Whether you call it UX writing or content design, the field is relatively new, so it makes sense that the associate job titles aren’t completely solidified one way or another and continue to evolve. These recruiters relied on a more historical definition of content design that referred to CSS, HTML, and product layout.

Willingness to lead and interact on the product design teamĭigging a little deeper, he found some content design job postings focused more on visual, graphic, and multimedia design rather than product writing.

In fact, job post titles often include both terms, written as UX writers/content designers or vice versa.įor the most part, recruiters were looking for similar skills for both roles, including: Overall, he found the lines to be quite blurred. Sometimes UX designers do the (or some) writing, and as the tech industry evolves, UX writers participate more in the early design stages.Ĭontent designers fall more in line with UX writers, but their title accurately reflects the fact that, as mentioned before, the words are part of the design-the ability to not only write them clearly and concisely but also lay them out in a way that’s scannable and easy to understand is central to a content designer’s role.Īaron Raizen from UX Writing Hub recently analyzed job postings to see how companies distinguished between UX Writers and Content Designers. In reality, the roles vary between organizations and teams, depending on the company's philosophy and available resources.

Working with text in word processing software, like Google Docs.

Primarily focuses on providing the text to help users navigate the product successfully.

Primarily focuses on product layout and user interface.

You might think of UX design and UX writing as separate entities in neat little boxes: More companies are incorporating the role of content designers into product teams, and it's causing some confusion! ‍ What's the difference between content design, UX design, and UX writing? Content designers focus on user needs, help anticipate problems, and find solutions that result in an excellent user experience-and they do all of that through words that are well thought out and properly laid out. Users are looking for products that are convenient and reliable and that give them value without “costing” too much-that is, they expect products to work well without demanding a lot of thought or extra time. If users can’t figure out what to do next or what will happen if they proceed, they’ll become frustrated and even abandon the product entirely in favor of another brand. Ultimately, effective content design can, on one hand, reduce support tickets, saving companies resources and money, and, on the other hand, create sustainable, organic growth with fewer resources.īad content design can, of course, have the opposite effect. Users who have a smooth experience are more likely to recommend products to their colleagues or friends, enabling product-led growth, a strategy that has become important for many companies.

Good content design empowers users to navigate through an app or platform independently, including getting adequate information to be able to move forward and finding answers to their questions even before they ask them “out loud.” You may think of content design as content strategy, but strategists tend to map out a plan and leave it with the team to enact, while content designers are involved in every step along the way. It's their job to determine the best words (and layout of said words) to use to get users the information they need when they need it. These writers significantly are central to the final user experience because they focus on clear communication with the user, including identifying and preventing potential problems users may face. While content designers primarily communicate with words, they need to be design thinkers who consider the company's goals and interpret what they will mean for the end-user. They don’t just write the words-they also weigh in regarding the layout and format of screens and flows in terms of content. The term content design (and therefore the title content designer) has come to be seen as a better representation of what these writers do-because, in essence, they design user experiences via content. Most product teams include a product manager, researchers, developers, engineers, designers, and writers, but different organizations and teams have their own way of doing things.ĭepending on the company, the writer(s) on the team may be known as UX writers, content strategists, or-a term that’s grown in popularity in the past couple of years- content designers.

Creating effective user experiences in apps, websites, and other digital products happens when lots of people come together as a team.

Ux writer definition