4 Reasons Why Companies Care (or Should Care) About UX Writing
Why does UX writing matter? What difference can a few words here and there really make? Here are four reasons why companies care about UX writing (or why they should start caring if they don’t already).
1. Almost everyone has an app or website or uses another platform these days.
Does every business need a digital or online presence? For a lot of the businesses that once said no to that, the COVID-19 pandemic changed things. The mom-and-pop bodega needed people to be able to order goods online; the small-town dry cleaner needed to give customers a way to see their pricing and do contactless drop-offs and pickups.
Even if you’re not interested in developing a website, often you don’t have a choice these days if you want to stay ahead (or even just afloat). To do that and be able to handle online orders, delivery, and so on, a lot of businesses have turned to third-party platforms, such as point-of-sale systems, delivery apps (like Uber Eats, GrubHub, or Deliveroo), and eCommerce platforms (like Shopify, Etsy, Wix, and more).
But even if you get a built-for-you platform or one that’s “plug and play” (i.e., just fill in the details and save), you’re going to have to deal with the interface and the words—either to enter your items, make changes, or process orders. No matter what side you’re on—customer or vendor—the UX writing matters.
2. It’s how brands communicate with their customers.
You know what doesn’t scale? Picking up the phone and calling your customers. Sure, you can do it for the first 10, 20, 100. But at a certain point, if you need to ask questions or walk users through a process, you’re going to need to turn to a different method—most likely one involving UX writing, whether it’s an automated system email, a product tour, or a chatbot, to name a few examples.
Platforms, apps, and third-party integrations help brands free up resources to focus on what they are really trying to do, but in the process, they end up being the main form of communication that the brand has with its prospects or customers. In other words, the UX writing doesn’t just get the information and messages across; it also serves as the face of the brand.
3. There’s no user experience without it.
Picture a product—any product—without words. Does the right button on that pop-up save your work or erase everything you’ve done? Does the checkbox mean you’re signing up for some costly recurring charge that will be impossible to cancel? Or maybe you’re giving them permission to use your photo on their advertisements? Without words, you’ll simply never know. You can have the greatest design and the absolute best code—but if there are no words, your product can’t be used. It’s not a question of a good or bad user experience—there simply isn’t one without copy.
4. It supports an actual growth strategy.
Many companies these days are turning towards a strategy called Product-Led Growth (PLG). The idea behind PLG is that the product is at the center of the business strategy and it “sells” itself, through users discovering it, testing it out, and buying it on their own. If you want customers to be intrigued enough to test out your product and hooked enough to buy it (and then spread the word about it for you), lackluster or unclear UX copy isn’t going to cut it. The user experience has to be spot on, which means—surprise!—the copy does, too (see number 3 above).
More and more companies are realizing that they can no longer ignore UX writing and that “good enough” just isn’t…well, good enough if they want to attract leads, make meaningful connections, retain customers, and stay ahead of the competition. User experience is critical, and there’s no user experience without UX writing.
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