UX Writer vs Copywriter. What’s the difference?
Insights from someone who has been both
What is the difference between a UX Writer and a Copywriter — they’re both writers, right?
This is a question as old as… well, UX Writing… so not that old. But, unsurprising to the UX Writers of the world, I get asked this question a lot.
So, as someone who's been both, let me break down the 3 main differences for ya.
As a UX Writer:
You write for clarity not to win a literary award
You have to leave your ego at the door for this one. If you come from a marketing background, clever wordplay, puns, and metaphors are your bread and butter. A marketing copywriter is trying to sell a product/service (and come up with the coolest way to do it). However, UX writing aims to guide the user to do what they need to do as easily as possible, not to sound cool. In fact, most of the time, your words should blend so seamlessly into the experience that no one notices them.
This doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with the copy, it’s just choosing the right place to add a little splash of brand personality. This will depend heavily on your company’s writing guidelines and tone of voice, of course.
You’re the word guardian
You should be familiar with writing within your company’s brand guidelines and tone of voice as a copywriter but part of being a UX Writer is not only writing within the guideline but being a language guardian — defining and keeping consistency across all products, websites, and transactional comms. If you’re one of the first UX Writers at your company you may even need to build these foundational documents (glossary, voice and tone, writing guidelines, etc).
You’re building an experience
This is the biggie. UX Writers work closely with Product Designers, Product Managers, and Engineers — strategizing, planning, researching, and building an experience to meet both user and business needs.
The words are important but your job as a UX Writer starts way before any words are written. You are responsible for thinking about the whole user experience. Why does this feature, screen, flow, or button need to exist? What problem is it solving? What happens before they get to this screen? What will happen after? What happens if this screen is empty? How can you make it as easy as possible for them to get where they want or need to go? Are there any errors that they could come across? Is the content accessible and clear? Does the information architecture make sense? Are there any deceptive UX patterns being used? Would they prefer to see a bottom sheet or a tooltip? Should they receive an email after this action? How do they feel at each of these moments and how can we meet them where they are emotionally? You’re the champion of the user and their experience, not just the words on the screen.
So, to put it simply: yes, they are both writers, but no, they are not the same.
