UX CONTENT BLOG
I was introduced to UX writing in 2020. Back then, I only knew two things about the discipline: that Google had UX writers, and UX writers were part of design teams. Just as my interest in this discipline has grown, the Indian tech ecosystem is taking notice too.
Large companies like Google, Microsoft, Atlassian, and Airtel have UX writers in India, but most startups still don’t. When I was consulting for a fintech startup in 2022, there was no clear owner for UX copy. Sometimes when the designer or product manager (PM) couldn’t write the UX copy, they would ask a content writer from marketing for support.
But this trend is changing. Design teams with more than 10 designers (and typically a company with more than 100 people) are maturing their design process. There’s a realization that the copy written by a product manager or a designer isn’t working for their product. These teams are looking for their first UX writer. Fintech startups, in particular, have the strongest need.
On the supply side, many writers who worked in marketing teams are transitioning to UX writing roles. In part, this transition is driven by greater demand for UX writers (and the fact UX writers are better paid.)
There is a vibrant (and ever-growing) Slack community of UX writers in India where aspiring UX writers ask how to make this career transition. Since solo UX writers are a common breed in India, the Slack community is also a forum for them to ask work-related questions to get an opinion from other writers.
These solo writers support as few as 10, or in some companies, as many as 50 designers! Obviously, this is far from ideal. In such teams, UX writers are often only brought in at the very last step before a feature is implemented. There is little room to partner with designers, suggest changes to the UX (and not just the copy) and influence the UX more. And this is what UX writers who have already made the leap into the discipline (myself included) want to learn to do.
For us, writing isn’t the challenge — we know how to write error messages and success messages and the like. We want to upskill so that we might be design partners rather than consultants.
I think it’s a very exciting time for the discipline. But it is early days and it’s clear that both UX writers and design managers are investing in the discipline cautiously. I’ve been saying for a while now (and I know many echo my sentiment) that UX writing is where product design was ten years ago. It will take a few years to become more commonplace, a must-have instead of a good-to-have.
So what will it take for UX writing to flourish in India? This isn’t going to be a one-actor play — writers, design managers, recruiters and learning companies have a part to play in this journey.
Before my current role, I was the first (and solo) UX writer in my team. It goes without saying that as the first UX writer, you have to set up guidelines and write for the entire product. But you have another responsibility — to build trust in the role. This will look different in every organization and there is no playbook for this. But there were a few things that worked really well for me.
I found it very helpful to talk through my rationale while suggesting changes. For example, if I was changing a button CTA from “Yes” to “Yes, cancel”, I’d leave a comment to explain that descriptive button copy was clearer and helped users. The designers and PMs I worked with began to understand how much thought went into writing a small string of text. It also assured them that I wasn’t changing copy (that was probably written by them) just for the sake of it.
Being in office was a game-changer in earning my colleagues’ trust and confidence. This may not work for everyone, but I found that being in the same physical space made it easier for the team to make room for a new person who was now in charge of writing for the experience. Maybe it was that they could see me working. Or maybe it was the conversations over lunch or the ease of going up to someone’s desk to ask a question that paid off over time.
Lastly, (and this is true for any role in any team), it was important to be someone people enjoyed working with. This doesn’t mean that you have to be a pushover, but if you’re a nice person to work with, people will welcome you to meetings and invite you to be a part of the process. In Cultivating Content Design, Beth Dunn wrote that when UX writers harp on the style guide and make their peers feel like they’re “in violation” of the style guide, they do a great disservice to themselves. Make your teammates feel like you’re there to help them and make their life easier. This is a simple and obvious idea, but has outsized returns.
Design managers in India who are hiring their first UX writers are taking a step in the right direction. But they often don’t know what to look for or how to set up their writers for success.
While hiring your first UX writer, look for someone who understands the fundamentals of UX writing and has a portfolio of UX writing samples. You may not find many UX writers who have 5 years of just UX writing experience on their resume and that’s okay. Don’t discount their marketing experience or their experience writing technical documentation — UX writers come from different backgrounds and it only adds, rather than take away from the richness of their experience.
Once your first writer has joined the team, your job is only half done. Set them up for success by trusting them and by giving them work that goes beyond proofreading. If they only ever have the time to evaluate the copy for grammar and voice and tone, they will never be able to collaborate with designers on building a good user experience. Get them involved early in a few key projects and see how their involvement changes the quality of your product.
No UX writer knows everything there is to know about the discipline. Invest in your UX writer’s learning. I’ve been particularly lucky to always have a learning budget from my company and I’ve invested that in buying books, attending workshops and conferences to learn more about my craft. I’ve become better at my craft because the companies I worked at enabled my learning.
Lastly, pay your UX writers fairly. They are a part of the UX team and their salaries should be comparable to their peers in product design and UX research. Do your research on industry averages and pay them well.
Since UX writing is a new discipline, there simply aren’t enough UX writers in the country. If there is to be a UX writer in every design team, or say one writer for every ten designers (which is also far from the ideal ratio), we need many more UX writers. This is where edtechs and learning companies come in.
Indian learning companies like Upraised, Ownpath, Nextleap and The Product Folks can add programs and fellowships for UX writers. So far, the focus has been on upskilling product managers and product designers and programs on UX writing could be a great addition to their portfolio of programs.
Companies like UX Content Collective and conferences such as Button have programs, but the currency exchange rate can be a blocker. UXCC recently launched training grants and Button has equity scholarships (which I received in 2022 to attend the conference virtually) to solve for this. Maybe a different pricing plan for countries with a weaker currency is an option?
Perhaps Indian companies could offer scholarships for their programs too. This would be a win-win — the sponsoring company can hire the trained students, interested people can learn UX writing at an affordable price and the learning company gets to break into a new market.
Finally, content design leaders in the US and Europe, where the discipline is mature, can also help grow the talent pool in India. Torrey Podmajerskey has a few meeting slots every week to mentor UX writers and it’s free (I was so grateful for our conversation earlier this year). I’d love to see more of this. Workshops and conferences designed for the Indian market could go a long way. These speaking engagements may have to be at subsidized prices, but if speakers have the privilege to do so, they’d be paying it forward and helping grow the discipline here.
UX writing is definitely having its day in the sun right now. In 2020, after my introduction to UX writing, I was asking myself if the discipline will grow in India. But I’m asking a different question now — I’m asking how might I, and those around me, help the discipline grow?
Sidika Sehgal is a UX writer at Rubrik. Connect with Sidika on LinkedIn.
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