Andrew and Katrin come up with questions and answers. Pretty straight forward, but let's see what happens!
<aside> 💡 published in May, 2021.
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A: It's fun! After our first entry, I loved the positive reaction we received from so many people throughout the world. I wasn't expecting such a large response. But it's great to know there's interest in this space and that the concept is appealing. As UX writing grows internationally, there will be opportunities to share perspectives about what life is like within this role. I spoke about this recently, but I view it as a responsibility to share my thoughts. So many people want to break into this field, and there's such a demand for knowledge in various forms: blog posts, webinars, podcasts, courses, etc. I try to give back because I know I've been fortunate to enter and grow within this industry.
K: I am happy that the combination of Notion, Medium and LinkedIn is working out so smoothly. Sometimes Most of the times I have a very fixed idea about how a situation is going to be and then a technical problem will hit me. But not this time. Which is a total breeze!
As for the content and the reaction it received: could there be anything cooler than the feeling of having done something that resonates with others? It was so cool to hear such an outpour of praise for this idea's execution. So I guess we'll be keeping this up now.
K: This past year, oh wow, it was really disruptive. Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly. I am a very social person. And thanks to the privilege and the possibilities, I was given the opportunity to transfer this skill into the virtual space. Must have been 100+ virtual spaces, easily,into which I was able to enter during this year, meeting so many cool and inspiring folks near and far. Sometimes as the host, most of the time as an attendee, sometimes as both. My personality's writer side benefits from a more slowed down version of life while experiencing issues with the isolation that came with it. I certainly feel more creative than before, while I am also trying to focus on the positive changes this pandemic had on my life.
A: Oh, deep thoughts! Beyond my existence as a writer, I've changed as a person. I've thought more about what I value in my personal and professional lives. I've thought more about what I'll carry with me when we reach the other side of this situation. (Hopefully, we're close!) I'm more open and worldly. I doubt I would have met as many people virtually without the need to connect beyond my living space in the past year. I doubt I would have shared as much online without this disruption. Early in the pandemic, I began a habit of writing about 30 minutes each morning before work. These words take the form of LinkedIn posts, and I like to describe the entries as part of a professional diary. But through this routine, I've formed new relationships. I love interacting with other writers. I've had video chats with quite a few people I met because they read something I wrote. That's great! After the world opens a little more, I hope I'll continue habits I formed during this time and expand on them.
A: Messaging is my answer for about 80 percent of the time. I enjoy daily morning standups via video conferencing. That's a chance to see teammates and talk about tasks and blockers. But for most small things, I'd rather handle discussions over messaging. We don't talk enough about how video meetings are exhausting! I find them as or more draining than in-person meetings. Maybe I think too much, but there's a weird psychological angle for me with video calls. Where am I supposed to look when talking? What about when I'm not speaking? How is my background? Will people judge me if they know I'm looking at a different browser tab? Eek! So many things!
K: The oddball that rather will jump on a video call instead of just writing? That's me. I am also indeed judging Andrew (and others) each and every time when they are distracted. Which is so ironic because I am the very same! But you should totally and always try to look at the camera, Andrew ;) Messaging in Slack is ok, better for to-do lists, reminders, to have a backlog of things we agreed on, but the real connection will happen in (video) call meetings for me, and I need it to happen at some point of the conversation.
K: Being an ambivert, a person having both extrovert and introvert character qualities, this is really something I was doing a lot in person prior to the pandemic. During the last year, I moved most of my activities online which is so much fun since the audience is so different from crowds before. I love it. But I also need to recharge to be at my very best performance level again next time. I think it is safe to say that you get the hang of it by practicing it over and over and everytime it is getting easier. I have lived many "lives" when it comes to professions and jobs and always did public-speaking one way (PR and press, radio shows and magazine interviews) or the other (fundraising events or barcamps). Doing it as an advocate for the UX community brought a new sense of quality to the table, for sure.
A: I wish I did this more! It's good practice for presenting in meetings while on the job, interviewing for positions, etc. I'm an introvert at heart. I've worked hard in recent years to become more comfortable with public speaking. This is my view, but in the United States, extroverts are presented with more opportunities in the professional world. It makes sense. We lift people who are confident and can articulate their thoughts well in public. That translates to career success. But we don't recognize how hard it is for introverts to "fight" their personalities to try to do something that's natural for extroverts. So I'd say much of my public speaking is about personal improvement. I also enjoy recreating parts of my journalism life. In that career, I wrote opinion pieces on the internet and appeared on TV and radio shows. I've tried to find chances to do the same thing in the UX writing space with webinars, Medium essays, podcast appearances, and places like this! I love sharing my career journey and talking about transitions into UX writing. I hope I can continue to be a voice in that area for years to come.
A: Buckle in! We'll see growth we can't imagine right now. It's almost stunning how many new positions have bubbled up in the past two years. I can't fathom what five years from now will look like. I hope we see more specialization. In my job, I write microcopy, edit support articles, and build product videos. In 10 years, I can't imagine most UX writers—or whatever we call ourselves then—will be doing all those things at the same time. Also, I see a need for people who create content systems that guaranteed consistency throughout an ecosystem. Think a UI designer but with a content bent. As a UX writer, I'd love to be able to plug-and-play content that I know is consistent with my company's messaging. Inconsistencies can happen if multiple writers try to articulate things. I'd love to have one source of truth that I could trust for impactful messaging, and it could be someone's job to make sure consistency is maintained throughout multiple experiences.