Becoming a UX Writer from Scratch with Sarah Kessler of Gympass

Building a UX Writing culture at Babbel: I recently spoke with Erin O'Loughlin and Annalise Nurme about creating a UX Writing culture in a product team of the language education platform Babbel. More companies are beginning to understand that they must hire writers; Erin and Annalise are the first official UX writers at Babbel. We talked about the challenges of creating a UX writing culture in a company that’s never had writers. Topics covers: -Presenting the concept of UX Writing to your team -Creating a content style guide and establishing new conventions -Building test groups for your product -Working with designers by Writers in Tech

29 min listen

Fighting for content design with Sarah Richards: The fields of content strategy and UX writing are becoming more established thanks in no small part to the community leaders out there fighting for us. One such leader is Sarah Richards. She’s the author of the book Content Design, founder of the site Content Design London, and creator of GOV.UK’s content style guide. If you’re not familiar with her work, you should be… and here’s a perfect opportunity! In our latest podcast, Sarah and I chat about content leadership, how to make people care about content strategy, and the differences between content design and UX writing. It’s an informative discussion not to be missed. Don't forget to share our podcast with the rest of the world! #comeonelon by Writers in Tech

34 min listen

Microcopy That Sells Cars | Interview with Don Seidenberg of CarNext.com: If way back in 1999, you told my father that he could replace his old Subaru at the click of a button without even test driving it, he would have never believed it! Now, twenty years later, even though he probably wouldn’t buy a car online, he wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that several companies are successfully selling them online. CarNext.com is one of those companies. And there’s no doubt about it that their slick user experience contributes greatly to their high conversion rate with selling used cars. Recently, I had the chance to speak with Don Seidenberg, the first UX writer at CarNext.com. We talked about the process of writing copy that sells cars online. Don’t miss it by Writers in Tech

33 min listen

The Crazy Skill Set of UX Writers for Games | Mario Ferrer of King: Mario was one of the first UX writers in our Microcopy & UX Writing Facebook group. Today, he’s a senior UX writer for King, one of the largest gaming companies in the world. I had a blast talking to him as he shared the necessary skills to be a UX writer for a gaming company. In this episode, you’ll learn about: -Why UX writers are like Gandalf -How Mario observes users during his commute -How to leverage communication using words -Card sorting and testing for UX writers by Writers in Tech

38 min listen

A Step by Step Guide to Content Strategy in 2021: Larry Swanson hosts the fabulous Content Strategy insights podcast. We talked about what content strategy is, what kind of events are organized for writers in tech (hint: we're sponsoring the UX writer conference this month) and much more in our last talk. Join us if you want to learn: ✅ The different flavors of content strategy ✅ What are the differences between product content strategy and different type of content strategy ✅ The overlap between content design and content strategy And to listen to Larry’s Step by step guide to content strategy in 2021 by Writers in Tech

49 min listen

Copy in the age of digital banking | Interview with the author of Monzo's style guide: Harry Ashbridge is the content style guide author and senior writing lead at Monzo, an online bank founded in 2015. In this episode, we talk about Monzo Bank: what it is, how it works, and why it’s different from your old-school bank. by Writers in Tech

40 min listen

UX Writing at Stripe | Interview with Angela Kilduff and Victoria Stanell: Angela Kilduff is a UX writer at Stripe, where she designs products that help entrepreneurs around the world bring their ideas to life. Before Stripe, she worked in product design at Twitter and Facebook and did editorial content strategy for Mule Design and Huge. Outside of work, she likes to curl up with a good book and cook elaborate meals for friends. Victoria Stanell is currently designing the economic infrastructure of the internet as a UX writer at Stripe. Previously, she’s put pen to pixel and shaped experiences at Uber, Medium, and Levi Strauss & Co. When she’s not thinking about content or strategy, you can find her cooking, painting, meditating, or enjoying other creative pursuits. https://stripe.com/jobs/listing/ux-writer/2293358 In this episode, we chat about Victoria and Angela’s career journeys and how their experience could help UX writers—big time. Listen to this episode and learn about: — V by Writers in Tech

33 min listen

Are UX Writers the new Product Managers? | Interview with Allison Freedenfeld of Waze/Google: I remember when I first heard about UX writing best practices in a talk at Google’s I/O 2017 conference—it was a huge “aha” moment for me. As a product designer, microcopy was just a small part of that larger design world. Just something for a small Facebook group where I invited friends and we posted different ideas about microcopy. But that one day, everything changed. I decided to explore and talk to all of the practitioners out there so I could know more about this exploding new topic. And it was quite a journey. Not long after listening to that talk, in a moment of complete serendipity, I met Allison Freedenfeld. I was eavesdropping on a nearby table that was in a long conversation about UX Writing and I decided to take action. That day I met Allison for the first time and we’ve been friends ever since. So I’m very glad to start the second season of Writers in Tech with her in a talk by Writers in Tech

33 min listen

UX Writing at a Platform for Online Courses | Interview with Kate Garner of Coursera: Kate Garner is an English teacher turned full-time UX writer at Coursera. She's also a language lover with experience in copywriting, editing, SEO, and creative content development. Her Master's of Communication in Technology degree helped turn her into quite the masterful communicator. In this episode, we look at what UX writing at Coursera is all about. Kate shares her love of the product and why Coursera is such a great online learning platform. Listen to this episode to learn about: — How writers and designers fit into Coursera's structure — Overcoming the challenges of being a first time UX writer — Her first-hand experience as a UX writer, what tools she uses specifically for UX writing, and other tools of interest that are available — Coursera's procedures, strategy, and team structure by Writers in Tech

22 min listen

The evolution of UX Writing with Jared Spool: In this week’s episode of our Writers in Tech podcast, I had the great pleasure of interviewing an absolute UX legend, Jared Spool. He’s the mind behind the UX of the personal computer keyboard as we know it, which he designed back in 1978. After years of following his work at UIE and his UX podcast “SpoolCast”, I was lucky enough to have him join me for a chat. We talked about: The history of UX and of writers in technology UX Writing vs. Technical Writing The UX strategy of a service Research for writers Jared has had a huge influence on my work, so for me it was very exciting to speak with one of the most influential UX personas out there. Don’t miss it! by Writers in Tech

30 min listen

A UX Writing Journey with Oz Chen from Disney: On the first episode of Writers in Tech podcast, Oz Chen shared with me his journey of becoming a content strategist at Disney. We've talked about: The transition from business analytics to content strategy What does it take to be a Content strategist for Disney The differences between UX writing and content strategy The ROI of UX writing and content strategy How to test your copy like a PRO How to get into UX writing Enjoy and don't forget to share it with a friend :) by Writers in Tech

41 min listen

Inclusive writing for Africa's largest banking app | Interview with award-winning marketing professional Dave Glazier: 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 by Writers in Tech

42 min listen

The Ultimate UX Writing Process | Matt Hayes from Deloitte: I recently had the opportunity to speak with Matt Hayes, a UX Writer at Deloitte Digital. Imagine a place that gives you the opportunity to work on the digital experiences of the biggest companies in the world. Well, that’s Deloitte digital. Matt shared with me his process and everything that product team members need to know about UX writing. We covered: -Structuring content for wireframes -Creating a content style guide -Setting up a document at the beginning of a project -Working with UX designers as a writer If you are currently creating a writing culture in your product team, you don’t want to miss this episode. by Writers in Tech

40 min listen

Kickstart UX Writing at Your Company | Inspiring Chat With Vicki Siolos of Kickstarter: This week on Writers in Tech I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Vicki Siolos, the lead UX writer of the mother of all crowdfunding platforms, Kickstarter. You’ll learn about: -Using Google Translate for a nifty brainstorming trick -Giving your users what they’re asking for -Tricks that will help you to educate about UX writing in your organization -What books you should read (seriously, I need to read Nicely Said already) -Why you should zone out and just write It was great learning about Vicki’s brilliant processes and I’m sure you’re going to love it as much as I did! by Writers in Tech

54 min listen

Behavioral Economics & Customer Experience in the Digital Age | Interview with Liraz Margalit (PhD): Liraz Margalit, PhD, is a Social Psychologist who specializes in Behavioral Design and Decision Making. She integrates Neuropsychology and Behavioral Economics perspectives to analyze User behavior and deliver actionable insights for business stakeholders. Her consumer behavior research was awarded with the OBE, Online Business Excellence for 2016 as well as the Best of Neuromarketing and was chosen as CMSWire contributor of the year 2017. Her research papers and studies can be found in top business magazines such as Entrepreneur, TechCrunch and Forbes. She also writes an ongoing blog for Psychology Today named “Behind Online Behavior”. In our episode we’ve talked about digital interactions that matters. Listen to this episode in order to learn Different approaches to customer experience Shaping moments for our customers and users to remember How to use words to shape custome by Writers in Tech

25 min listen

How to write a killer online form? | Interview with Steve Howe of Typeform: 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! by Writers in Tech

35 min listen

Testing your story before writing a single word | Interview with Carolina Rayo of LATAM Airlines: The largest airline company in South America has a unique approach when it comes to UX writing. They’re user-centered and everything about their digital experience is content-driven. In our latest episode, Carolina Rayo, a senior UX writer from LATAM, shares valuable wisdom and insights about: Putting your ego aside and staying humble Testing stories before designing anything How to absorb content like a sponge and learn as you go How not to be an a**hole to your users Enjoy this one! by Writers in Tech

39 min listen

ADHD as a content design superpow... look a squirrel!: The last episode of Writers in Tech is a bit controversial. We had a conversation about inclusive design, sexuality, ADHD, and more. I had the pleasure to chat with Danny Harrop-Griffiths, content design lead at Mojo about: -The differences and similarities between writing for the government and for difficult topics such as sex, sexuality, relationships, gender -Why ADHD people make good content designers -When should we ask for the gender of the user -How content design can help people with ADHD -A step-by-step guide to procrastination -When should we ask for the gender of the user -Why you should delete all social media apps from your phone (or at least remove all notifications) Join us! by Writers in Tech

46 min listen

A practical guide to ethical design | Interview with best selling author Nir Eyal: 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 by Writers in Tech

52 min listen

Hacking my way through the world of UX Writing | Greta van der Merwe of Careem: Greta van der Merwe’s UX writing career has skyrocketed, going from an ad agency to senior UX writer a unicorn company recently acquired by Uber. I first met Greta when she was among the original members of our Facebook group, participating in discussions and sharing her talents with others. In fact, after she participated in the first class of our UX writing course (we’re about to open the fourth), we were so impressed that we took Greta on as a student mentor in future classes. She has a great post about how no one in her organization seems to understand how UX writing should work. It’s been a true honor watching her career progress and I was delighted to speak with her recently about the following topics: How she went from copywriter to Senior UX writer in such a short period of time How to collaborate with designers as a senior UX writer The processes and tools she uses How she stays up to date wit by Writers in Tech

37 min listen

Is Voice Interface the Future of UX Writing?: You take the carton from the refrigerator door and give it a shake. “Empty,” you think to yourself. No problem. “Hey Google,” you exclaim, activating your Google Home device. “Ask Colruyt to add milk to the list.” But instead of confirming the addition, your home device informs you that “Milk has already been added to your grocery list. Would you like to add an additional carton?” You know the culprit—your heavy milk-drinking girlfriend Sharon. You’re so impressed by this digital gesture that you almost forget about Sharon putting the empty carton back in the fridge for the 100th time. Today, most of us understand that this isn’t some distant sci-fi fantasy. In fact, for customers of one of Belgium’s largest supermarket chains, Colruyt, it’s already a reality. Recently, I spoke with Yves Van Kerkhove of the Colruyt Group. Yves was a student in our first UX writing course and has been working on a game-changing project—a voice interface by Writers in Tech

42 min listen

How to plan design research | Interview with Erika Hall, author of Just Enough Research: 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 plann by Writers in Tech

52 min listen

Remote UX writing at a scaling company | Interview with Li-Na Koh, Senior Content Designer at Zapier: 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! by Writers in Tech

43 min listen

How to design a bot in 2020 | Interview with Amir Shevat author of Designing Bots: 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 by Writers in Tech

30 min listen

700% better with content localization | Interview with Mette Thomsen of GetYourGuide: 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 - by Writers in Tech

36 min listen

Copywriting in the world of no-code automations with David Zisner: Check out this eye-opening interview with Yuval Keshtcher, CEO and founder of the UX Writing Hub, and automation expert David Zisner. They chat about copywriting, no-code, and more. Listen now if you want to learn: -Why we should use no-code tools -The power of no-code automation and copywriting -What's in it for the copywriters -Best practices to automate your processes by Writers in Tech

38 min listen

Top UX Writing (online) Events October 2020: See all of the different UX Writing Events of October 2020! by Writers in Tech

13 min listen

It's okay if it's not perfect!: Candi Williams is a Content design manager and strategist and published author from beautiful Bristol who loves bright colours and writes about everything from amazing food to awesome females. In our last talk Candi shared with me useful information about: -How to write 3 books while working full time -The importance of having an inclusive team and what we’re missing today -Using an inclusive language -Understanding the importance of accessibility -Improving your process while letting go of your imperfections Don’t miss it! by Writers in Tech

34 min listen

Building a Stellar Personal UX Brand: Feeling stuck when it comes to getting jobs and new UX writing projects? Well, maybe a lot of your issues have to do with your own personal brand. Building an online presence is what makes or breaks your UX writing and content design career. I asked Cory Lebson, author of the UX Career handbook and probably the best UX courses on Lynda, what’s the secret sauce to building a network that gets you UX jobs for more than 10 years in a row. Listen up! by Writers in Tech

29 min listen

Becoming a UX writing expert | Mattias Åkerberg of Please Copy Me: Writers in Tech is back for Season 3! A few years back, when we first started our UX Writing Academy program, I got a call from Mattias Åkerberg, then a Swedish copywriter. We shared the same vision about the future of UX writing, and I realized I was speaking with someone who was ready to invest all of his resources and energy into learning what UX writing is all about. Since completing our training program, Mattias has probably become the biggest UX writing influencer in Sweden. He now lands the best clients, runs his own Swedish UX writing course, and publishes a UX writing newsletter called Please Copy Me. We spoke about his transition from copywriter to UX writer and the first steps he took to make it happen. We also talked about his strategies for landing new projects. Great tips for all you freelancers out there. Super informative episode—don’t miss it! by Writers in Tech

39 min listen

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Becoming a UX Writer from Scratch with Sarah Kessler of Gympass

Becoming a UX Writer from Scratch with Sarah Kessler of Gympass

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