What we talk about when we talk about content

UX writing is a fashionable term in design circles right now. That’s because proposes a new way to think about writing: It applies the goals of user experience design—that is optimizing the interactions between humans and machines—to copy and content.

Correctly done, UX writing produces clear and concise copy that guides users and ensures they have a smooth experience, a motivation very much in line with those of product designers.

However, UX writing is often thought about quite narrowly, in terms of items like confirmation messages, button labels, and other microcopy. That’s a shame, because we can apply the motivation much more broadly. Why should good writing be limited to functionality? We think that copy and content should support the entire design process.

So rather than busy ourselves with the exact distinction between a copywriter and a UX writer, let’s consider writing in a design context more broadly.
On their website, the American agency Mucho writes that “Good design is about transmitting meaning”. Although design is often thought about in terms of how something looks, it’s primarily about how it works and what it communicates.

If a client approaches us with a project, the deliverable at hand is often part of the bigger picture: They might want a new website to reposition themselves in the market. They might be looking for qualified employees and need to talk about their workplace. Or they’re looking to get funding for a bright idea.
What we end up working on never exists in a vacuum: It’s part of a wider strategic objective, and to be a successful design, it needs to do its part to help a client accomplish that objective. Our designs, in other words, need to help them make a point.

A good designer understands that: They are a communication consultant that can put themselves in the shoes of a client’s audience and anticipate what’s needed for them to get it. A skillful designer knows how to convey meaning using words, visuals, and functionality.

For all those reasons, we like to think of ourselves as a content-aware design studio: We think about content at the very start of a project, simply because words communicate most immediately. No matter if we design a website, campaign, or product, we start by drafting what we want to communicate. Then we create a barebones wireframes (almost entirely without designs!) that consist mostly of words on a canvas.

Our jumping-off point isn’t graphics, it’s meaning: What does the client want to transmit? What do they want users to take away? How do they want them to feel when using their product, visiting their website, or watching their video?

We find that this approach encourages both clients and ourselves to research and better understand audiences—because writing content for them must always mean understanding who they are first.

This approach squares well with the minimalist design ethic promoted by Dieter Rams—that “good design is as little design as possible”. In fact, we’ve found that putting words first makes for fast, lightweight designs where graphics, photos, and illustrations enhance the experience rather than bearing the full burden of communication.

Lastly, the focus on words and clear explainers is a boon to accessibility and SEO alike: When designing a web site, for example, it allows us to put all the relevant information on a page so that screen readers and crawlers understand it. We make sure images have descriptions and captions. We ensure that buttons aren’t just arrows and blocks but communicate what happens when you press them.

The non-profit Mozilla foundation once claimed that “the internet mostly consists of words”: The reasons is that words are the ideal foundation for a design project, and they ensure your project makes sense from conception to launch.