A few years ago, big companies like Google, Dropbox, PayPal, and Amazon began the search for talented, knowledgeable writers who could produce brand-specific copy for the company’s online platform, knowing the words users read as they navigated through an app or website would directly influence their impression of the product brand. Since then, the role of the UX Writer has taken off as one of the most crucial professional positions in the field.

UX writers do more than just produce text for an interface, however. Like any UX professional, they must research their user demographic, create content that directly reaches users, and then be able to defend their design choices down to the word.

UX Writers are involved in every aspect of user communication.

These professionals create the ‘content design,’ or text, that users encounter from landing page to checkout, including obvious copy like login pages, headlines, instructional text, and logout messages, and more subtle content like subscription buttons, loading screens, taglines, and navigation screens. As they are designing these visuals and verbal cues, UX writers must also know how to communicate helpful, concise information that pertains to those who are using the platform.

UX Writers create a user-brand conversation.

Beyond just being helpful, UX writers must also have intimate knowledge of the brand mission and message, as well as the emotions, thoughts, and reactions that their users might feel as they navigate through the interface. With this research in mind, they then must choose words–whether they only need 2 or whether they need 500–that facilitate conversation and trust between users and the company.

Content designers want to minimize their users’ doubts, explain errors, provide simple yet useful instructions, and make their users smile. Avoiding clinical, robotic language and distant copy is absolutely key to creating successful UX writing.

 Which means that localized copy is crucial.

UX writers must know what kind of copy language is culturally relevant, and likewise, what vocabulary or phrasing could be considered offensive, off-putting, or unnecessary. For example, as we described in a previous post, vocabulary used to refer to “accommodation” in England are not the same as words used in the U.S. or Singapore. UX Writers must recognize these disparities and create differentiated copyfrom the wireframe stage of development to the final launch of the product.

UX Writers call their users to action – and then comfort them.

Brands want to use consistent verbs in the active voice that also encourage their users to act. Creating a set of “brand-relevant vocabulary” that is always used to describe similar actions makes users feel more comfortable as they complete tasks online, while pushing them to take the next step in their journey.

Effective writers also know when users want to be able to scan text quickly versus when they want assurance that they’ve made a good choice. Buttons like “saved successfully!” and “we’re sorry” are friendlier and more conversational than the standard “upload complete” or “apologies for the inconvenience.”

In general, users want to encounter human language that anticipates their needs. They want to read titles, buttons, and instructional descriptions that quickly and successfully provide them with the information they want. As a result, UX writers must know how to produce effective copy that speaks to their company’s brand and to its users at the same time, all the while maintaining a friendly, helpful conversation between product provider and consumer.