The Top 4 Challenges of Being a Freelance UX Writer (and What You Can Do About Them)
As I’ve written before, there’s so much to love about being a freelance UX writer, from the diversity of the projects to the fairly consistent nature of the work. But it’s definitely not all fun and games all the time. Whether you’re a long-time freelancer taking your first steps in UX writing or someone who is leaving full-time employment to go freelance, here are a few challenges to be aware of. (And hopefully together, we can make freelance UX writing better for writers, companies, and users…!)
1. You don’t get to know the whole product or organization.
As a freelance UX writer, you were probably brought in by a specific department or team, such as the product team or a particular squad. Even if you communicate with them regularly or go into the office occasionally, you likely won’t be in most standups or product roadmap meetings. You won’t be able to catch someone in the hallway for a quick chat. In short, you’re probably getting access to only a small part of the product, workflow, team, and thought processes of those who are directly involved in the product design and development, which means, unfortunately, your understanding of the product is narrower.
What you can do about it:
Be proactive and ask to be introduced to different teams, such as customer success, marketing/content, etc. Even if the whole team can’t meet with you, there’s value in getting face time with a representative or two and reminding them that you’re there to support them and happy to touch base once in a while, even if you’re not working together directly.
Schedule regular check-in calls (even 15 minutes!), where the team shares what they’re working on and their longer-term vision and roadmap.
2. It’s hard to do research, test, and measure KPIs.
As an outsider who’s not an employee of the organization, you probably won’t have access to all the internal communication platforms, project management software, and business intelligence dashboards that in-house UX writers typically do. You won’t have direct access to prospects and users to conduct your own tests and research either. This can make it difficult to get the full picture and measure the KPIs that matter most to the client and that impact the product and user experience.
What you can do about it:
Introduce yourself to the UX researcher or the team responsible for research, and make sure they know that you’re around and interested in being part of the conversation.
Ask to be part of their research efforts, even just sitting in on occasional user testing or getting the reports/findings afterwards.
Conduct your own research, even on a small scale with people around you or Facebook or LinkedIn groups. (Just make sure you’re not sharing anything confidential, and keep in mind that your sample may not be representative of the product’s user base.)
3. There’s no guarantee that your changes will actually be implemented.
As freelancers in any industry know, just because a client hired—and even paid—you doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily use your work or use it the way you created and intended it. Ultimately it’s up to the client to make sure your UX copy makes it to production, and they may choose to put it on hold or change it on their own, without involving you. This can be frustrating whether you’re looking for exposure and samples for your portfolio or you want to protect the integrity of your work because you put significant thought and effort into it.
What you can do about it:
Keep the communication channels open with the client so they feel that you’re part of the team.
Ask them to involve you in the edits and offer to do an additional round of reviews after they’ve finalized it.
4. Your workflow may be inconsistent.
As I’ve written before, in my experience, freelance UX writing can offer more consistency than other types of freelance writing, given that products are constantly evolving and that it therefore makes sense to keep the same writer on hand to see a product through its different iterations.
That said, as a freelancer, you’ll probably find yourself working with various clients, each with their own product needs, organizational culture, and preferred way of doing business. You’re often juggling projects of different lengths and scopes, each with its own ebbs and flows—for example, when a big new feature is being released versus regular maintenance. This can make it challenging to plan your schedule and understand your workload.
What you can do about it:
Set up retainers that are based on a certain (or minimum) number of tasks, projects, or hours so you’re not on a constant rollercoaster and so you can commit to clients up front.
Set up rough blocks/slots for different clients (certain days and times – e.g., Mondays and Wednesdays, between 1:00 and 3:00 pm), so they know when you’ll be available and focused on their tasks.
There are still a lot of kinks to be worked out when it comes to freelance UX writing, but with enough preparation, initiative, and good communication, you can make things a lot smoother for both yourself and your clients.
Looking to break into freelance UX writing? Join the waitlist for the next cohort of UX to Success, the only program for freelance writers who want to get their start in the exciting world of UX writing.
