The Dash: How to be a better UX manager 

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Did you make it to Confab? That was something, wasn’t it?! Hope you’re feeling as energized as we are about all things UX writing and content strategy. Starting this week, we’re adding a few new categories to theDash. Let us know if you have thoughts or ideas you’d like to see here. We’re all ears.

NEWS YOU NEED

Time to get in sync. No, not the 90s pop band! Nielsen Norman Group recently conducted a survey with user experience and product management folks to see how they describe their roles, responsibilities, and which teams manage which stage of the design process. It turns out UXers and PMs had wildly different views—they disagreed on almost all responsibility prompts. This one really hit home.

Why should content come first? We really appreciate this web designer’s view of what makes content so important to design—and why it should come first. Forward this to anyone who doubts investing in content from the start.

An insightful interview with Rachel McConnell. The oh-so generous team at WorkingInContent.com is at it again with a jam-packed article featuring Rachel McConnell, Content Design Manager at BT. They chat about her current and previous roles, how a huge company like BT is structured, and what career progression looks like. Grab a coffee and cozy up with this insightful interview.

How to make your documentation inclusive. Google developers are getting inclusive and we love it! See what Google’s documentation style guide currently recommends for tech writers to avoid potentially harmful phrases and terms. Fantastic resource to share with your dev team.

Need to up your form game? Andrew Coyle, Founder of NextUX, breaks down some key best practices over on LinkedIn. Use this as a shorthand, but of course, like most things in design, there are always preferences and rules that change a bit between companies. This is great food-for-thought on your form styles. 

How to be someone people want to work with. During her Confab small-group discussion, Melinda Howard Belcher shared what she’s learned from almost two decades of working in content via consulting, nonprofits, local orgs, and Fortune 500s. One great takeaway: Be someone people want to work with. Too true. More sage advice from Melinda here!

INSIGHTS FOR LEADERS

UX design team leadership. Where should you even begin!? As UX and content design practices continue to grow, we’ll need leaders to guide us into this Wild West. David Renwick from Optimal Workshop gives lots of practical advice here.

What does good UX management look like? For starters, we can interpret this as both a job title and an important organizational activity. You don’t need to be in a manager position to impact the management of UX content. This helpful piece from Interaction Design Foundation outlines how to do it.

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