Writers in Tech

Jenn Shreve, a leader in content design and writing at Google, discusses the importance of storytelling in content design and the transition from copywriting to UX design. They reflect on the fascination with books about the end of the world and the powerlessness of leadership. They also explore concerns and possibilities of AI technology, including web accessibility and its potential to enhance website accessibility.

In this episode of Writers in Tech, Ben Davies, a Senior Content Designer at Klarna and co-founder of Tech Outcast, shares his experience transitioning from product management to UX writing. He emphasizes the importance of educating oneself about UX writing and being resourceful when working with other departments. Davies also discusses his process for standardizing terminology across different departments in a company and suggests using AI tools like Chad GPT to analyze archived discussions. Yuval and Ben discuss the potential uses and limitations of Chat GPT, an artificial intelligence tool for generating content. They caution against relying too heavily on it as a solution and emphasize its usefulness in brainstorming and refining ideas. The conversation also touches on the importance of advocating for UX writing as a discipline within tech companies, despite recent layoffs impacting the industry. Towards the end, they mention Tech Outcast, a new community focused on offering content design services to companies through freelancing and consulting. Ben, a content designer, enjoys working with early stage startups and solo entrepreneurs to help them put together their first version of products. He believes in the importance of combining UX, product management and marketing to create value propositions that resonate with users. Ben founded Tech Outcasts as a community for talented people who feel like outcasts in the tech industry due to homogeneity in backgrounds and approaches. To land a UX writing gig right now, Ben advises contractors or freelancers to figure out their unique perspective before seeking out companies they'd like to work with directly rather than relying on traditional job boards.

In this episode of the Writers in Tech podcast, Yuval Keshtcher interviews Mohana Das, a lead UX Writer at Lazy Pay and founding member of a group of UX writers in India. They discuss Mohana's journey into content design, the challenges she faces as the only UX writer at her company, and the concept of "content debt" - a build-up over time of bad content that accumulates just like financial debt. The podcast is brought to you by the UX Writing Hub, which offers free and advanced courses on UX writing including Figma for UX Writing and Generative AI for UX Writers. Mohana, a content designer at LazyPay, shares her approach to tackling content debt in the interface. She emphasizes starting with a full audit of the entire application and product and taking a holistic approach. Mohana also stresses the importance of defining goals and ROI before revamping content. To show impact, she recommends picking low-hanging fruit like button copy or key screens for optimization. Collaborating with designers is crucial for success in this field. For those looking to break into content design, Mohana advises brushing up on UX fundamentals and creating a strong portfolio with real-world projects.

Content designer Ilana Zholobovsky talks about how networking, books and AI can help people get into UX writing.

Ben Pines, the Director of Content at Wordtune, is optimistic about the future interaction between people and AI.

Lead UX writer Sherry Samtani on the different career directions UX writers can take, including content ops.

Aerial silk teacher Alexandra Spark shares how she transitioned to UX writing and her step-by-step process for creating an app.

Lead UX writer Sarah Loigge shares how she found inspiration outside of work and overcame impostor syndrome with the help of Star Trek.

What’s the value of UX writing and how can we measure it? Yael Ben-David has written a book on the topic.

How do you land a job in product design in today’s business climate? Get recruitment insights from Matt Carter, Senior Product Design Specialist at Eurobase People.