I solved something the other day.
That shouldn’t be a rare thing; as UX Writers, it’s our job to find little solutions to persistent problems. There’s a constant back and forth that works towards creating the simplest copy possible.
I was struggling with a setting for about a week. It just wouldn't work. I tried reorganizing it. Rephrasing. Placing it elsewhere on the page. Wondering if the setting needed to exist. Nothing — it just didn’t make sense when we showed it to users.
It’s a small thing, but I stumbled on a solution by “looking at it differently.” Sounds obvious — Just try it another way — but we’re entrenched in our own ways of thinking. I can’t easily view something from a new perspective; I’m blinded by my current one.
A few tricks have helped me get out of my own echo chamber, though, and see solutions from a new light.
Coediting (Writers)
At my previous company, I was the sole UX Writer. At the company before that, there were around 40 of us.
Now, I have a close-knit group of professionals who are all passionate and good at writing, and care about helping each other. We’re able to deep dive into projects instead of sharing for 5 minutes and hoping for a collective solution.
Sharing can be uncomfortable if you haven’t already learned to partially divorce yourself from your work. (Another obvious statement: You should be proud of your work, but sometimes it’s going to be garbage. That’s okay. Doesn’t mean you’re a garbage writer.)
Opening yourself up to feedback — another pair of eyes — can get you out of that ever-so-dreaded tunnel vision.
Coediting (Stakeholders)
Work with the people around you who aren’t writers. “Stakeholder alignment,” or whatever you want to call it.
What is your PM trying to convey? Why has the designer chosen to structure it that way? When you talk it out, you’ll realize that there are often discrepancies in how you’re viewing a feature. And that’s okay! Different views are what you need to solve the problem.
Coediting (Others)
Sometimes it helps to go to someone who has no idea what you’re talking about.
Sometimes that’s going to your spouse or friend, sharing a screen and asking What do you understand from this? What do you think it means?
Yeah, your user will probably have more context than that. And the environment is important. But if you’re struggling with a specific section, it can help to look at it in isolation. Specifically, it can help to ask someone who knows absolutely nothing about your product what they think it means.
Words and phrases and ideas and mental models will pop up that you haven’t considered before.
Leave it (Alone)
And finally: Walk away. Work on something else. Grab coffee with a coworker. Do a load of laundry. Just…stop staring at the Figma file.
“A fresh of eyes” can be your own, if you give them time.
I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth repeating: You’re not going to strike gold the first time.
I’m in the final semester of my MFA program, and the main thing I’ve learned — as simple as it is — is that you can’t edit a blank page. Get the garbage out first. Draft it. Write things that you know won’t work. Walk away and come back. It makes room for the good stuff.
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