It’s that time of the year. Time to reflect, look back on the biggest trends in our field, and plan accordingly for what’s coming next. We’ve pulled together the links that received the most clicks from our weekly Dash newsletter for you to enjoy in one place. We know you might be thinking, “Another roundup?” Yes, but you’ll want to bookmark this one. Let’s get to it…
1. Best Figma plugins for writers in 2022. So many plugins, so little time. This roundup from Frontitude is definitely worth referencing though. It includes everything from search and navigation plugins to visual support and placeholder plugins to replace Lorem Ipsum for good. Give it a bookmark!
2. When life gives you lemons, write better error messages. How did the team at Wix tackle thousands of error messages in the span of one month? Set aside this post from Jenni Nadler to learn more about the aptly named Errorgate 2021.
3. Figma’s guide to Figma. Wondering which bells and whistles are worth implementing in your content mocks? Figma’s own Ryan Reid compiled a comprehensive overview for UX writers picking up and learning the tool. Get the guide.
4. What job are your words doing? For many users, “just” picking up the phone, or “simply” filling out a form is anything but easy. In this post, Lizzie Cass-Maran shows the nuances of word choice and how we can make our writing clear and friendly—without using any microaggressions.
5. Spotify keeps it personal. In this one, Jasmine Bilham explores how the streaming service uses emotional design to keep listeners (and users) coming back to their product year after year. Read the full blog.
6. Everyone has a type. Content designers come in all shapes, sizes, and creative “types.” Knowing yours will help you maximize your potential. Discover if you’re a Thinker, Maker, Dreamer, and more with this gorgeous quiz designed by Adobe.
7. Your go-to UX glossary. Our field is full of terminology and technical jargon that can be hard to decipher. Pretty ironic, huh? If you need a primer, Tina Golub’s UX glossary is a great place to start.
8. To err is human. To write helpful error messages, divine. Learn how you can go above and beyond the “golden formula” with this useful guide from Kyra Lee, UXCC instructor and Associate UX Writer at UserTesting. The key takeaway? Empathize with users and the people you work with.
9. It’s an experience library. Design systems are great, but the name implies only designers use them. And that’s not the case! Enter: The Experience Library. It’s a place for anyone working on products, services, and comms to go for content guidelines, design principles, and accessibility standards. Explore the Co-op library to get inspired.
10. Anticipation. Context. Empathy. Apple gets to the core (see what we did there?) of designing inclusive interfaces for their products with the P.A.C.E. framework. Revisit the WWDC 2022 session exploring human-centric writing for interfaces through the lens of language.
11. Create a content ecosystem map. Who doesn’t love a good map? Scott Kubie has a great resource collecting a few articles on creating content maps. If you’re confused about the content across your organization, no matter the format, this is a good start to get stuff organized.
12. Inclusive UX writing at HelloFresh. Wondering what this looks like in practice? Emerson Schroeter shares how HelloFresh content designers incorporate inclusive language into their products and train in accessibility as a team. Read the blog post.
13. Content + design = a match made in heaven. We know you know this already, but it’s important to reiterate. Our teams—and ultimately our products—are better when we work together. Jan Rojcek, UX Director at Indeed, shares how their team improved communication and built a framework for effective collaboration. This is a must-read.
14. Systemizing your product copy. If we can rely on design systems for button font, sizing, and colors, shouldn’t the same be the case for the text that goes on the button? Text is a system, after all. Our friends at Ditto explore this idea in their Config talk and recap blog post.
15. The best resources mentioned at Button 2022. Button was a great experience, but there were so many tools, books, resources, and other goodies referenced that it can be hard to keep track. Clare Scott compiled all the resources into a handy list.
16. Content-first design wins. We know that you know content-first design matters or you wouldn’t be reading this. But here we are! This blog post serves as a great reminder—or excuse—to forward to a coworker who doesn’t quite get it yet. Read more from Liam King on the GatherContent blog.
17. Designing for ADHD makes for better experiences. Minimizing distractions and reducing cognitive load benefits all users. I mean, who doesn’t want a more clear, more focused experience? Here’s a great use case on why designing for accessibility actually makes your product better for everyone.
18. Time to put your research hat on. Wondering what makes your users tick? The good people ov
