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- Words and Spells: A Special Harry Potter UX Writing Edition 🧙♂️
Words and Spells: A Special Harry Potter UX Writing Edition 🧙♂️
Issue #262 (Jan 24th, 2024)
Yuval Keshtcher
January 24, 2024
Words and Spells: A Special Harry Potter UX Writing Edition 🧙♂️
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
As UX Writers and content designers, it's our responsibility to reveal to product teams the real magic of product communication.
Let's shed some light on this topic with a Lumos spell and dive right into it.
Accio readers!
WHAT’S INSIDE ✍️
Have you taken the Salary Survey? Help us help you! Take it now
Learn more about the power behind the words we use! ✏️
A spellbinding episode of Writers in Tech with Jared Spool 🎤
Get your FREE ticket to join a special talk with Jon Yablonski 🎟️
See what Yuval would look like as Harry Potter (thanks, Midjourney) 🧙♂️
A chance to chat with “Harry Potter” GPT style 🙊
Articles 📰
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” - Albus Dumbledore
Source: Midjourney
No doubt, Dumbledore was right about this. What we do with words may not be actual magic, but for others, it can create a magical experience. We’ve rounded up a few great articles about the words we use. 👇
Podcast 🎧
“Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff” -Hogwarts student body
We don’t have any Harry Potter-themed episodes of Writers in Tech…but Yuval did sit down with Jared Spool, who is, by all accounts, a real Wizard of UX research.
Listen in to learn more about the importance of good UX and the difference a little research can make. 👇
Community Spotlight 🔦
“Fame’s a fickle friend Harry” -Gilderoy Lockhart
Solid advice, but in this case, it’s always great to be known for your stellar contributions to our Facebook group Microcopy and UX Writing ✍️.
Thanks to Heather for this. Her take on voice and tone is perfect!
Don’t forget to take the time to explain voice and tone to your team. It can be instrumental in helping everyone who writes for the product.
Microcopy 🤏
“Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" - Fred Weasley
What better way to test our talents than to get out there and do some writing? If you’re looking to visit the Wizarding World, you’ll find this copy from Universal Studios.
Here are a few thoughts that came to mind…
Love that we used cards to chunk the information for the user.
In the interest of readability, might we be best off using the left justification for the copy?
“Trip Tip” is cute and caught my attention.
The word “explore” is unique. Using it in two places and for two different purposes on this screen could be confusing. Perhaps a different word would even be more impactful for getting users to make what I assume is a very important decision to learn more about the tickets.
“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” - Albus Dumbledore
When it comes to this issue, we’ve been glad to see that more and more UX writers are reporting that they’re getting invites with editing permissions!
If this is still happening to you, here are a few tips:
If you haven’t already, brush up your Figma skills so that you can make meaningful contributions directly in the file.
Wiggle your way into the design meetings. Take opportunities to share your input and expertise, demonstrating the benefits of collaborating at this stage of the process.
Develop guidelines or a documentation process (or use an existing tool like Frontitude) that would make collaboration in Figma simple for everyone. Maybe even offer a brief training to kick the process off successfully.
Events 🎫
"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” - Albus Dumbledore
We invite you to keep growing! Join Yuval and Jon Yablonski (author of Laws of UX) on Thursday, January 25th (THIS THURSDAY) for a conversation about all things UX writing and psychology. Best of all, your seat is FREE. Sign up now 👇.
What do you think? Do they make a good Ron and Harry? 🤔😂
Source: Midjourney
See more of our upcoming Futureproof UX Content events here
Portfolio Showcase 🖼️
“I’m hoping to do some good in the world” - Hermoine Granger
We love to share the portfolios of other UX writers who are out there in the world using their words for good.
All things AI 🤖
“Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain!” - Arthur Weasley
What could be more magical than AI!? Check out these fun articles to learn more about writing with AI through the lens of Harry Potter. 👇
Book Recs 📚
“When in doubt, go to the library.” -Ron Weasley
If you haven’t read this book by Jon Yablonski, it truly is a must. Learning the laws behind our user’s behavior will change the way you look at your work.
If you want to learn even more, join our free event this Thursday (January 25th) and learn from Jon himself. Reserve your seat now!
Salary Survey 💵
Have you taken the Salary Survey yet? A few minutes of your time will help us gather information that could benefit you in the long run.
Once we have enough participants, we’ll be able to crunch the numbers and put together some data that you (and your peers) will be able to use the next time you’re negotiating your salary or on the job hunt.
UX Writing Jobs 👩💻
Whether you’re looking for an entry-level or senior role, we’ve got them all. We’re constantly updating the job board, so keep on checking!
That’s All For Now 👋
Be the hero 🦸 of your professional circle and share our newsletter with your colleagues.
Want to be featured? Let me know at [email protected]
Until next time👋,
Yuval Keshtcher and UXWH team