Kristina Bjoran, UX Booth
There’s a new job in town. Well, maybe not “new,” but certainly popping up with increasing frequency. Google’s looking. Amazon’s looking. Dropbox, Paypal…many of the big players in tech are now looking for User Experience Writers.
It may seem like a bit of a fad, and a quiet one at that, but writing-focused user experience designers will be a critical part of the way we design for experiences from here on out.
Better update your LinkedIn job title
As a writer who stumbled into UX one day many years ago, Kristina Bjoran was understandably excited; finally, organizations are realizing that copywriting shouldn’t only land on the marketing team’s desk.
I thought of interface copy, calls-to-action, all the little bits of text I’ve worked on over the years across several teams, and felt satisfied that Our Time Has Come.
But then Bjoran realized something. It’s not just copy. The reality of user experience design today is that our experiences with technology are becoming more and more seamlessly integrated into our lives. We can talk to machines to order groceries (well, she can, in Seattle). We ask a robot on the phone to check our account balances. We can turn on a video game by asking the XBox. And in virtual reality, where we can’t touch anything, our voices can do what our hands might not be able to.
There’s an increasing amount of overlap between graphical user interfaces (GUI) and voice user interfaces (VUI), which necessitates a new skillset: user experience professionals with deep understanding of narrative design and conversational design.
Let’s take a look at what UX writing is (and isn’t), what companies are looking for in these writers, and general best practices for the discipline. Read the full story at UX Booth …
