The Most Overlooked Skill By Aspiring Designers

Hint: It’s the art of UX Writing

Really? Are you sure? Where would you find such a woman?

I have many personal anecdotes of miscommunication that have become running jokes. Like when I once sent someone a message that my friend will come to the airport to ‘Lick them up’! What I had meant was ‘Pick them up’. You see, this is what happens when you respond to messages at 4 AM in the morning after a 26 hour transatlantic flight.

But in my case, I figured out my mistake, and told them my friend isn’t that kind of a man. But what happens when people don’t or can’t?

For example, the sentence in the banner above — “Antique Desk Suitable for Lady with Thick Legs and Large Drawers”. Should we assume that the lady must have thick legs and large drawers, or perhaps, what the writer intended, the desk has thick legs and large drawers( courtesy, June Casagrande in the book “It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences.”)

Wait, why am I talking about writing in a design post?

I’m bringing this up because words or the copy makes a design meaningful, or sticky. But — without meaning to offend a designer’s voracious appetite to learn — I come across designers who obsess about learning new and popular design tools. They think that having the knowledge of the latest, and the greatest tools will make them indispensable.

However when I ask them a simple question — “do you know how to communicate your ideas through writing?”, I often get a flabbergasted look from them. And I know why I get this reaction.

A lot of designers think that design means creating aesthetically pleasing interfaces — nothing wrong with this (partial) definition, but it’s not just that.

You see, design is about solving problems — it’s not art per se but has the potential to be it. Once you understand the problem, you not only need to figure out elegant solutions but need skills to articulate the solution in a language that’s easy to understand by its users. And that is done with the help of effective UX writing.

It wouldn’t be enough to just say that UX writing is an important skill for every designer. I know you wouldn’t believe me.

So here is an incredible story about the impact of UX…