How a book about ‘Writing’ is teaching UX to the readers indirectly?

How a book about ‘Writing’ is teaching UX to the readers indirectly?

I started reading this book called This Book will teach you how to write better’ by Neville Medhora to learn how to improve my writing skills. And at some points, while reading it made me wonder “Isn’t this the same thing one needs to care about their users while designing a good UX?”

Here is an attempt to list down those things which made me scratch my head:

  1. Stop trying to be clever. Instead be CLEAR.
    In UX (U): Stop trying to be clever and instead provide a clear workflow of the tasks, clear design and clear information.

  2. IS THIS ADDING TO THE USERS KNOWLEDGE?? AM I HELPING THEM GET THROUGH THIS BY ADDING THIS IN?
    U: Is this adding value to the users? Am I helping them making their life easier by adding this feature/screen/information?

  3. Make it helpful. They will listen.
    U: Make it helpful. They will use it.

  4. If there’s one good piece of advice I’d give you, it’s KNOW YOUR MARKET.
    U: Know your users. Generate empathy. Understand their pain points.

Neville mentions here about knowing your market by understanding who your users are. Similarly, designers make user personas to test their design at an early stage by creating a fictional character of their target users. It helps designers to understand their needs, goals and helps to build empathy with them. Though there might be the differences in how that information is obtained, the intent is the same. Here is an example of the User Persona created by Dolby.

Source: Smashing Magazine

Example given by Neville of what and how should one go about it.

This person would probably be:
- White.
- Married.
- Have kids.
- Watches CNN.
- Business owner.
- Between 40 and 65
- Industry professional.
- He makes about 280k/year.
- Own a home near a golf course.

How exactly?
Well, the 1st step is to start THINKING LIKE HIM.
Imagine what his problems are.
Imagine what his goals are.
Imagine his desires.

Here are some great questions to ask and swirl around in your head about who’s buying your stuff:
- Male or female?
- Are they wealthy?
- How old are they?
- Do they have kids?
- What’s their day like?
- What are some of their biggest fears?
- Why are they coming to YOU for help?
- What exactly can you help them with the most?

U: No need to say more. These are exactly the type of questions a designer tries to get the answer to!

5. Formatting

Use text as art rather than just text.
Wanna emphasize something? I’d suggest simply bolding it.
If you’re writing something with a big build-up, a nice “center” does quite nicely.
Using punctuation & capitalization as art.

For Fonts and Sizing: I prefer whatever is easiest to read.

U: Basic UI guidelines which come in handy in writing as well as while designing a great product!

6. Try to keep the amount of “brain cycles” it takes to communicate an idea….down to a minimum….and you’ll keep your audience’s attention much longer.

Source: Neela Bell

U: Lastly, here’s the most important UX law Neville has talked about indirectly. Users won’t use your product and will leave the platform if it is leading to cognitive overload. Too much information? Very less information? Where exactly am I right now in this website? Too many choices?
There are many UX laws which talk about the user’s attention like Gestalt principle, Hicks Law, Miller’s Law and many more.


Thanks for reading!


I started reading this book called This Book will teach you how to write better’ by Neville Medhora to learn how to improve my writing skills. And at some points, while reading it made me wonder “Isn’t this the same thing one needs to care about their users while designing a good UX?”

Here is an attempt to list down those things which made me scratch my head:

  1. Stop trying to be clever. Instead be CLEAR.
    In UX (U): Stop trying to be clever and instead provide a clear workflow of the tasks, clear design and clear information.

  2. IS THIS ADDING TO THE USERS KNOWLEDGE?? AM I HELPING THEM GET THROUGH THIS BY ADDING THIS IN?
    U: Is this adding value to the users? Am I helping them making their life easier by adding this feature/screen/information?

  3. Make it helpful. They will listen.
    U: Make it helpful. They will use it.

  4. If there’s one good piece of advice I’d give you, it’s KNOW YOUR MARKET.
    U: Know your users. Generate empathy. Understand their pain points.

Neville mentions here about knowing your market by understanding who your users are. Similarly, designers make user personas to test their design at an early stage by creating a fictional character of their target users. It helps designers to understand their needs, goals and helps to build empathy with them. Though there might be the differences in how that information is obtained, the intent is the same. Here is an example of the User Persona created by Dolby.

Source: Smashing Magazine

Example given by Neville of what and how should one go about it.

This person would probably be:
- White.
- Married.
- Have kids.
- Watches CNN.
- Business owner.
- Between 40 and 65
- Industry professional.
- He makes about 280k/year.
- Own a home near a golf course.

How exactly?
Well, the 1st step is to start THINKING LIKE HIM.
Imagine what his problems are.
Imagine what his goals are.
Imagine his desires.

Here are some great questions to ask and swirl around in your head about who’s buying your stuff:
- Male or female?
- Are they wealthy?
- How old are they?
- Do they have kids?
- What’s their day like?
- What are some of their biggest fears?
- Why are they coming to YOU for help?
- What exactly can you help them with the most?

U: No need to say more. These are exactly the type of questions a designer tries to get the answer to!

5. Formatting

Use text as art rather than just text.
Wanna emphasize something? I’d suggest simply bolding it.
If you’re writing something with a big build-up, a nice “center” does quite nicely.
Using punctuation & capitalization as art.

For Fonts and Sizing: I prefer whatever is easiest to read.

U: Basic UI guidelines which come in handy in writing as well as while designing a great product!

6. Try to keep the amount of “brain cycles” it takes to communicate an idea….down to a minimum….and you’ll keep your audience’s attention much longer.

Source: Neela Bell

U: Lastly, here’s the most important UX law Neville has talked about indirectly. Users won’t use your product and will leave the platform if it is leading to cognitive overload. Too much information? Very less information? Where exactly am I right now in this website? Too many choices?
There are many UX laws which talk about the user’s attention like Gestalt principle, Hicks Law, Miller’s Law and many more.


Thanks for reading!


parulbindal.design@gmail.com

parulbindal.design@gmail.com