I created this word cloud using 50 job descriptions for “UX writer” and “UI writer”. And to be honest, I am pleasantly surprised how accurate this word cloud is for describing what I do on my job.

Hi, I’m Andrea. I write all the words on the screen and a lot of words you can’t see.

I’m called by many different titles:

• User interface writer
• User experience writer
• Copy writer (but not to my face)
• Editor
• Technical writer
• Content strategist
• Content developer

For the most part, I choose to call myself a UX writer but my company calls me a Content developer. UX writer is a new technical writing specialty and companies are starting to realize the value of having the best words presented to their users to keep them in the UI. Every time a user has to leave your UI to figure out what to do, you’ve failed.

In fact, one of my goals as a UX writer is to keep the users in the experience. If I could put myself out of the business of writing web articles, I’d be the happiest person alive – and I’d probably have the most satisfied customers. Some other goals I consider paramount in my job:

• Design in-app help & support features – I’ve actually designed in-app features for our product group where we are hooking up web-based content and training that my team writes. This includes learn more links, help bubbles, terminology tool tips, dashboard content cards, first-run experiences, and app tours.
• Increase deflection – Another important part of my job is to stop customers from calling support. We call that “support deflection” and it helps me measure the impact of my work. Good UI flows, good strings, and just-in-time information keep our users happy.
• Exceed accessibility requirements – As I stated earlier I write a lot of words that you can’t see. I write screen reader/ARIA text and at my company I am considered an expert.
• Ensure cohesion – There are hundreds of developers writing code for the products that I support. I’m one of the people who makes sure that the products sound like one person is telling the same story. We do this through writing strict guidelines, conducting peer reviews, and a company-spanning terminology council.
• Plan content strategy – In my LinkedIn title, I also call myself a “Content strategist”. That’s also a fairly new technical writing specialty, but what does it mean when you’re also a UX writer? As the UX writer for a product, I’m involved much earlier in the process than I was when I was a content writer. In fact, I’m usually at the table while the new features are being designed. I decide which “just-in-time” help features are needed to support the scenario, create the context-sensitive help links, create content plans, and create & triage bugs for content developers on my team.
• Reduce web-based content footprint – And when all else fails, I write web-based help articles. This is another area where I can measure impact.

Well, this is me and this is what I do. My goal for this Blog is to have a conversation with anyone interested in the UX writer discipline. If you’d like to leave a comment jumping into the discussion:

What are the goals that you work towards?

How do you measure impact?

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