermax Content team, aimed at gathering insights from UX copywriters all around the world. Here we go.
📅What’s a typical day at work for you?
Every day starts with a cup (or cups) of coffee. I work in a product team so I’m in touch with designers, product managers and developers all the time. We start with a stand up meeting to get updated on what we’re working on and how we can help each other.
As we work in projects, every day is a bit different, but I’m always in charge of writing and better understanding what the product needs. Some other days, we also have the chance to make user tests and learn more about our designs.
👨💻How did your career evolve into UX Writing?
I started working as a copywriter for advertising agencies and, after I moved to Barcelona, I worked for many marketing departments in different companies. When I arrived at King, I started working for the UX department and was really surprised by the approach. I decided to leave slogans and TV scripts behind, and now I focus on onboardings and buttons. It may have less glamour to it, but now I help craft products that are used every day by millions of people all around the world. And, in fact, it makes me happier.
🕵🏿What are a UX Writer’s tasks and responsibilities?
We have to make sure words are taken into account from the very beginning, this means reminding design and development teams that words are a big part of the experience that’s being designed, as big as the code and the interface design. We also have responsibility over text (or microcopy) being clear, concise and useful. And, of course, writing and writing… And writing some more.
➡️What steps do you follow before actually writing the content needed?
It depends on the project. Sometimes we have the chance to research to find the words that are used to describe something in particular. In this way, I make sure the text I write is as relevant as possible. I often use the data we have at hand about the people who use our games in order to make hypotheses. I try to have a good communication with the team in order to understand the problem we want to solve and the limitations we have.
🤹What skills are critical for a UX writer?
Empathy, lots of curiosity, great language skills (being able to translate complex concepts in a few words and with limited space is not easy) and also being able to demonstrate the importance of integrating words as an essential part of the design pipeline. Also… Did I mention empathy?
📲Do you plan content strategy for apps and web copy separately?
In my opinion, the strategy should be the same for apps and websites. A strategy serves as scaffolding for the content, but it will render different results for each platform and for each channel.
👯What teams should work together with UX writers to build a great product?
UX writers should not be foreign to the team, instead they should be part of the product team. It is the only way to share goals, roadmaps and work processes.
🔄In your experience, how has it been to work together with UX designers?
I’m lucky enough to have crossed paths with two great designers, Chris Grant and Sergio Vila, with whom we were able to cast away Lorem Ipsum from the team and worked with proto-content from the onset. We work in tandem and, before we wireframe, we create text files (yup, text files) with a make-shift script of what we want to communicate. We try to always have a clear idea and then we work on design and content together. This saves us the eternal dilemma of “The design is done. Can you please fill it with pretty words?”.
I understand this is not the norm, but if this industry wants to improve the quality of the products and services we offer to the users, we have to start thinking about how design, copy and code come together, and how to do it from the very beginning.
👩🏾🎓What’s the best way to learn UX writing?
Read, read and read some more Medium posts. You should also check every book about interaction and how to write for interfaces. Ask everyone who works with UX design and, of course, UX writers. Go to meetups, ask on Twitter and join Slack or Facebook groups that focus on the subject.
🔨What learning resource (book, website, video) would you have loved to have when you first started working as a UX Writer?
There aren’t many courses on the subject, but in 2019 there will be two that seem really interesting:
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~ Etermax Content is a publication from the Content team at Etermax, the leading mobile gaming company in Latin America. Follow us on Medium to get our latest posts.
