Content heroes in my little green book

We’re able to reach new heights when we collaborate not only in real time, but also through history — when we build on the insights of those who have come before us. My little green book is riddled with inspiration from quite a few.

Don Norman

At the beginning of the book, I give historical context around how UX writing got to where it is today, and then based on that foundation start to talk about where I think we should take it next. Don, one of the founding fathers of UX, who in 1993 coined the term “user experience” (UX), is an important character in that story.

Torrey Podmajersky

Author of the forward of the book (!) I talk about how Torrey inspired the whole shebang, and also about how she explains in her book, Strategic Writing for UX, that if we don’t measure what we’re doing, we can’t improve it. Baselines are critical for measuring the impact of our work.

Kinneret Yifrah

Of course, I also talk about Kinneret’s Microcopy: The Complete Guide which in 2019 collected tactical best practices in one place and has become a sort of bible in the field since then.

Kristina Halvorson

In addition to bringing in insights Kristina has shared with the world, I also share a conversation we had one-on-one which has stuck with me ever since.

Sarah Winters

Like Torrey, Sarah was also an important spark in getting me to wrote the book (without knowing it). I of course included that, as well as a bit about the Readability Guidelines she started with Content Design London.

Joshua Arnold

It was important to me to include a framework for people doing UX writing to use in their day-to-day work. I wanted this to a be a book you go back to your shelf and reference again and again. Research for my framework (KAPOW) is stronger because of the research and principles formed before, like Joshua’s Cost of Delay concept and so it’s in the book :)

Kate Moran

For the O in KAPOW, I took inspiration from Kate who describes ROI as the
bridge between metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), which reflect business goals and whether the organization is meeting those goals in a numeric way. Also, importantly, she warns us that data should inform design, not lead it — it’s important not to let quantitative data make design decisions for us.

Jared Spool

Possibly the most memorable case study in the book is Jared’s $300,000,000 button! How’s that for ROI?

Greta van der Merwe

One of my favorite places to learn and be inspired is at conferences, not just in books and on blogs. In my book Ishare an idea from a talk I’ll never forget: at Confab 2021 Greta suggested shifting our focus from when we’re being included, to what we can do once we’re included — whenever that is. I think this reframing is much more productive and pleasant than what a lot of us are used to.

Sarah Walsh

Another case study I love comes from Sarah and her team at Citibank who rewrote a form and nearly doubled the amount of existing copy. “Concise” is one of those best practices I’ve always taken a bit of an issue with and this is a great example of how even though it’s often said the more concise the better, if we don’t give users what they need, we’re not doing them any favors. Apparently, this form didn’t have enough information and users were getting stuck.

Joshua Porter

I’ve gotten feedback that people love real life examples and so the book has many :) Another is from Joshua who coined the term “microcopy” in 2009, and a checkout flow he worked on where users were having issues with entering the correct billing address, and the impact of his microcopy solution.

Donna Spencer

We talk so much about the work we do with our users but I don’t think we talk enough about working with stakeholders. That’s why I brought in Donna’s idea from Presenting Design Work, reminding us that part of communicating and empathizing with business stakeholders is remembering that they have a vested interest in our work — for better or worse. Empathizing with their pain is the key to unlocking fruitful collaboration resulting in even more potential for UX writing.

Bob Bailey

Another cool study I included is from Bob, a UX designer and researcher, who ran a click test on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website in 2006. He found that a participant who clicks down the correct path on the first try will complete their task successfully 87 percent of the time, while a participant who clicks down the wrong path on the first try tends to successfully complete their task only 46 percent of the time. More about what that means for the rest of us… in the book ;)

Thank you, people

In addition to Don, Torrey, Kinneret, Kristina, Sarah, Joshua, Kate, Jared, Greta, Sarah, Joshua, Donna, and Bob, I need to thank Katel LeDû and Lisa Maria Marquis at A Book Apart for giving me a chance to fulfill the dream of writing a book and Patrick Stafford who reviewed an early manuscript.
The book was also made possible by my very first mentors, Ofer Karp and Gahl Pratt Pardes, who lay the foundations for everything I’ve done in the UXW world; to my team at Fundbox: Naama Hirsh, Shir Lavi, Shiran Birenbaum, Sonia Sheinman, and Noa Saroya, and especially Michal Simkovits, who designs everything I present to the world (including images in this book), and Nadav Yaron, Mentor of a Lifetime. Of course, huge thanks to my husband and kids who keep me focused on what matters. And most of all, thank you to my grandparents and parents to whom I owe my every achievement.