UX in Flux: Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Docs
Revisiting the past, present, and future of content creation and user experience
Remember this scene at the end of Back to the Future where Doc Brown returns in the DeLorean to pick up Marty and Jennifer and take them to help their future children?
Marty suggests that Doc needs to back up a bit because they don’t have enough road to get up to 88 MPH. Doc replies:
“Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.”
It’s hard to imagine a world without roads. Think how many things would need to change to make that possible!
Likewise, can we imagine a world without technical docs and manuals that explain the basics of something we just bought? Or a new task we need to learn for our job? Consider how the manuals for devices and software have shrunk over time. When was the last time you read one? Likely the last time you were in a DeLorean.
Let yourself imagine:
“Docs? Where we’re going we don’t need docs.”
Phones, computers, websites, and apps are becoming more sophisticated and at the same time, easier to use. Sure, many of the people who use those technologies have become more adept and digitally savvy. Yet there are many more options for people to choose from and overwhelmingly everyone is voting with their wallets for simplicity.
At Microsoft, CEO Satya Nadella talks about a product ethos that stresses the importance of creating products that are user-friendly, empathetic, and collaborative. This means well-crafted UX with carefully chosen words and messages to guide you through the system. No docs needed — just intuitive UX.
This is wonderful! As a writer myself and the leader of a large content team, I’ve been thinking a lot about this and talking with others about what this means for content in the tech industry. After some time in journalism, I started my writing career in tech nearly 20 years ago. Gah! At least that’s shorter than Marty’s trip from 1985 to 1955! While leading teams at Microsoft, I’ve seen a lot change from the era of tech manuals, to online content and product websites, to in-product messaging, and now here we are in the era of virtual reality. I’ve loved my journey in the tech industry — my density has brought me here.
I believe this move to intuitive UX and less “docs” is the next step in an evolution toward pervasive, personalized, and intelligent technology all around us. We’ll still need the right words and content in those experiences, and the content we know today will take on many different forms and modalities.
Content creation will become part of product creation.
When I think of this evolution, lessons from the gaming industry pop to mind. Remember these player guides?
They were hugely popular because they helped me play the game, have fun, and get to the next level. This was a great approach because I was immersed in the experience while learning about the game. And they helped me quickly get to the next level. Nothing like immediate gratification and rewards!
Yet those guides quickly went away and turned into hints and whispers in the game itself. Nintendo started this some time ago, and we see examples today in popular games like Minecraft and Player Unknown Battle Ground.
Likewise, deep tech docs have prevailed for years, primarily to overcome complex technology and UI scenarios. Some companies are taking a new, creative approach. Salesforce created Trailhead to gamify learning their systems. They’re creating community while customers are leveling-up their product knowledge. Impressive!
Technology continues to develop at a breathtaking pace and we see new seemingly magical capabilities appearing every year. Try and imagine something in the future that seems unlikely. What if I could use my voice to deploy software across an enterprise? What if I don’t have to be a “developer” to create an app? Maybe I could sketch out a design, identify capabilities, and tools will create the app for me. Great Scott! My brain froze a bit when I first heard about 3D Printing. Yet look at it now.
At Microsoft, we’re transforming how we think about the UX we create in our products. Satya Nadella is talking about a product ethos that focuses on a craftsmanship sensibility to create deeply emotional connections and experiences that people love. Likewise, we’re thinking differently about the content we create.
Excellent UI text and UX writing have become core to creating designs and products that customers love because they’re easy to use. This evolutionary step in tech and design moves writing from the page and into the product. We’re not only writing content — we’re writing customer experiences. Flux capacitor is fluxing!
I’ll share some thoughts around how we’re approaching the future of content and UX writing:
1. What: Verbal Design
- Words should be well-crafted and deliberate to connect flows and create easy-to-use experiences that customers love.
- Voice, tone, and personality principles are the backbone for the UX we create and the content that leads customers on journeys throughout our products.
- Words and visuals should be harmonious experiences that customers appreciate and easily understand.
2. How: UX Writing and Storytelling
- Creative writers will integrate with designers, engineers, marketers, and product planners on product development.
- We’ll increase this capability into areas that have traditionally been “technical” in nature — enterprise and developer tools, IT management solutions, etc.
- We’ll expand our versatility and grow our talent to craft stories, video scripts, and narratives that describe the UX we’re creating to deliver the scenarios our customers want and need.
- We’ll expand our skills to focus more on connecting broad UX scenarios across features, services, and hardware.
3. Who: Creative experts who write with empathy and bring imagination to our products
- Versatile writers with creative experience will connect technology with human intent and understanding.
- Narrative writers will tell the stories, create the scenarios, and write the dialogs and scenes of a customer’s journey through our products.
- Program Managers will look across broad scenarios and connect end-to-end experiences.
4. Culture: Shared values and goals across products
- We’ll grow more UX expertise, and create less tech docs.
- We’ll bring a customer-focus across products, and dwell less on deep domain expertise.
- We’ll do more creative storytelling, and focus less on specific features.
Perhaps these ideas will be useful to you in your own career journey, now or back in the future! You can check out our voice and tone principles. I’d love to hear your thoughts and insights in the comments.
In my next post, I’ll share the second pillar of our content transformation at Microsoft — Collaborative Creation.
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