The Hub blog
Discover the UX Writer role with Mélanie!
Are you familiar with UX Writing? Mélanie, an experienced UX Writer in the Tags community, tells you about this discipline that’s still little known in France.
> Who are you and what do you do day to day?
I’m Mélanie Michou, UX Writer! My job is to create or improve the user experience of a digital product through content.
Day to day:
- I work very closely with the design, product and development teams. The idea is to collaborate so we understand users’ goals and needs together, in order to offer them the best possible journey.
- I design a platform’s content based on user research, data and usability tests.
- I use the right words — the ones that both make things easier for users and help the company I work for reach its business goals!
> What’s your background, and how did you get into UX Writing?
I have just over 5 years’ experience in content. I first studied at CELSA, a communications school with a strong focus on sociology and research. My first job was at BETC, a big advertising agency, where I was an editorial project manager. I helped companies find their voice: one that would set them apart and let them speak to their customers better, in a more human, personalised way. I worked for great brands such as AccorHotels, Crédit Agricole, Europcar, EDF… And above all, I learnt an enormous amount, which I still use every day!
After that experience, I went freelance as a Copywriter. In 3 years, I worked for more than 50 different clients, in sectors ranging from banking to wellness, by way of spirits! The common thread in most of these experiences was my love of words and their power. I was increasingly being called in to build or optimise web platforms through words, and at the same time I was discovering the UX Writer role, still not very developed in France.
I decided to take on more engagements matching this role, working within product teams as often as possible: PMs, POs, designers, developers… I also earned Google’s UX Design certificate, to get a better grasp of the tools and technical aspects of the job.
> The key skills of a UX Writer?
The UX Writer role is very well-rounded — that’s what makes it interesting, but also challenging.
I think you need to have a passion for words and a strategic vision of content, be very curious and want to solve complex problems.
If I had to list the main skills:
- Knowing how to write simply and effectively
- Design thinking: UX Writers are designers of words, using the same work processes as designers.
- Content strategy: how to solve UX problems with the right words
- Knowing how to run user research and testing: in UX Writing, you don’t write intuitively, you consciously choose the right words thanks to data and the research you’ve carried out!
- And finally, more technical skills, such as understanding tools like Figma
> How is it different from a copywriter?
It’s quite a different job, even though you can be a copywriter and later become a UX Writer: you just need to train for the role and change your lens!
- The main difference is the type of role: the copywriter is a marketer, whereas the UX Writer is a designer working within a product/design team.
- Where the UX Writer aims for writing that’s as simple and concise as possible, the copywriter turns to words that attract consumers. The UX Writer addresses users, while the copywriter talks to customers!
- The copywriter aims to sell through words, whereas the UX Writer wants to improve the user journey. The end goal may also be sales, depending on the product they’re working on.
- The copywriter works with storytelling: good stories sell! The UX Writer, on the other hand, seeks to have a conversation with the user. Imagine an app is like a person guiding you through your task: its content creates a conversation with you, to smooth your journey and help you reach your goal.
- And finally, the last difference lies in ways of working. While the copywriter can work alone, writing their content in their own corner, the UX Writer always works as part of a team, iterating with the designers. Day to day, there’s a lot of interaction with the company’s other teams: marketing, sales, customer success…
> What do you love most about your job?
What I love most about being a UX Writer is precisely the richness of the job day to day: never a dull moment! The tasks are very varied, from research to design, by way of testing, workshops and meetings with other teams…
It’s also exciting to be a UX Writer in France today, because everything is still being built. In the US, every tech company has its own team of UX Writers. Here, you can join a company and be the first person doing this job: the impact is huge!
> What’s the hardest part?
The fact that the role is fairly new in France also turns out to be a real challenge. You have to evangelise teams about what you do and how you work. Sometimes we’re asked to simply translate texts, or people will give their opinion on the chosen wording, with feedback like “I don’t like this word”.
Fortunately, every choice is justified, since we rely on data and research to write!
> Your experience with dgitags.io?
I was brought in by Digitags for a two-month freelance engagement. I was the first UX Writer to join Crédit Agricole’s digital factory, to create a new app and a new innovative service!
Very quickly, and after tailored support from dgitags.io, I was integrated into a team made up of a PO, a UX Designer, a UI designer and a developer. Within 3 weeks, we had carried out our first research and the outline of the app was taking shape!
> Resources to go further?
Want to find out more about the UX Writer role? I recommend this compilation of articles on the subject, or the wonderful book by Gladys Diandoki.
Finally, feel free to add me and follow me on LinkedIn to talk UX Writing :)
