Denise Kadilak is an Information Architect and Sr. Manger with Blackbaud. Her interests include content and knowledge management, information technologies, and researching just about anything associated with technical communication. In addition to her full-time job with Blackbaud, Denise is a part-time college instructor, teaching technical communication and English composition, and she is a regular presenter at international conferences.

Technical Writing, UX writing, We can do it All

Text plays a crucial role in guiding users and helping them complete desired tasks. It can make or break the user experience, so understanding how to create useful content in different environments is key to creating a successful product design. As a result of these challenges, content creators find themselves wearing several hats: technical writer, UX writer, conversation designer, etc. Can we do it all? I say, yes, but it takes education and planning.
In this presentation I’ll focus on how the team of technical writers at Blackbaud successfully took on the UX writer role, pivoting back-and-forth from writing comprehensive help systems to working with designers to create concise UI-based content. I’ll also touch on how we’ve started making inroads to conversation design. I’ll address training, winning company buy-in, and creating processes that allow you to succeed in all roles.

In this session, attendees will learn:

• Plan for your content
• Create content for a variety of environments – UI, popover, field level
• Apply generally accepted guidelines and best practices
• Respect the importance of the design/writing relationship
• Technical com writers and Tech com managers will benefit from this workshop.
• Technical com writers come away with training and other suggestions to position themselves in the UX writer role
• Tech Com managers will learn how to plan for and position their team to take on UX writing responsibilities, in addition to the pros and cons of such a move