There’s UX Writing and Technical Writing, What’s the Difference
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Traversing the vast ocean of technical writing can feel overwhelming. There are so many different nuances to consider in enhancing user experience, explaining technical products, or structuring content to meet the needs of the target audience. And like every ship, your product needs a wise captain to guide it through rough seas to the clear waters of stable user experience. Sometimes it’s a technical writer who provides you with a map to help users navigate the uncharted territory of your product. Sometimes, when it comes to creating an experience that spans from a user’s first encounter, it’s a UX writer who helps your customers set foot on solid ground. But how to decide when to put who behind the wheel?
In this article, we will explore the similarities and differences between UX writing and technical writing in more detail.
UX writing focuses on creating content that helps users achieve their goals easily. It aims to guide users through content with minimal difficulty or confusion. That’s why each word in your product should literally shape the user experience to be clear, intuitive, and effective.
So the key aspects of UX writing are:
The most common examples of UX writing elements are buttons, navigation labels, and others like:
Technical writing focuses more on conveying information. It provides the necessary resources, guidance, and clarity for users to progress and be successful in working with new technologies.
The key points are:
Typical examples of technical writing include different instructions, reports, guides, and other types of content, including but not limited by the following:
As you may have already noticed, there are a lot of things that seem quite similar for both types of writing.
Both UX and technical writings aim to keep information clear and effective; the writers strive for simplicity and precision. Both research the audience’s needs, though each for its own needs. Both try to organize content logically to structure information so that it’s easy to understand.
And more than that, both UX and technical writers:
But what about differences? Of course, there are some.
So in summary, while there are significant overlaps in goals and techniques, UX writing focuses more on the front-end experience and establishing a connection with users, while technical writing focuses more on back-end support through documentation and reference materials.
And both are essential to delivering a complete user experience of your product since many products require both technical documentation and user-facing content.
The line between UX writing and technical writing can seem blurry but there are key distinctions. While both prioritize clarity, their objectives differ. UX writing optimizes the content for discovery and competency while technical writing optimizes for mastery and long-term use. Combining UX and technical writers ensures users have a seamless experience from onboarding to long-term use.
UX content gets them started while technical documentation keeps them going.
Good luck with your technical writing!
ClickHelp Team
Author, host and deliver documentation across platforms and devices
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