UI/UX Design

Who is a UX Writer and What Do They Do?

John Groth
John Groth
Calender Img
Getweb Inc - Full-Cycle Web Design and Development Services

UX writing is an important part of the overall user experience design process. A UX writer is responsible for crafting compelling microcopies for your solutions so the end users can communicate with your solutions easily.

However, the job of a UX writer isn’t as simple as it sounds. In order to create stunning and actionable copies, a UX writer also has to take on a couple of responsibilities. Let’s check out what a UX writer has to do to produce seamless microcopies.

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What is User Experience (UX) Writing?

UX refers to user experience, which means the way a user interacts with a tech solution (e.g. website, apps, or software). UX writing refers to the practice of crafting specialized copies that help users interact with any solution. These copies are called “microcopies.”

The primary goal of a UX writer is to understand your brand value and the end users through intensive research and reflect that research on the microcopies, making them straightforward, attention-grabbing, and concise.

A UX writer basically bridges the gap between your brand and your end-users through carefully crafted, and generic yet powerful microcopies. This is why UX writers play an important role in developing a brand.

What Does a UX Writer Do?

A UX writer dives deep into research and craft microcopies that can help your solution communicate with the end user in the best possible way. To achieve this target, a UX writer has to complete a series of tasks. Let’s check them out:

Know The Target Audience

One of the key responsibilities of a UX writer is to identify and know your target audience better. To write effective microcopies for your product description, button texts, error messages, push notifications, menu lists, and other touchpoints, and he has to know about the needs and pain points of your target audience.

The writer achieves this by getting to know your target customers through user insights and research. They will collect all the information available, conduct hands-on user research if necessary, and create an in-depth user persona for future references.

Once the data collection is complete, a writer will try to evaluate your products from the user’s point of view and try to figure out what exactly they need. The next job will be to incorporate those ideas into your microcopies to create a personalized user experience.

Dive Into User Experience Research

The more you know your audience, the better. That way, you can write custom-tailored UX copies that help both your business and the end users. This is the reason it’s imperative for a UX writer to dive deep into research.

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Each writer may have their own ways to collect insights. However, the goal is always the same, to know your users and your solutions better. The research phase will help the writer think from both sides and generate a user-centric solution that provides better conversion.

Craft Unique Microcopies

This is where the magic happens. A writer will collect and research all the insights and develop unique, simple, and provocative microcopies that influence your users to take action.

Research and insights are key for a strong product. It’s important that the team working on the product can keep track of the important information and come up with solutions for problems from the data. How well your team is able to implement the insights from research into the product can determine the success of the product.

Whether it’s a mobile app or a website, people need to be able to access the information easily and quickly. This is where microcopy comes into play. It improves the user experience and makes the product more user friendly!

The UX writer will iterate multiple microcopies and find out the best-performing ones through rigorous testing. They will incorporate the data from user research into the microcopies and work with the product design team to provide a pleasant user experience.

Sometimes, a UX writer also has to take up the job responsibilities of a content strategist, planning how to make people more engaged with your content. As a result, a UX writer also needs to have sound knowledge and skills in multiple sectors.

Apart from the UX designer’s assistance, a content strategist plays an important role in this step. Sometimes, a UX writer has to play the role of content strategist and UX designer at the same time. Although these roles are not officially granted but as you know that UX writing involves the familiarity of multiple skills.

Refine Existing Copies

Aside from creating new microcopies, a UX writer will also evaluate and refine existing copies to let them perform better. The plan is to make your solution more user and business-centric.

They will check your existing copies for typos, clarity, correctness, and comprehension. A UX writer usually follows the rules of technical writing and as a result, will also pay attention to removing passive sentences and technical jargon.

The goal here is to make your microcopies readable and understandable to all your users regardless of their age or technical preferences. The writer will update the copies if they seem confusing, repetitive, or don’t reflect your brand persona.

Quality Testing

As I’ve mentioned earlier, a UX writer also needs to perform a series of tests to find out the best performing copies. Every copy has to go through rigorous quality testing before approval. These tests help the final product/copy to be flawless and better connect with end users.

UX writers also conduct A/B testing to find out the best-performing version of your product. Once the testing is done, the writer has to take insights from your stakeholders on the overall design and copies.

Monitoring and Updating The Prototype

The job of a UX writer doesn’t end when you launch the solution, Many companies release a beta version/prototype of the product to test and review it by volunteer beta testers. A UX writer has to take those insights into account and craft better copies for the official launch.

When the prototype is live, the UX writer’s task will be to identify any underlying issues and make improvements. After all the improvements are complete, the writer will again inform the stakeholders and wait for their approval.

Once all the decisions have been made, the writer will finalize the product and send it for publishing.

What Do UX Writers Write?

A microcopy is a small piece of text that is shown to users when they interact with an element of the product. The primary focus of a UX writer is to write microcopies that end-users interact with when they use your product.

What do UX Writers Write

A UX writer has to interact with every copy that builds up your entire user experience. Typically, a UX writer has the responsibility to write:

  • Landing page copies
  • Call To Action (CTA), button texts
  • Digital legal notices
  • Navigation menu items
  • Prompt messages
  • Onboarding instructions
  • Style guides
  • Error messages
  • Pop-up/push notification messages
  • Metadata (for the developers)

Questions a UX Writer Might Ask

When you meet a UX writer, they will probably ask you a set of questions to better understand your brand, industry, target audience, competition, and goals. What information does the customer need to know?

What is the customer trying to achieve? What is the conversion goal? Why does the customer act or react the way he does? Where do I need to add a call to action? What is the purpose of the page? What are the actions of the customer?

It’s better to be prepared beforehand so you can provide valuable insights to the writer:

  1. What are the goals of your product/business?
  2. How will your product help the customer?
  3. Who are the products for?
  4. How well can you describe your user persona?
  5. Why and when would the audience need your product?
  6. Which market trends are you following?
  7. How much does your audience want your product?
  8. What problems do your customers face and how do you plan to solve them?
  9. Do your existing copies match your brand persona?
  10.  Why should people bother using your solution?

Why Do You Need UX Writing?

UX writing helps create a clear and meaningful conversation between your product and the end user. It helps direct the user journey towards reaching your business goals.

UX writing can help you:

  • Empathize with the user
  • Add a human touch to your microcopies
  • Build better connections
  • Improve conversion and drive engagement
  • Create smoother interactions
  • Maintain a consistent brand persona
  • Provide a pleasant user experience
  • Acquire, keep, and retain more customers
  • Communicate brand values and messages clearly
  • Encourage end users to take action

John Groth
VIP Contributor
John Groth
UX/UI Design Specialist

An awarded designer who focuses on creating emotional connections with the end user through his design for a lasting impact. Active since 2008, John has worked with several companies ranging from startups to big corporations around the globe.

His design work mainly revolves around fully responsive websites, landing pages, web applications (SaaS products and dashboards), mobile apps, and interactive UX prototypes. But he also provides industry-leading front-end and WP development services.


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