Writing less, saying more: UX lessons from the small screen

Presented by Claire Mahoney
Tuesday 3:40 p.m.–4:20 p.m.
Target audience: Business

Abstract

It's easy to think of mobile apps as an abbreviation of the full desktop app experience, or as a miniature version of the "real thing". We assume mobile users want a lighter interface, easier interactions, things they can do 'on the go'. But what are the real differences in how we need to communicate in mobile apps and web apps? What are the new expectations placed on us as writers for any device? And what lessons can we take from the small screen to make all product communication better? This presentation draws on the unique challenges and considerations of writing user interface (UI) copy for mobile apps, and looks at how we can use the magnified - not miniaturised - experience of the mobile user to rethink our approach to the whole product experience. The talk is centred around writing and the role of a writer, but will incorporate aspects of design, research, app development and content strategy to demonstrate the critical intersections of craft that make up great UX. Ideally, I want people to get a renewed sense of how big (and small) the world of UX writing is and can be, to review and possibly rethink how UI and UX writing could function better in their organisation, and to have a few chuckles at my expense as I talk about my faults and failures.

Presented by

Claire Mahoney

Claire Mahoney is a lifelong producer, consumer, and editor of words and ideas. A technical writer in Information Experience team at Atlassian, she operates under the assumption that lives can be made easier through direct, clear communication. To that end, Claire has penned a tonnage of instructional and technical prose in the last 13 years, and ardently communicates across most mediums: tweets to tomes, semaphores to metaphors. Find her at @wordofanerd on Medium and Twitter.

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