Beyond creating the design, writing is another medium for reaching users and helping them accomplish their goals. Here are three points explaining why more designers should take up writing as a way to boost their UX skill set. 

1. Great Writing is Key For Creating Effective Content

By using a concise, familiar, clear tone when messaging users, brands can develop a recognizable voice and personality during crucial touch points. Ultimately this helps them become memorable and personable.

On such example is the Poncho app, while the premise of the bot is simple (it is a weather app), Poncho’s differentiator is the personality and humor infused into the main character—a cartoon cat which delivers a weather report.

2. Think Like a Writer

As chatbots and conversational UI are rapidly changing how we communicate with our devices, designers also need to start thinking like writers. Both writers and designers are similar in that both need to be capable of having empathy for their users and characters. Having empathy helps designers understand users’ motivations, actions, thoughts, and emotions in a variety of different contexts.

3. Accessibility

It is a responsibility of designers to consider how to create designs that can be used by a variety of users—including those with disabilities. Ideally, designing with accessibility is a part of the design process and considering accessibility needs is a part of every stage of the process. In writing, for example, this means having meaningful alt tags that can be navigated by screen readers and voice narrators, and language that can be translated easily for non-native speakers.

Where to Learn More

• Basic technical writing: online textbook which gives an overview of technical writing
• Web Accessibility 
• Making the Web Accessible for Everyone With Inclusive Design and Diverse Personas