5 Junior UX writer mistakes and how to avoid them
You can get a lot of information about UX writing from YouTube videos and online articles, but no amount of reading and watching them is going to make you a professional. You need to practice, take risks, and… make mistakes. Many mistakes, every single day.
Let’s see how many of them you might have already made.
Mistake #1: Not asking “stupid” questions
This problem is more common when you are just starting to work in a new company or are new to the sphere. It might seem like everyone already knows all of the details but you.
How to avoid this mistake
It’s counterintuitive, but a rookie mindset is actually your superpower, not a weakness. And here are three reasons why:
- By asking these seemingly simple questions, you can identify problems that your colleagues might have just gotten used to or chosen to ignore.
- If you’re expected to write about a feature, you need to find out everything you can about it.
- Everyone loves it when someone is interested in their work. By expressing interest, you can impress your teammates and start and lay the foundation for a friendly working relationship thanks to your courage and curiosity.
Mistake #2: Not looking at the big picture
Sometimes developers will come up to you and say that they want to add some tiny element to a screen and ask you to just look it over real quick before it gets sent off to production. Sounds easy, what can go wrong? But don’t forget that even a few words could completely change the user flow.
How to avoid this mistake
Before adding any modifications, you need to examine not only the text in question but the entire user flow. Even if these changes don’t mess up the screen, it’s important to remember that some elements in various other places may need to be updated to maintain consistency with the newly added one and that not all words are suitable when it comes to titles, buttons, or names.
Mistake #3: Not maintaining consistency
This mistake is closely related to the second one. When you put a new scenario or element of an interface into your product without any research or without considering similar cases, it leads to inconsistency, a stylistic and logical mess that ends up with a product that acts unpredictably.
How to avoid this mistake
Remember that when it comes to UX writing, consistency is key. If pieces of text, screens, or user flow resemble each other closely, try to keep the style and wording similar. Creating guidelines or editorial policies can help you by providing an easy-to-find place that you can store knowledge and share it with others to make sure you’re all on the same page. This is especially important if there is more than one UX writer in your company.
Mistake #4: Falling in love with words or solutions
Sometimes a riveting word or clever phrase can entrance you so much that you forget the whole purpose of a screen. You could find yourself writing something just for fun. Empty states or 404 errors can be a great place to have some fun with some creative blurbs, but overall, you need to be careful that your text’s creativity doesn’t ruin the message you’re trying to convey.
How to avoid this mistake
To deal with this issue, you need to think beyond the interface and focus on the users’ goals. What are your users doing? Why? What did they do before and what will they do next? Is it easy for them? Are they afraid or relaxed? Take a moment to put yourself in your users’ shoes and look at it from their perspective.
Once you’ve written your masterpiece, go ahead and sleep on it. The next day, examine your text with a fresh mind and check to make sure that everything you have written is crucial to your business or users. And remember, two heads are better than one — get your friends and colleagues to take a look. They’ll be able to let you know if they understand the main idea and how they like the feel of the text.
Mistake #5: Shying away from feedback
In my experience, those who work alongside a skilled editor develop faster than others. So, if you’re not a fan of feedback, I have some bad news for you.
How to avoid this mistake
I would recommend organizing a peer review workflow in your UX team. One way to do this would be to set up a system where team members look over each other’s texts before they get sent off for production. You’ll see how helpful it is. Sometimes colleagues will suggest a word or phrase that’s even better than what you came up with, or some insight that could change the feature completely. There is no such thing as an ideal piece of text, so don’t be afraid to see what others might have to contribute.
Some companies only have one UX writer, leaving it up to designers, QA engineers, or users to give you any feedback. If you’re looking for more relevant feedback, go ahead and reach out to the UX writer community or find a mentor.
You shouldn’t think that you need some feedback only at the very beginning of your career and that after some time, you’ll figure out how to manage writing, editing and all other processes on your own. That’s not how it works. To continue advancing in the field, you need to explore new tools, try out new approaches, and constantly get feedback from others. This involves digging deeper into UX design, accessibility, typography, text layout, and project and people management. And as you do so, if you do it right, your expertise will grow as well as the responsibilities you have within your team.
I would like to thank my colleagues for all the feedback they left while I was preparing this article ❤ Working with experts is a fantastic experience and one I highly recommend!
Now that you know the most common junior UX writer mistakes, you can start keeping your eye out for them when you’re writing your own texts. By doing so, you’ll develop three essential traits that every UX writer needs — critical thinking, proactivity, and fearlessness.
What do you think about making mistakes? Be sure to let me know in the comments.
