Why Writers Can Make Great UX Designers
Good UX designers know that it’s not just a transaction, it’s a journey. They understand the power of context, nuance and emotion. That’s probably why the UX designer’s closest cousin in the creative world is none other than the writer. Here are some reasons why we believe writers and storytellers can make great UX designers:
They grasp the lure of personality
“In the beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people angry and is generally regarded as a bad move.” The opening line of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy inspires you to read the rest of the book immediately. That’s the power of the narrator’s personality. Good UX design also relies on a distinct personality — classy or quirky or kind — to engage its audience. For instance, if you wanted to expand your vocabulary, would you prefer an app that began with a cold, clinical test of your current vocabulary, or one that began with a vibrant, inspiring celebration of language?
They know that building trust is key
To keep a reader hooked after the first twenty-odd pages, a writer needs to convince the reader that they know what they’re doing. It’s about building trust. Trust is also why users stay on a site (or exit it) after checking out, say, the home page. Just like writers, UX designers need to earn trust by conveying credibility, knowledge and expertise at the right time. For example, if you hope to sell big-ticket items through an e-commerce website, you would need to gain your users’ trust by sharing information about quality before you talk to them about payment plans.
They get under the skin of their characters
Holly Golightly, the remarkable protagonist of Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, is careful to not name her cat so she doesn’t get attached. Good writers understand their characters enough to make them interact with the world in unique ways. Good UX designers also spend time researching the values and needs of their users in diverse contexts so they can win hearts faster. If you were anxious about leaving your pet behind while you went on holiday, wouldn’t you be thrilled with an app/website that offered daily photo updates instead of enabling the booking of a kennel for your pet? That’s an example of UX that designs for humans, not just “target groups”.
They tell a good story (and sometimes surprise you pleasantly)
A writer won’t just tell you about how a woman climbs a mountain. They’ll tell you why she climbs the mountain. Stories heighten involvement. Some of the best apps and websites borrow from storytelling techniques. A website selling learning expeditions must first tell you the story of why the expedition is important (the world has changed and you must evolve) and only then share complex details about the programme’s contents. And of course, like writers, UX designers deliver the occasional pleasant surprise. Imagine a pop-up on an e-commerce site that asks you to describe the emotional experience you want from a book and then recommends curated books based on your preferences? A book lover will never forget that moment.
They pay attention to nuance
Writers are good at making nuanced observations that “show more and tell less.” Similarly, a good UX designer understands nuance and doesn’t overplay their hand. It’s the difference between a pop-up that states “Press OK to confirm deletion” instead of “Are you sure you want to delete this?”. The former confirms the action the user wants to perform while the latter questions the user’s intelligence.
They create worlds and their rules
Anyone who’s read The Lord of the Rings remembers its vividly imagined world. One can almost guess what Frodo will do to escape a situation though the very idea of a person disappearing when they wear a ring is surreal. The best UX designers understand that they are creating small, self-contained worlds with their own rules and structures. A user may wander off into another section of the app but would be able to navigate it expertly without being told explicitly how to do it.
They keep one eye on the long view
The one big sign of bad writing? Asking yourself “Why am I reading this?” It means the writer hasn’t connected you to the long view. Bad UX also fails to connect users to the long view. Good UX, on the other hand, makes users grasp the long arc of their purchase. Where is this headed? How many steps to get there? How will you feel in the end?
They prize clarity and weed out friction
Good writers create more meaning with fewer words. In UX terms, it translates to reducing, organising, adding meaning and saving time. And just like writers loathe friction, i.e. things that hinder engagement, good UX design also weeds out friction. Anything that gets between the user and their having what they purchased is sanded down until a smooth user flow is achieved. Say, you have to learn a new language like Spanish. That’s already an overwhelming task. The first app asks you to decide on a plan, pay up and then start. The second app helps you answer the same questions while teaching you Spanish and leaves you delighted at having been able to achieve it in the new language. Which app would you be partial to?
From telling an immersive story to capturing the occasional surprising nuance, writers and storytellers have an instinctive ability for crafting memorable experiences.
They simplify and humanise complex areas
A good writer can make the story of discovering radium intriguing. UX designers are similarly good at humanising and simplifying complex ideas. A smartly designed health app can make complex nutritional data fun to grasp. A mail platform can liven up the boring experience of sending out a mass mailer to 5,000 people by adding quirky characters that tell jokes and give you a high-five when your mail gets sent. Oh, wait, there is such an app that has become the leader in the industry!
And they create satisfying conclusions
A good writer offers readers a meaningful ending. A good UX designer knows that they must do the same. Closure is important. Follow-up is even more important. Ever felt puzzled by a site that didn’t confirm whether your order was actually placed or not? That’s UX design that doesn’t give you closure. Users, like readers, need closure.
From telling an immersive story to capturing the occasional surprising nuance, writers and storytellers have an instinctive ability for crafting memorable experiences. And such experiences are also key to building loyalty in a cluttered digital universe today. This may be a good time to open up the seemingly technical world of user experience design to the intuitive gifts of writers, storytellers, poets and performance artists. This rich and uncommon collaboration has the potential to deliver fantastic digital experiences that users remember and cherish.
— Philip John, Content Writer and Sharan Grandigae, Founder and CEO of Redd Experience Design
Read the article as published in The Statesman.
