My sense of time has been warped for the last few years; what they say about time moving faster as you get older is proving to be true.

Still, the approach of the end of the year is always a good reminder to reflect on what’s been accomplished, learned, and enjoyed. UX is a constantly shifting field, and 2023 has introduced some interesting trends. The real question, though: Are they here to stay?

AI writing

With the introduction of ChatGPT, AI has becoming a default topic of conversation. (My article on using AI in UX Writing was the most popular of the year.)

Many creators on Medium and LinkedIn have talked about how AI is coming for our jobs. Is there truth to this, or is it good clickbait? I think the concern is valid, but the UXW world hasn’t collapsed yet.

In my experience, AI is a tool, not a replacement. It’s only as good as the context you give it and the prompts you provide.

Here to stay? Probably. Time will tell how much it integrates into our processes.

Content-first

A positive trend is the content-first approach. Most writers know the struggle of trying to get in on the action early in the process; many designers and PMs are beginning to realize that thinking about copy and information architecture earlier rather than later ends up creating a better outcome.

This doesn’t mean content needs to be perfect in the wireframe stage; it just means that asking the basic question of copy early on can have a strong influence.

Here to stay? Hopefully! The better we get being team players, the more we’ll be invited to those initial meetings and brainstorming sessions.

Sentence case

I personally prefer sentence case over title case; it reads cleaner, tends to be more legible, and is an easier rule to enforce. Many writers, however, prefer the visuals that capitalized words bring.

I’ve noticed more and more sites switching to sentence case and using grammatically proper punctuation. This could be in part to the increased attention to consistency and accessibility.

Here to stay? Well, it’s hard to tell. Standards for fonts, capitalization, and punctuation are more trendy than other choices. But I for one hope that this one sticks.

Emojis

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a push notification without an emoji. This isn’t anything new, but even web-based products are starting to integrate emojis into their copy.

Call me old fashioned, but I tend to think emojis are overused. It’s easy to tell when an emoji was thoughtfully added and when it was thrown on for consistency’s sake.

If you love emojis, fine. But limit yourself to one per section so that you’re not distracting users, or causing screen readers to go wild.

Here to stay? Probably for awhile. Let’s just keep this one contained, yeah?

Writing designers

Get ready for some controversy. How many articles have you read about whether UX Writers should design or — gasp — whether UX Designers should write?

My unpopular opinion is a soft yes. UX Writers need to know the basic principles of design, and UX Designers need to know the basics of microcopy.

I think a lot of pushback on this topic is due to job insecurity. If designers can write, what happens to us? At my current workplace, I’ve trained our team of designers to use the style guide, ask questions about the copy, and write the basics themselves. And guess what? I’m still here. Teaching your craft to others doesn’t make you irrelevant; it removes the veil of “magic” that UX Writing is, and helps them see the value.

Here to stay? It’s up to us. But I’d argue that sharing is caring.