This week, the Chicago chapter of the Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF) asked me to present something for an open mic networking and learning session about all things UX. (For the unfamiliar, UX refers to User Experience — the process of designing products, systems, and services to provide a seamless, enjoyable, and meaningful experience for users.) Having increasingly written copy for websites, blogs, and marketing campaign assets in recent years — thus, my meeting signup — I figured I could provide insight about UX from a copywriter’s point of view.
In my presentation, “How Developers/Designers and Copywriters Can Collaborate to Initial Concept: Two Scenarios,” I shared lessons learned from years of working with graphic designers to develop marketing collateral pieces, as well as a website redesign project I’m currently involved in. The challenge I and my colleagues have often encountered has been developing an initial concept. My goal was to help my audience get past the design counterpart to writer’s block in two scenarios.
Each scenario requires either the copywriter or the designer to flex into the other’s area of expertise. Read on to see how.
Scenario 1: Copywriter Takes the Lead
In the first scenario, I have been tasked with writing a copy draft, getting the copy approved, and providing it to the designer so they can develop a layout. This is not easy. Even though I’m not a designer, I have been asked to incorporate a rough vision of a visual concept into the copy somehow — a tall order.
This scenario is easier when the designer takes the copy and ‘runs with it,’ i.e., adapts the copy to a visual concept. Understandably, many designers are reluctant to do this, ostensibly out of concern for changing the meaning of the copy, stepping on my toes, or both.
I think that’s why, under this scenario, I’m asked to take the lead. The expectation is that my copy will be well-suited to a visual design, the designer will take it, and plug it right into a concept. But, most of the time, I can’t read the designer’s mind and get deep insight into a concept they’re envisioning and they seem to feel like they can’t provide one without words. See the Catch-22 here?
Also, when the scope of the deliverable — i.e., the number of pages — is understood, I have a good idea of the word count limit. When the scope isn’t obvious, I could do a better job of aligning with designers for purposes of the word count.
I don’t mean to suggest that no solution exists for this scenario — recently, I stumbled upon one with replicable potential.
As I write this, I’m working with a graphic designer to refresh a sales enablement piece for a distributor partner that needs something to work with for now. Eventually, this client and I will build a more comprehensive piece from scratch, but we need to complete an interim piece first.
At any rate, I reorganized the existing copy and shortened it, figuring a bullet point format would be the way to go. Problem was, my marketing manager client didn’t agree. The designer used my copy, including the bullet point format, verbatim. I was asked to repackage the copy differently.
Feeling stuck, I had the bright idea of prompting an AI chatbot for some copy formatting options. I didn’t really care about the messaging — I would finalize that. Of four options presented to me, a tabular format appeared to make the most sense as far as brevity and likelihood of quick information conveyance.
Here, AI helped me to make up for my lack of a visual concept by suggesting a copy format that makes more sense for the piece than bullet points. So far, no complaints from the client — and silence is golden.
Scenario 2: Designer Takes the Lead
In another instance, a web designer took the lead on a client’s website development project. By taking the lead, I mean the designer flexed into my area of expertise by providing wireframes with AI-generated copy. It was my job to rewrite the copy as needed, with roughly the same word counts per section.
In a few instances, based on my insight into the company’s value propositions based on meetings with senior company leaders, I made suggestions that impacted the wireframes. However, the AI tool generally provided a good starting point.
One Takeaway: AI Can Help Bridge the Copy-Design Gap
One of the major takeaways I shared in my IxDF Chicago presentation was that AI has the potential to help both copywriters and designers flex into each other’s area of expertise. It’s another practical application of AI that I’m adding to my list.