Writers in Tech

In this episode, we spoke withLi-Na Koh, a senior content designer at Zapier. I have to say, Zapier is one of my favorite digital products out there today. It allows you to easily connect your favorite services. For example, every time someone signs up for one of our webinars, Zapier automatically creates a Zoom event and sends a confirmation email at the same time. It's pretty magical! Two aspects of this product are really interesting: -Their copy is particularly well done, even though they don’t have a lot of writers on their team -They've been an all-remote company for more than nine years Li-Na Koh is the first writer on the team and we spoke about being a remote UX writer, working on a product like Zapier, and much more. This episode is a must!

As the digital products we use continue to tighten their grip on our society and adversely affect our mental health, one question has become paramount: Are we doomed to digital addiction or can we break the spell and learn to live in harmony with our devices? No one knows more about this subject than my recent guest Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Nir’s expertise on both sides of the issue gives him an invaluable and compelling perspective that is not to be missed. We covered topics such as: -Combating digital addiction and the link between product design and mental health -Staying focused when your phone is buzzing with notifications -The difference between drug dealers and designers -Promoting ethical design in your company -Why people don’t like to read digital interfaces -What industries are most infamous for having dark patterns -Should creating digital experiences be licensed -The undervalued skill of writing in tech companies

The rapid growth in the practice of UX—and UX writing in particular—is due in no small part to the power of the community. The feedback and knowledge sharing seen throughout the UX community are what is helping many writers and designers improve their practices. I was curious to speak with the founder of one of the biggest UX communities in the world, Ioana Adriana Teleanu of UX Goodies. We spoke about her best practices when it comes to creating content for the international UX community and about the UX writer’s role within the product team. Give it a listen if you want to learn: -How to stay up to date with current UX trends -How to build a flow for content creation for the UX community -What makes a UX community thrive

Amir Shevat has worked for companies such as Microsoft, Google, Slack, and was the VP of product at Twitch. He also wrote the book “Designing Bots” and currently runs his own start-up called Reshuffle. Quite a resume! As he’s someone with so much experience in the valley, I was curious to talk to him about the future of writers in tech and where he thinks our field is headed. In this episode you’ll learn: -The current status of bots -The future of conversational software -About the best case studies and use cases for conversation design -How to start a conversation design product -How to design a delightful conversation -All about the bot “beer test” -Ethical design suggestions

In our brief conversation, Stephen talks about his processes for working on QuickBooks payroll software. Give it a listen if you’d like to learn about: -Customer interviews and what tools you should use when showing prototypes to your users -Delighting your customers with content instead of stressing them out What design tools you can and should use -How to talk with recruiters as a UX writer/content designer Don’t miss it!

Greg Digneo is an entrepreneur, Content strategy expert, and business consultant. A few years back, after building a 7-figure content agency, Greg was burned out. That may sound a bit off-topic for UX writers, but if you’ve ever wanted a lesson in advanced content strategy that drives traffic, this is the episode for you. In a frank and honest talk, Greg shared the struggles of building a successful content agency from the ground up. He talked about his process for planning content that would drive lots of traffic for his client, Time Doctor. It was a fascinating perspective and I now implement some of what I learned in our own blog. He also walked me through his 7 steps of content development. Give this episode a listen if you want to learn how to: Scale your content agency Create better content strategy practices that drive traffic Find high volume keywords Define your audience and create content for them Find pain points We even talk about why you should call your readers on the phone! Enjoy 🥳

Dave Glazier is the UX writing lead at Nedbank, one of Africa's largest banks. Recently, I spoke to him about writing microcopy for a large and diverse emerging-market audience. In this episode, we cover: -Creating a content style guide and working with designers -Why and how you should listen to your customers -Crafting the voice and tone for a banking experience -Inclusive writing and writing for 12 different languages -Using Google Trends to find inspiration and improve your writing

Erika Hall is the author of Just Enough Research and Conversational Design—probably two of my favorite books on these topics. Both of her books are available at A Book Apart: https://abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research Recently, I spoke with her about the gap that exists today between research and conversational design. I learned a TON from this talk and anyone that’s creating any type of digital experience will certainly benefit from it too. We covered a lot of ground, including: -How a philosophy major like Erika became a design leader -Meeting Mule Design co-founder Mike Monteiro, author of Ruined by Design (my 2019 fave book!) -Changing with the industry as a designer -Making a case for research and convincing stakeholders to commit to a research process -Defining goals before starting your research -Asking the right questions as a researcher -How research can be like planning a vacation Enjoy this episode!

How can a localized content increase your conversions by 700%? Listen to the next episode! I had a pleasure to talk to Mette Thomsen Danish Language Specialist at GetYourGuide. Listen to it if you want to learn about: -How to add context to your localization process -Content team hierarchy in a unicorn (B$) company -Best practices for localization -Creating a content style guide for your localization team -What tools you should be using -Marketing guidelines vs product content style guides -Scaling a localization team -

Typeform has some pretty slick copy—from their transactional emails, homepage, and the product itself. Their lead copywriter, Steve Howe, writes fascinating pieces for their blog about UX writing at Typeform, and I was eager to learn about his processes—particularly, best practices for writing forms. This episode is not only a great lesson in conversational UX writing, but also a great resource for anyone that creates online forms. So don’t miss it! Topics include: Writing copy for landing pages Static vs dynamic copy AI and copywriting How to put the right amount of information in a form How to build a content team Chatbots Enjoy!