My Writers in Tech podcast (summary)

Because audio content isn’t for everyone

As a content person, I believe it’s valuable to deliver content in different media. I was recently interviewed on a few podcasts and would like to share them as blog posts for those who prefer not to consume audio content. This is not going to be transcripts, rather summaries of the conversations. Hope you enjoy!

The Business of UX Writing with Yuval Keshtcher on Writers in Tech

Below is a summary of the episode that dropped on December 27, 2022.

The book

After reaching consensus on baseline best practices, as a global content design community, we reached a place where we were able to start deep diving into specialized areas — the business aspect had a void and so I started getting into it. A 20-minute talk turned into a 40-minute talk became a 2-hour master class and eventually I wrote a book! Read the book if you’d like :)

Measuring success

Quantitative metrics include things like A/B copy test results. But quantitative isn’t always possible and also, will only tell you the “what” and not the “why”. Therefore, showcasing positive impact requires mixed methodology. For example, if your A/B test looks great and more users are doing a thing, if they’re doing it for the wrong reason, it’s likely you haven’t actually achieved the true business goal.

But let’s back up a second… first and foremost, measuring success starts with defining success. Don’t be afraid as the content designer to ask for business context. We need to keep asking questions until we really know what we’re solving for instead of being asked to write the words for a predetermined solution.

Help me help you

Stakeholders don’t always understand our potential for impact. “Help me help you”, stakeholders, by giving me the problem and letting me provide the content design solution. Take inspiration from Greta van der Merwe who’s said, instead of “Bring me in earlier and I can deliver better work”, to “If you bring me in early I can deliver A; if you bring me in later I can deliver B— which would you like, A or B?” Reframe the conversation so that all stakeholders, including the content designer, feel like they are on the same side.

KAPOW

This is my UX writing framework to maximize return on investment (ROI). The acronym KAPOW can help remind you how to maximize impact:

• Know your goals
• Articulate solutions
• Prioritize options
• Own your metrics
• Write

Read the book for what I mean by all that :)

The future

In content design, I think we’re going to start specializing more. There will be content designers who are accessibility experts, conversation design experts, experts on the impact on business, etc. I think the future of education in the field is going to be more advanced material and more specific career paths.

In tech, I don’t think what’s going on right now with the mass layoffs etc., is going to affect content design any differently than anyone else. And I think it’s part of a cycle that has ups and downs — now we’re down and later, we’ll be up again. It’s a natural, temporary dip, and not a kind of once in a lifetime traumatic crisis, ending of an era, or anything like that. But I’m no economist so what do I know?