The Dash: Could UX research be your next big thing?

This is the published edition of our weekly UX writer and UX writing newsletter, The Dash. Sign up to The Dash to have these updates sent straight to your inbox!

What does it mean to be a UX writer in 2020? We’ve shared some heavy discussions lately about this: on separating the writing from the strategy, the different backgrounds that led us to this work, ethical, accessible and inclusive practices, and fighting for our place on design and product teams. One thing’s for certain: there’s more to us than just “writing the words”.

And this week we’re excited to go even deeper, with a look at combining a UX writing and research role, conversation design tools, and how to embrace the “strategy” in content strategy.

We don’t just write the words. The latest episode of Writers of Silicon Valley is out of the bag and the spicy topic of titles vs responsibilities of UX writers / content designers / content strategists has reared its head again. This time, Patrick speaks with Kristina Halvorson about embracing content strategy, the lowdown on Button Conference, and of course, lots more. We love to see it! And you’ll love to hear it right here.

The dos and don’ts of hiring a UX writer. So you’re ready to bring on a UX writer? Before you start the process, you *do* want to check out our latest blog by Michelle Handelman to uncover best practices for making the experience positive for everyone involved. Happy hiring! 

Ever thought of a career in UX research? Thea Hogarth of BrainPOP certainly has – in fact, she’s both a UX writer and researcher in her day job. She thinks of it as “the human side of writing”, documenting language to communicate and educate clearer. Now that’s something we can get behind! Get to know Thea and the role in this interview on the NYU School of Professional Studies here.

Now you see it. Brought to us by Botmock (a conversation design platform), 4 conversation designers share their secrets in this article to making the invisible work of voice design documentation and portfolio work, well, more visible.

Let’s chat chatbots. We’ll have Botmock’s CEO, Obaid Ahmed, and their product manager, Brielle Nickoloff, in an exclusive webinar with UXWC to show off the product featured in our Chatbot Writing & Design course and answer your questions. Sign up and join the conversation!

Sneak peek! While the preview event may have passed, this little write up on the Dropbox Design blog from top UX writers (who are presenting at Button conference) is a good little sneak peek into what they’ll be talking about at the big event later this week.  

What’s in a name? How important is it to distinguish our job title and descriptions from the responsibilities and roles we play in project teams? Scott Kubie has been noodling over this for some time – and we think where he’s landed is *chef’s kiss*. Jobs = company. Roles = project. (Sounds a lot more simple in theory. For better understanding, we recommend you check out the post here.)

UX writing portfolios. And to even out the debate on title vs responsibilities, this piece by Jack Riewe about creating UX writing portfolios says it doesn’t matter what you call yourself when applying for UX writing roles, just so long as you have experience working in product and design teams. Hmmm, interesting…

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