Fuelling a new passion: UX Writing

If you go through my recent posts on LinkedIn, you'll find them to mostly be articles on UX writing, User experience and Microcopy. This is a new skill that I have honed and now added to my repertoire. (Open to working on new projects too!)

Before I started working in tech, I already was looking to segue into the industry but with more than just communications expertise, UX writing seemed like the logical route since I already do almost all other types of writing. A UX researcher friend, Lade Tawak shared some resources with me and I started, I worked on a small project for an SME brand but that didn’t take off but one resuming at ESL, I got drafted into a ‘sprint’ and my task there was UX writing so I took it seriously, currently working on another exciting side project and it’s been so much fun learning to write in other ways.

I find UX writing to be fun because like poetry (which I love and write as a hobby), it is saying so much with so little words, also because it aims to help users have a better experience (I love helping people). Being a UX writer has made me aware of how important tone and voice is in brand communication, I can now go through a brand's messaging and figure out what their brand tone persona is.

I am very interested in User experience and I have made a number of suggestions to make our products better at work, I just started reading ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ by Don Norman and I’ll be reviewing and presenting it in my office book club ‘The Mindreaders’, maybe I’ll share the slides online.

I am now doing design thinking and amateur design with Canva, thanks to tips and resources from my designer friends. I'm looking at writing a post about some Canva design tips on my medium, I'll share them here too. I have joined design communities such as 'SheDesigns' and the Female Designer Movement to network and learn design. As someone who has never been able to draw a straight line, this is very exhilarating.

Here are some designs I made using Canva

In learning and working, I now know how to use my empathy to help users have a better experience while interacting with our products, write inclusive copies and also become a better communicator (person). I am also understanding how to test my words and because I do other types of writing; how to switch without causing a glitch.

In all, I can't wait to see what these spell for my career and I look forward to updating my portfolio. Let's all stay tuned, shall we?

Some of the things in this post are covered in my 2019 Q1 life update on my medium, you can read it here.