What Does a UX Writer Do?
A UX writer creates and implements written content for digital products to enhance the user experience. They work with UX designers, product managers, and developers to ensure a seamless user experience for websites, mobile apps, software interfaces, and other digital products.
In addition to writing, they conduct user research, develop content strategies and tone of voice guidelines, and edit and revise copy for clarity and accessibility while continuously testing and looking for opportunities to improve users’ experience.
Verbal communication and presentation skills are essential for a successful UX writer, as they are often required to effectively present their findings to the development team and various stakeholders.
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National Average Salary
UX writer salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. To explore salary ranges by local market, please visit our sister site zengig.com.
The average U.S. salary for a UX Writer is:
$115,420
UX Writer Job Descriptions
When it comes to recruiting a UX writer, having the right job description can make a big difference. Here are some real world job descriptions you can use as templates for your next opening.
Example 1
UX writers are responsible for writing content for apps, products, and web experiences. They have to think like end-users and consumers and come up with a strategy that is intuitive, easy to understand, and in line with the goals of the product. UX writers must have superb writing and editing skills, be excellent collaborators, and be able to work independently in a fast-paced environment. [Your Company Name] is hiring an experienced UX writer to take our business to the next level. If you have experience writing clear and concise content for web/mobile products, emails, landing pages, or editorial content, you might be a perfect fit for a role as a UX writer at our company!
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Conduct competitive analyses of other websites that operate in the same space
- Prepare customer analysis based on target demographics and initial transactions
- Participate in creating a content development strategy
- Coordinate with the UI design team on issues like navigation, page routing, product page design, etc.
- Track usability goals and prepare reports for senior management
- Develop mockups for the development and design teams
- Conduct usability tests on each independent type of page on the website and create a report showcasing the findings
Education and experience
- Bachelor’s degree in computer design, development, engineering, or a related field required
Required skills and qualifications
- Superior knowledge of Adobe products
- Excellent computer skills
- Experience preparing detailed competitive and consumer analyses
- Ability to be flexible and work long hours
Preferred qualifications
- Strong strategic, creative, and conceptual abilities as demonstrated by an outstanding portfolio
- Adept at synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data to guide editorial recommendations and content
- Empathetic and critical thinker
- Proficient in Microsoft Office and Keynote
- Excellent communicator with strong presentation skills
- Have the drive and acuity to effectively handle pressure and responsibility
Example 2
ABC Company is in growth mode and currently seeking a UX Writer to work with our Product Design team!
As a UX Writer (internally known as Content Designer), you will define the voice and tone of ABC Company products, ensuring consistency across our products and platform. The UX Writer works collaboratively with Engineering, Service Delivery, and Design to make and document technical decisions and design assumptions.
What will you be involved in?
- Provide product copy and functionality notes for wireframes with UX designers
- Review completed copy and contextual information in mockups with UI designers
- Partner with UX designers and researchers to collect user feedback and conduct tests to optimize product content
- Answer questions from engineering as needed to ensure successful implementation of product designs
- Focus on written product content and organize content guidelines into a clear and understandable format
- Analyze existing content, focusing on reuse opportunities and value for the audience
- Create and maintain a comprehensive library of reference guidelines, standards, and workflows
What type of person are you?
- Ability to deliver high-quality content for product user interfaces with attention to detail
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Proven track record of collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams
- Proven ability to present projects and status reports to management
What skills do you bring?
- 2-3 years of relevant work experience
- A strong portfolio of written work that shows business impact and results
- Some familiarity with methodologies such as Agile, Design Thinking, Lean UX, and Lean Startup
- Familiarity with rapid prototyping tools, like Figma, Framer, InVision, or similar; Figma preferred
- Familiarity with maintaining an online documentation repository using either a Content Management System or a static web site generator and hosting
- Bachelor’s degree in English, Communications, Journalism, or a related field, or equivalent work experience
Example 3
What you’ll do:
- Create intuitive copy that helps users navigate with ease through digital products. This might include menus, definitions, buttons, labels, chatbots, and error messages
- Instruct first-time users through a product with intuitive microcopy
- Help shape the brand voice for our clients and their products
- Collaborate with our ABC Company thought leaders to produce meaningful content for our client community and our peers in the industry
- Contribute to and help implement style guides and shared language
- Manage and prioritize work across multiple projects simultaneously
What you need to be successful:
- 4+ years of experience with digital products and brands
- A solid knowledge of UX writing principles and processes
- Ability to articulate your thoughts and work with others to bring ideas to life
- Understanding of the importance of testing and iterating on work
- Attention to detail and commitment to delivering quality work
- Can become an expert on our products, distilling complex ideas down into language that’s approachable
- Comfort with presenting your work and explaining your thinking
- Have a dedicated passion for user-focused product experiences
Example 4
We are currently sourcing for a UX Writer to work at ABC Company!
Are you an agile, digital-first problem solver who’s adept at UX writing and content strategy, and is passionate about providing outstanding digital experiences for customers? If yes, ABC Company currently has an opening for you!
As a member of the Content Management team, you’ll create content that’s conversational, human-first, and accessible. In this role, you’ll focus on our Employer Digital platform, making connections across multiple products and teams to create meaningful, cohesive experiences that help employers work more efficiently and better service their employee needs.
The expertise you have
- Experience in digital content design, UX writing, and/or content strategy
- A curiosity about knowing how to ask the right questions of product and business owners to clarify processes and communicate them back to users in language they understand
- Proven track record of defining, socializing, testing, iterating on, and delivering outstanding digital experiences
- Experience in financial services or another industry that is complex, multi-channel, and regulated
- Experience with cross-functional collaboration in a client-centric, fast-paced environment with agile teams preferred
The skills you bring
- Adept at using language that is compelling, concise, and friendly to simplify complex interactions and guide a user through a digital experience
- Meticulous with an ability to balance multiple workstreams simultaneously
- Organized self-starter who’s passionate about keeping progress moving forward, not only for yourself but for the entire team
- Comfortable defending your content decisions with executives and legal, and can negotiate edits with diplomacy and an open mind
- Willing to jump into different roles, outside of your job description, with an eye to the future of digital content design
- Uses data and analytics to find opportunities for improving the customer experience
- Can build credibility and trust with peers and executives, and enjoys working in a complex organization with multiple decision-makers
- Values pace over perfection, enjoys big picture and hands-on work, and has a proven track record of projects that achieve tangible results
The value you deliver
- Driving the content strategy, content creation, and best practices that are critical in helping users complete transactions
- Collaborating with designers, researchers, developers, and other partners to write and test user-focused content that guides customers through an experience, while maintaining ABC Company’s tone and voice
- Influencing a test, learn, and optimize approach to content development where you’ll make informed decisions on the topics, tone, language, and delivery of content
- Developing and evolving ideas via ongoing dialogue with partners and senior leaders that brings together client needs, emerging technology, financial trends, and ABC Company’s enterprise goals
- Working across teams to deliver a cohesive customer experience across products and channels
- Championing content strategy standards across the teams you support
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- UX Writing Fundamentals Certification – This self-paced certification course, offered by the UX Content Collective, gives candidates a deeper understanding of essential design and writing best practices, team collaboration, and deliverables. Lessons include working with voice and tone, writing for UI components, creative UX writing, and working with teams. Each lesson comes with practice work that is submitted for grading. After completing all the lessons, candidates must pass the final exam to earn certification.
- UX Writing Academy certificate – The UX Writing Academy training program offers expert instruction, one-on-one career coaching, live weekly meetings, and real-world experience for candidates looking to become UX writers. They can learn how to create apps and websites, using words to create impactful digital experiences that give users value. This 6-month program contains 4 phases: The UX Writing Boot Camp, UX Writing Research, Content-First Product Design, and Real Industry Project where candidates will work with a real company under the guidance of a UX mentor.
How to Hire a UX Writer
When hiring a UX writer, first consider the following:
- Recruiting: Do you have the knowledge, tools, and resources to attract and screen candidates?
- Complexity: Do you need a senior professional, or will mid or junior-level skills and experience suffice?
- Duration: Is this a one-time project or an ongoing need?
- Management: Do you have the time and expertise to direct the work effectively?
- Urgency: How soon does the work need to be completed?
- Headcount: Do you have the budget and approval for an internal employee, or should you consider alternate options?
Answering these questions will help determine the best course of action for your current hiring need. Fortunately, great options exist for every scenario. These are our recommendations:
1. Use 4 Corner Resources (or another professional recruiting firm)
The heavy lifting is done for you when working with a top-tier staffing company like 4 Corner Resources. We source, screen, recruit, and deliver only the most qualified candidate(s), saving you significant time and effort throughout the hiring process while you remain focused on your core business. Understanding your needs and ensuring the right candidate for the position is the key to our success.
This is the best route to take when:
- You need to fill the position quickly
- You want access to a vast talent pool of high-quality, prescreened candidates
- Your position is suited for temporary hiring services, contract staffing, or contract-to-hire recruiting, and you intend to direct the work activity.
- You are hiring an employee as a direct placement but aren’t able to recruit effectively or efficiently with your internal staff.
- You aren’t familiar with current salary rates, market trends, and available skill sets
2. Hire an experienced freelancer
The freelance, or gig, economy continues to grow, with more talent available daily. Freelancers provide high-quality work without a long-term commitment. They can offer you a fresh perspective, more flexibility, and increase efficiency. While the freelance market isn’t ideal for every position, UX writers are often a great fit.
We recommend this option when:
- Your need is project-based
- The work can be performed remotely
- You do not intend to direct the daily work activity
- You are hiring for expertise your internal team does not possess
- You do not require an employee to work onsite or follow a specific schedule
When hiring a UX writer, we recommend using Upwork.
Upwork
Upwork is a freelance talent network that helps individuals connect with experts in a variety of fields to accomplish project-based needs. When you have a specific, well-defined goal in mind, this can be a great path to hiring an experienced UX writer. If you are satisfied with the outcome you can continue to book the same freelancer through Upwork’s easy-to-use project interface.
3. Advertise your opening on a top job board
Your best option may be to advertise your opening on a proven job board. There are many widely used job sites out there that draw visits from qualified candidates. If you have someone internally who can dedicate the time and energy to sort through applications and screen individuals effectively, this can be a great choice.
We recommend using a job board when:
- Your internal recruiting team has the knowledge and experience to assess candidate qualifications
- You are hiring a direct employee and have time to manage the entire recruiting effort
- You have a process for receiving, screening, and tracking all resumes and applications
- You are prepared to respond to all applicants
We recommend CareerBuilder when hiring a UX writer:
CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder has been a trusted source for hiring since 1995. Reach 80+ million unique, diverse U.S. job seekers annually by posting your jobs through their talent acquisition channels. Through CareerBuilder, you can engage candidates and drive them into your sourcing pipeline. We recommend using CareerBuilder for hiring when you have the internal resources and processes to review, screen, and reply to all applicants.
4. Leverage your internal resources
You can utilize your own website, social media, and employees to assist in your search for top candidates.
A company website posting should be the first step in notifying prospective candidates that you are hiring. Social media can also be a powerful tool for spreading the word about your new opening. As far as exposure is concerned, this option can be as good as some job boards when you have a large enough following across various platforms, like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.
Current employees are every organization’s greatest asset. Encourage your internal team to promote job openings to their network by offering cash and other incentives.
We recommend these options when:
- Your brand has great name recognition
- You can consistently monitor and respond to candidate activity through your website and social media accounts
- You have a process in place to quickly and broadly communicate job openings and requirements
- You have an effective employee referral program in place
If you aren’t sure which path is best, schedule a discovery call today with our seasoned recruiting professionals. The 4 Corner team is on standby to help you find the best option for your unique hiring need.
Sample Interview Questions
- Why do you want to be a UX writer?
- What do you enjoy most about writing and creating content?
- Which skills do you think are important to do well in this role?
- What types of copy have you written?
- What are some qualities that make you a good UX Writer?
- What’s the UX writing presentation process look like?
- How are UX writing interviews different from copywriting or content writing interviews?
- What was the best UX writing project you’ve worked on?
- What is a typical UX writing interview loop?
- What would you change about our product copy?
- What do you consider the most overlooked feature of a product?
- How do you keep up to date on industry trends?
- How do you manage people’s expectations of UX writing?
- How do you come up with original ideas?
- Do you have any experience in product design?
- How do you know what content works for a particular consumer?
- What is the best way to consistently keep the company tone of voice while also improving the user experience?
- Which product would you like to write copy for?