Intro
Welcome to Spotlight, your gateway to the UX/ Content Design world, through a distinctive series of interviews that spotlight the industry's leading voices. Our succinct, direct-to-the-point approach poses ±10 sharp questions to veterans and rising stars, gathering insights and perspectives shaping the UX scene.
Meet our guest — Mario Ferrer,
Staff Content Designer at Shopify
Early in his career, he assisted senior copywriters with creative concepts and crafted copy for advertising campaigns. He also developed content for the corporate blog and email marketing for companies like VRTC, Inc., LetsBonus, and Softonic. His career took a significant turn when he entered the field of UX Writing with King. Mario led the Content Design team at King and established the distinctive voice and tone of the Candy Crush game, contributing to its global success.
Highlighting just a few of his ✨ super powers:
He's an advocate and firm believer that the collaboration between research, design, content, and development is what allows teams to solve complex design problems. And the importance of having enough context for UX Writers to do the job.
He ran 'lunch and learn' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams, and to help other stakeholders understand the impact of UX Writing on improving product experiences.
One of Mario's biggest internal achievements at King was leading the team to an approach that killed the Lorem Ipsum in the earliest stages of the design process.
He started Content Design España (Formerly UX Writers Spain), a local community of practice that helps newcomers learn more about UX Writing through mentorships, workshops, and events that explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
He actively shares his thoughts, experience, and knowledge about UX Writing and Content Design in talks, conferences, courses, and workshops to help newcomers learn more about UX Writing and explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
You can reach Mario Ferrer via Linkedin to talk about UX Writing, product teams' daily struggles, or the best tacos 🌮 in town.
Señoras y señores, vamos !!!
Without further ado, let's get to the Q&A:
12 Questions with Mario Ferrer
Starting your journey in the world of UX Writing, you spent a great deal of time 'learning by doing' - switching your use of Google Docs for software like Sketch. How did your impact on the design process change by switching from writing in docs to writing in mocks?
There's this quote I love by Jon Saito from one of his early medium articles (2016 https://medium.com/@jsaito/how-to-design-words-63d6965051e9), where he wrote "write in mocks, not docs" and that simple line stuck with me.
It seems like such a simple idea, but it was at the time a huuuuge change in the way I worked. It ripped me out of my comfort zone and I had to learn the very basics of Sketch and then integrate Abstract to the mix. However, I'm glad I did it, because having my writing in context helped me make much better design decisions and the product designers I used to work with also realized that content was not something you filled out space with, but part of the experience itself.
You succeeded in driving the King team to a Lorem Ipsum-free process. What tools and techniques have you used to put a process that kills Lorem Ipsum?
More than a process, it was an empathy exercise or workshop, where I got product designers to write the content for their designs. That helped them realize how writing to explain a feature or a flow is something that requires way more than just typing. It also got them into the habit of writing their own "proto-content" or first pass, that way, me being the only one at the time, could expand my impact as a content designer, by teaching my wider team how to fish instead of just handing over the fresh catch of the day.
I partnered with Sergi, one of my first UX mentors, and wrote a medium post about our process back in the day https://medium.com/designfeld/the-one-where-we-killed-lorem-ipsum-c8a2793ffa55.
How can content design and UX writing help products thrive and meet business goals, and, in your case at King, can users enjoy a new game feature?
Because we are great at balancing user and business needs. Folks want to understand what they can do with your product or service, and clear guidance gives them just that. If people don't understand or get clear, concise, and useful instructions, they'll leave, their time is valuable. So that's a huge part the writing plays, it guides people through the experience, it provides context, and in specific places, it helps them enjoy what they are set out to do, like playing a game.
You ran 'lunch and learns' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams. What was the impact on the product's success?
It's an empathy exercise. As UXers we're always speaking about the empathy we should have with people we design for, but we forget to have empathy with the people we design with. So running these low stake, easy-going sessions, was a nice introduction for our team with other stakeholders. These sessions gave us a chance to explain that the user experience is not only the UX team's responsibility but everyone involved in the product. And we all know when folks feel involved, seen, and understand how they can contribute to something that makes them proud, they are much more open when it comes to collaborating.
Given King's Games' worldwide success, the localization team must have translated everything your team wrote into 23 languages or so. Were you responsible or part of the localization projects? Can you elaborate on how it works, from validating the copy to ensuring localization matches the region's cultural nuances (e.g., 🇪🇸 Spanish/ 🇫🇷 French)? And what tools did you use for that?
Thankfully we had a wonderful globalization team. We worked alongside them to make sure the English microcopy that my team wrote, made sense in the different regions and languages.
Your team at King used an internal CMS for localization. What are the cons and pros of using an internal CMS from a UX Writer's perspective?
Having an internal CMS was helpful as we could suggest changes to the system and partner together with the tech teams so they could understand our needs as UX Writers. The con of an internal system is you need a team fully dedicated to it, and not all companies can do that. That said, a CMS is a tool that should make folk's work easier, so it depends on the team's needs and constraints to figure out what's best for them.
Throughout your talks and interviews, you always stress on the necessity of providing adequate context for UX Writers. During your time at King, Skyscanner, and Shopify, what strategies did you use to keep yourself and your content team aware of the context?
We pick our battles ⚔️.
We also rely on our wider team to get the extra context. It will always depend on the size of your team. Rituals like weekly syncs and crits are incredibly helpful, as well as making sure the info is available via documentation or even async comms via Slack. Videos with walkthroughs or Figma prototypes are a great way to provide context, but let me tell you, a good old-fashioned conversation face-to-face, is always my favorite way to gather context.During your discussion with Joe Welinske, you mentioned the benefits of involving UX Writers early in the process, as it provides them with deeper context and a clearer grasp of the issues at hand, allowing them to offer valuable insights. However, the reality in many UX teams often differs from this ideal. How effectively have you implemented this approach in your past roles? We'd love to hear your "secret recipe" for success. 🌮
There's no secret recipe. I wish...
What has helped me is another quote I got from Dan Hon: "Make friends. Break silos. Build bridges." which helps me explain a step-by-step approach to my broader teams.
When you first join a team, it's the best time to grab time with the folks you'll be working with to start creating those relationships and also, get to know each other a bit better. There are always nice surprises or hobbies you share with folks you work with. Once you start opening up (it's hard, I know) that creates trust, and that is what helps break down the silos that exist, especially between crafts.
Last but not least, it's time to pick up that rubble and create makeshift bridges with other teams, people, stakeholders, etc.It takes time and effort, but we're humans, and it's that humanity that actually sparks good collaboration. It goes waaaay beyond being involved early, it's about being seen and feeling like you belong.
At King, your colleague Patricia Gomez highlighted the necessity of keeping detailed records, something you used to manage with Post-its before COVID. Since transitioning to an entirely virtual workspace, what tools, processes, and techniques have you begun using to document essential elements like meeting notes and decisions, addressing Patricia's concerns about forgetting important details?
I used to absolutely hate documentation. In conversations with Patricia, she helped me realize, that was the only way for me to be more efficient. Once my knowledge was on a link we could share with the wider team, that saved me time explaining over and over the design decisions about a specific content pattern. I've learned to use my team's wiki and always bring our content design documentation as close as possible to the product design documentation, which always helps other stakeholders realize we are in this together. I see documentation as not only a time saver for me but for the rest of my team, not having to repeat themselves or search for answers to what we agreed upon on Slack is a game changer. And having it all in an easy-to-find and search manner is also very important.
Content designers are typically involved at the very end. They are provided with a high-fidelity UI prototype and asked to write or improve the copy with little context, if any. How does this process cause problems and difficulties?
It's often too late to actually use content as part of the design process and you end up filling space. There might be a shorter or better or even totally different way to guide folks, but if the process is too far ahead, going back to the drawing board might not be an option.
When content design and product design work closely from the beginning, the solution that you can provide tends to be much richer, because you're taking into account 2 of the main ways folks interact with your product or service: words and visuals.
You are a core believer that collaboration across research, design, content, and development is crucial for solving complex UX issues. We share this view at Punkt and are committed to creating a suite of UX tools that streamline the process from discovery, planning, research, prototyping, and publishing to ensure the whole product team has access to every detail of the UX process. What are your thoughts on this approach?
That sounds like the dream!
Finally, at Punkt, we are revolutionizing the UX industry by building a Content-First UX platform where Content Designers and UX Writers co-lead the product UX/Design decisions. We believe a Content-First UX approach will fix too many daily issues most product teams deal with. Is it possible to give the Content Team the lead in guiding the entire UX process?
I think it depends on the problem you're trying to solve. For sure, there are projects where content can lead the way, no doubt, but there might be others where you'll need a visual, or, a data, or even a technical approach to take the lead. It's not about one craft or the other leading, it's about figuring out which craft is best suited for that particular case.
👋 Don't forget to follow Mario
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/marioferrer
Website justmario.com
Intro
Welcome to Spotlight, your gateway to the UX/ Content Design world, through a distinctive series of interviews that spotlight the industry's leading voices. Our succinct, direct-to-the-point approach poses ±10 sharp questions to veterans and rising stars, gathering insights and perspectives shaping the UX scene.
Meet our guest — Mario Ferrer,
Staff Content Designer at Shopify
Early in his career, he assisted senior copywriters with creative concepts and crafted copy for advertising campaigns. He also developed content for the corporate blog and email marketing for companies like VRTC, Inc., LetsBonus, and Softonic. His career took a significant turn when he entered the field of UX Writing with King. Mario led the Content Design team at King and established the distinctive voice and tone of the Candy Crush game, contributing to its global success.
Highlighting just a few of his ✨ super powers:
He's an advocate and firm believer that the collaboration between research, design, content, and development is what allows teams to solve complex design problems. And the importance of having enough context for UX Writers to do the job.
He ran 'lunch and learn' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams, and to help other stakeholders understand the impact of UX Writing on improving product experiences.
One of Mario's biggest internal achievements at King was leading the team to an approach that killed the Lorem Ipsum in the earliest stages of the design process.
He started Content Design España (Formerly UX Writers Spain), a local community of practice that helps newcomers learn more about UX Writing through mentorships, workshops, and events that explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
He actively shares his thoughts, experience, and knowledge about UX Writing and Content Design in talks, conferences, courses, and workshops to help newcomers learn more about UX Writing and explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
You can reach Mario Ferrer via Linkedin to talk about UX Writing, product teams' daily struggles, or the best tacos 🌮 in town.
Señoras y señores, vamos !!!
Without further ado, let's get to the Q&A:
12 Questions with Mario Ferrer
Starting your journey in the world of UX Writing, you spent a great deal of time 'learning by doing' - switching your use of Google Docs for software like Sketch. How did your impact on the design process change by switching from writing in docs to writing in mocks?
There's this quote I love by Jon Saito from one of his early medium articles (2016 https://medium.com/@jsaito/how-to-design-words-63d6965051e9), where he wrote "write in mocks, not docs" and that simple line stuck with me.
It seems like such a simple idea, but it was at the time a huuuuge change in the way I worked. It ripped me out of my comfort zone and I had to learn the very basics of Sketch and then integrate Abstract to the mix. However, I'm glad I did it, because having my writing in context helped me make much better design decisions and the product designers I used to work with also realized that content was not something you filled out space with, but part of the experience itself.
You succeeded in driving the King team to a Lorem Ipsum-free process. What tools and techniques have you used to put a process that kills Lorem Ipsum?
More than a process, it was an empathy exercise or workshop, where I got product designers to write the content for their designs. That helped them realize how writing to explain a feature or a flow is something that requires way more than just typing. It also got them into the habit of writing their own "proto-content" or first pass, that way, me being the only one at the time, could expand my impact as a content designer, by teaching my wider team how to fish instead of just handing over the fresh catch of the day.
I partnered with Sergi, one of my first UX mentors, and wrote a medium post about our process back in the day https://medium.com/designfeld/the-one-where-we-killed-lorem-ipsum-c8a2793ffa55.
How can content design and UX writing help products thrive and meet business goals, and, in your case at King, can users enjoy a new game feature?
Because we are great at balancing user and business needs. Folks want to understand what they can do with your product or service, and clear guidance gives them just that. If people don't understand or get clear, concise, and useful instructions, they'll leave, their time is valuable. So that's a huge part the writing plays, it guides people through the experience, it provides context, and in specific places, it helps them enjoy what they are set out to do, like playing a game.
You ran 'lunch and learns' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams. What was the impact on the product's success?
It's an empathy exercise. As UXers we're always speaking about the empathy we should have with people we design for, but we forget to have empathy with the people we design with. So running these low stake, easy-going sessions, was a nice introduction for our team with other stakeholders. These sessions gave us a chance to explain that the user experience is not only the UX team's responsibility but everyone involved in the product. And we all know when folks feel involved, seen, and understand how they can contribute to something that makes them proud, they are much more open when it comes to collaborating.
Given King's Games' worldwide success, the localization team must have translated everything your team wrote into 23 languages or so. Were you responsible or part of the localization projects? Can you elaborate on how it works, from validating the copy to ensuring localization matches the region's cultural nuances (e.g., 🇪🇸 Spanish/ 🇫🇷 French)? And what tools did you use for that?
Thankfully we had a wonderful globalization team. We worked alongside them to make sure the English microcopy that my team wrote, made sense in the different regions and languages.
Your team at King used an internal CMS for localization. What are the cons and pros of using an internal CMS from a UX Writer's perspective?
Having an internal CMS was helpful as we could suggest changes to the system and partner together with the tech teams so they could understand our needs as UX Writers. The con of an internal system is you need a team fully dedicated to it, and not all companies can do that. That said, a CMS is a tool that should make folk's work easier, so it depends on the team's needs and constraints to figure out what's best for them.
Throughout your talks and interviews, you always stress on the necessity of providing adequate context for UX Writers. During your time at King, Skyscanner, and Shopify, what strategies did you use to keep yourself and your content team aware of the context?
We pick our battles ⚔️.
We also rely on our wider team to get the extra context. It will always depend on the size of your team. Rituals like weekly syncs and crits are incredibly helpful, as well as making sure the info is available via documentation or even async comms via Slack. Videos with walkthroughs or Figma prototypes are a great way to provide context, but let me tell you, a good old-fashioned conversation face-to-face, is always my favorite way to gather context.During your discussion with Joe Welinske, you mentioned the benefits of involving UX Writers early in the process, as it provides them with deeper context and a clearer grasp of the issues at hand, allowing them to offer valuable insights. However, the reality in many UX teams often differs from this ideal. How effectively have you implemented this approach in your past roles? We'd love to hear your "secret recipe" for success. 🌮
There's no secret recipe. I wish...
What has helped me is another quote I got from Dan Hon: "Make friends. Break silos. Build bridges." which helps me explain a step-by-step approach to my broader teams.
When you first join a team, it's the best time to grab time with the folks you'll be working with to start creating those relationships and also, get to know each other a bit better. There are always nice surprises or hobbies you share with folks you work with. Once you start opening up (it's hard, I know) that creates trust, and that is what helps break down the silos that exist, especially between crafts.
Last but not least, it's time to pick up that rubble and create makeshift bridges with other teams, people, stakeholders, etc.It takes time and effort, but we're humans, and it's that humanity that actually sparks good collaboration. It goes waaaay beyond being involved early, it's about being seen and feeling like you belong.
At King, your colleague Patricia Gomez highlighted the necessity of keeping detailed records, something you used to manage with Post-its before COVID. Since transitioning to an entirely virtual workspace, what tools, processes, and techniques have you begun using to document essential elements like meeting notes and decisions, addressing Patricia's concerns about forgetting important details?
I used to absolutely hate documentation. In conversations with Patricia, she helped me realize, that was the only way for me to be more efficient. Once my knowledge was on a link we could share with the wider team, that saved me time explaining over and over the design decisions about a specific content pattern. I've learned to use my team's wiki and always bring our content design documentation as close as possible to the product design documentation, which always helps other stakeholders realize we are in this together. I see documentation as not only a time saver for me but for the rest of my team, not having to repeat themselves or search for answers to what we agreed upon on Slack is a game changer. And having it all in an easy-to-find and search manner is also very important.
Content designers are typically involved at the very end. They are provided with a high-fidelity UI prototype and asked to write or improve the copy with little context, if any. How does this process cause problems and difficulties?
It's often too late to actually use content as part of the design process and you end up filling space. There might be a shorter or better or even totally different way to guide folks, but if the process is too far ahead, going back to the drawing board might not be an option.
When content design and product design work closely from the beginning, the solution that you can provide tends to be much richer, because you're taking into account 2 of the main ways folks interact with your product or service: words and visuals.
You are a core believer that collaboration across research, design, content, and development is crucial for solving complex UX issues. We share this view at Punkt and are committed to creating a suite of UX tools that streamline the process from discovery, planning, research, prototyping, and publishing to ensure the whole product team has access to every detail of the UX process. What are your thoughts on this approach?
That sounds like the dream!
Finally, at Punkt, we are revolutionizing the UX industry by building a Content-First UX platform where Content Designers and UX Writers co-lead the product UX/Design decisions. We believe a Content-First UX approach will fix too many daily issues most product teams deal with. Is it possible to give the Content Team the lead in guiding the entire UX process?
I think it depends on the problem you're trying to solve. For sure, there are projects where content can lead the way, no doubt, but there might be others where you'll need a visual, or, a data, or even a technical approach to take the lead. It's not about one craft or the other leading, it's about figuring out which craft is best suited for that particular case.
👋 Don't forget to follow Mario
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/marioferrer
Website justmario.com
Intro
Welcome to Spotlight, your gateway to the UX/ Content Design world, through a distinctive series of interviews that spotlight the industry's leading voices. Our succinct, direct-to-the-point approach poses ±10 sharp questions to veterans and rising stars, gathering insights and perspectives shaping the UX scene.
Meet our guest — Mario Ferrer,
Staff Content Designer at Shopify
Early in his career, he assisted senior copywriters with creative concepts and crafted copy for advertising campaigns. He also developed content for the corporate blog and email marketing for companies like VRTC, Inc., LetsBonus, and Softonic. His career took a significant turn when he entered the field of UX Writing with King. Mario led the Content Design team at King and established the distinctive voice and tone of the Candy Crush game, contributing to its global success.
Highlighting just a few of his ✨ super powers:
He's an advocate and firm believer that the collaboration between research, design, content, and development is what allows teams to solve complex design problems. And the importance of having enough context for UX Writers to do the job.
He ran 'lunch and learn' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams, and to help other stakeholders understand the impact of UX Writing on improving product experiences.
One of Mario's biggest internal achievements at King was leading the team to an approach that killed the Lorem Ipsum in the earliest stages of the design process.
He started Content Design España (Formerly UX Writers Spain), a local community of practice that helps newcomers learn more about UX Writing through mentorships, workshops, and events that explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
He actively shares his thoughts, experience, and knowledge about UX Writing and Content Design in talks, conferences, courses, and workshops to help newcomers learn more about UX Writing and explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
You can reach Mario Ferrer via Linkedin to talk about UX Writing, product teams' daily struggles, or the best tacos 🌮 in town.
Señoras y señores, vamos !!!
Without further ado, let's get to the Q&A:
12 Questions with Mario Ferrer
Starting your journey in the world of UX Writing, you spent a great deal of time 'learning by doing' - switching your use of Google Docs for software like Sketch. How did your impact on the design process change by switching from writing in docs to writing in mocks?
There's this quote I love by Jon Saito from one of his early medium articles (2016 https://medium.com/@jsaito/how-to-design-words-63d6965051e9), where he wrote "write in mocks, not docs" and that simple line stuck with me.
It seems like such a simple idea, but it was at the time a huuuuge change in the way I worked. It ripped me out of my comfort zone and I had to learn the very basics of Sketch and then integrate Abstract to the mix. However, I'm glad I did it, because having my writing in context helped me make much better design decisions and the product designers I used to work with also realized that content was not something you filled out space with, but part of the experience itself.
You succeeded in driving the King team to a Lorem Ipsum-free process. What tools and techniques have you used to put a process that kills Lorem Ipsum?
More than a process, it was an empathy exercise or workshop, where I got product designers to write the content for their designs. That helped them realize how writing to explain a feature or a flow is something that requires way more than just typing. It also got them into the habit of writing their own "proto-content" or first pass, that way, me being the only one at the time, could expand my impact as a content designer, by teaching my wider team how to fish instead of just handing over the fresh catch of the day.
I partnered with Sergi, one of my first UX mentors, and wrote a medium post about our process back in the day https://medium.com/designfeld/the-one-where-we-killed-lorem-ipsum-c8a2793ffa55.
How can content design and UX writing help products thrive and meet business goals, and, in your case at King, can users enjoy a new game feature?
Because we are great at balancing user and business needs. Folks want to understand what they can do with your product or service, and clear guidance gives them just that. If people don't understand or get clear, concise, and useful instructions, they'll leave, their time is valuable. So that's a huge part the writing plays, it guides people through the experience, it provides context, and in specific places, it helps them enjoy what they are set out to do, like playing a game.
You ran 'lunch and learns' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams. What was the impact on the product's success?
It's an empathy exercise. As UXers we're always speaking about the empathy we should have with people we design for, but we forget to have empathy with the people we design with. So running these low stake, easy-going sessions, was a nice introduction for our team with other stakeholders. These sessions gave us a chance to explain that the user experience is not only the UX team's responsibility but everyone involved in the product. And we all know when folks feel involved, seen, and understand how they can contribute to something that makes them proud, they are much more open when it comes to collaborating.
Given King's Games' worldwide success, the localization team must have translated everything your team wrote into 23 languages or so. Were you responsible or part of the localization projects? Can you elaborate on how it works, from validating the copy to ensuring localization matches the region's cultural nuances (e.g., 🇪🇸 Spanish/ 🇫🇷 French)? And what tools did you use for that?
Thankfully we had a wonderful globalization team. We worked alongside them to make sure the English microcopy that my team wrote, made sense in the different regions and languages.
Your team at King used an internal CMS for localization. What are the cons and pros of using an internal CMS from a UX Writer's perspective?
Having an internal CMS was helpful as we could suggest changes to the system and partner together with the tech teams so they could understand our needs as UX Writers. The con of an internal system is you need a team fully dedicated to it, and not all companies can do that. That said, a CMS is a tool that should make folk's work easier, so it depends on the team's needs and constraints to figure out what's best for them.
Throughout your talks and interviews, you always stress on the necessity of providing adequate context for UX Writers. During your time at King, Skyscanner, and Shopify, what strategies did you use to keep yourself and your content team aware of the context?
We pick our battles ⚔️.
We also rely on our wider team to get the extra context. It will always depend on the size of your team. Rituals like weekly syncs and crits are incredibly helpful, as well as making sure the info is available via documentation or even async comms via Slack. Videos with walkthroughs or Figma prototypes are a great way to provide context, but let me tell you, a good old-fashioned conversation face-to-face, is always my favorite way to gather context.During your discussion with Joe Welinske, you mentioned the benefits of involving UX Writers early in the process, as it provides them with deeper context and a clearer grasp of the issues at hand, allowing them to offer valuable insights. However, the reality in many UX teams often differs from this ideal. How effectively have you implemented this approach in your past roles? We'd love to hear your "secret recipe" for success. 🌮
There's no secret recipe. I wish...
What has helped me is another quote I got from Dan Hon: "Make friends. Break silos. Build bridges." which helps me explain a step-by-step approach to my broader teams.
When you first join a team, it's the best time to grab time with the folks you'll be working with to start creating those relationships and also, get to know each other a bit better. There are always nice surprises or hobbies you share with folks you work with. Once you start opening up (it's hard, I know) that creates trust, and that is what helps break down the silos that exist, especially between crafts.
Last but not least, it's time to pick up that rubble and create makeshift bridges with other teams, people, stakeholders, etc.It takes time and effort, but we're humans, and it's that humanity that actually sparks good collaboration. It goes waaaay beyond being involved early, it's about being seen and feeling like you belong.
At King, your colleague Patricia Gomez highlighted the necessity of keeping detailed records, something you used to manage with Post-its before COVID. Since transitioning to an entirely virtual workspace, what tools, processes, and techniques have you begun using to document essential elements like meeting notes and decisions, addressing Patricia's concerns about forgetting important details?
I used to absolutely hate documentation. In conversations with Patricia, she helped me realize, that was the only way for me to be more efficient. Once my knowledge was on a link we could share with the wider team, that saved me time explaining over and over the design decisions about a specific content pattern. I've learned to use my team's wiki and always bring our content design documentation as close as possible to the product design documentation, which always helps other stakeholders realize we are in this together. I see documentation as not only a time saver for me but for the rest of my team, not having to repeat themselves or search for answers to what we agreed upon on Slack is a game changer. And having it all in an easy-to-find and search manner is also very important.
Content designers are typically involved at the very end. They are provided with a high-fidelity UI prototype and asked to write or improve the copy with little context, if any. How does this process cause problems and difficulties?
It's often too late to actually use content as part of the design process and you end up filling space. There might be a shorter or better or even totally different way to guide folks, but if the process is too far ahead, going back to the drawing board might not be an option.
When content design and product design work closely from the beginning, the solution that you can provide tends to be much richer, because you're taking into account 2 of the main ways folks interact with your product or service: words and visuals.
You are a core believer that collaboration across research, design, content, and development is crucial for solving complex UX issues. We share this view at Punkt and are committed to creating a suite of UX tools that streamline the process from discovery, planning, research, prototyping, and publishing to ensure the whole product team has access to every detail of the UX process. What are your thoughts on this approach?
That sounds like the dream!
Finally, at Punkt, we are revolutionizing the UX industry by building a Content-First UX platform where Content Designers and UX Writers co-lead the product UX/Design decisions. We believe a Content-First UX approach will fix too many daily issues most product teams deal with. Is it possible to give the Content Team the lead in guiding the entire UX process?
I think it depends on the problem you're trying to solve. For sure, there are projects where content can lead the way, no doubt, but there might be others where you'll need a visual, or, a data, or even a technical approach to take the lead. It's not about one craft or the other leading, it's about figuring out which craft is best suited for that particular case.
👋 Don't forget to follow Mario
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/marioferrer
Website justmario.com
Intro
Welcome to Spotlight, your gateway to the UX/ Content Design world, through a distinctive series of interviews that spotlight the industry's leading voices. Our succinct, direct-to-the-point approach poses ±10 sharp questions to veterans and rising stars, gathering insights and perspectives shaping the UX scene.
Meet our guest — Mario Ferrer,
Staff Content Designer at Shopify
Early in his career, he assisted senior copywriters with creative concepts and crafted copy for advertising campaigns. He also developed content for the corporate blog and email marketing for companies like VRTC, Inc., LetsBonus, and Softonic. His career took a significant turn when he entered the field of UX Writing with King. Mario led the Content Design team at King and established the distinctive voice and tone of the Candy Crush game, contributing to its global success.
Highlighting just a few of his ✨ super powers:
He's an advocate and firm believer that the collaboration between research, design, content, and development is what allows teams to solve complex design problems. And the importance of having enough context for UX Writers to do the job.
He ran 'lunch and learn' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams, and to help other stakeholders understand the impact of UX Writing on improving product experiences.
One of Mario's biggest internal achievements at King was leading the team to an approach that killed the Lorem Ipsum in the earliest stages of the design process.
He started Content Design España (Formerly UX Writers Spain), a local community of practice that helps newcomers learn more about UX Writing through mentorships, workshops, and events that explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
He actively shares his thoughts, experience, and knowledge about UX Writing and Content Design in talks, conferences, courses, and workshops to help newcomers learn more about UX Writing and explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
You can reach Mario Ferrer via Linkedin to talk about UX Writing, product teams' daily struggles, or the best tacos 🌮 in town.
Señoras y señores, vamos !!!
Without further ado, let's get to the Q&A:
12 Questions with Mario Ferrer
Starting your journey in the world of UX Writing, you spent a great deal of time 'learning by doing' - switching your use of Google Docs for software like Sketch. How did your impact on the design process change by switching from writing in docs to writing in mocks?
There's this quote I love by Jon Saito from one of his early medium articles (2016 https://medium.com/@jsaito/how-to-design-words-63d6965051e9), where he wrote "write in mocks, not docs" and that simple line stuck with me.
It seems like such a simple idea, but it was at the time a huuuuge change in the way I worked. It ripped me out of my comfort zone and I had to learn the very basics of Sketch and then integrate Abstract to the mix. However, I'm glad I did it, because having my writing in context helped me make much better design decisions and the product designers I used to work with also realized that content was not something you filled out space with, but part of the experience itself.
You succeeded in driving the King team to a Lorem Ipsum-free process. What tools and techniques have you used to put a process that kills Lorem Ipsum?
More than a process, it was an empathy exercise or workshop, where I got product designers to write the content for their designs. That helped them realize how writing to explain a feature or a flow is something that requires way more than just typing. It also got them into the habit of writing their own "proto-content" or first pass, that way, me being the only one at the time, could expand my impact as a content designer, by teaching my wider team how to fish instead of just handing over the fresh catch of the day.
I partnered with Sergi, one of my first UX mentors, and wrote a medium post about our process back in the day https://medium.com/designfeld/the-one-where-we-killed-lorem-ipsum-c8a2793ffa55.
How can content design and UX writing help products thrive and meet business goals, and, in your case at King, can users enjoy a new game feature?
Because we are great at balancing user and business needs. Folks want to understand what they can do with your product or service, and clear guidance gives them just that. If people don't understand or get clear, concise, and useful instructions, they'll leave, their time is valuable. So that's a huge part the writing plays, it guides people through the experience, it provides context, and in specific places, it helps them enjoy what they are set out to do, like playing a game.
You ran 'lunch and learns' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams. What was the impact on the product's success?
It's an empathy exercise. As UXers we're always speaking about the empathy we should have with people we design for, but we forget to have empathy with the people we design with. So running these low stake, easy-going sessions, was a nice introduction for our team with other stakeholders. These sessions gave us a chance to explain that the user experience is not only the UX team's responsibility but everyone involved in the product. And we all know when folks feel involved, seen, and understand how they can contribute to something that makes them proud, they are much more open when it comes to collaborating.
Given King's Games' worldwide success, the localization team must have translated everything your team wrote into 23 languages or so. Were you responsible or part of the localization projects? Can you elaborate on how it works, from validating the copy to ensuring localization matches the region's cultural nuances (e.g., 🇪🇸 Spanish/ 🇫🇷 French)? And what tools did you use for that?
Thankfully we had a wonderful globalization team. We worked alongside them to make sure the English microcopy that my team wrote, made sense in the different regions and languages.
Your team at King used an internal CMS for localization. What are the cons and pros of using an internal CMS from a UX Writer's perspective?
Having an internal CMS was helpful as we could suggest changes to the system and partner together with the tech teams so they could understand our needs as UX Writers. The con of an internal system is you need a team fully dedicated to it, and not all companies can do that. That said, a CMS is a tool that should make folk's work easier, so it depends on the team's needs and constraints to figure out what's best for them.
Throughout your talks and interviews, you always stress on the necessity of providing adequate context for UX Writers. During your time at King, Skyscanner, and Shopify, what strategies did you use to keep yourself and your content team aware of the context?
We pick our battles ⚔️.
We also rely on our wider team to get the extra context. It will always depend on the size of your team. Rituals like weekly syncs and crits are incredibly helpful, as well as making sure the info is available via documentation or even async comms via Slack. Videos with walkthroughs or Figma prototypes are a great way to provide context, but let me tell you, a good old-fashioned conversation face-to-face, is always my favorite way to gather context.During your discussion with Joe Welinske, you mentioned the benefits of involving UX Writers early in the process, as it provides them with deeper context and a clearer grasp of the issues at hand, allowing them to offer valuable insights. However, the reality in many UX teams often differs from this ideal. How effectively have you implemented this approach in your past roles? We'd love to hear your "secret recipe" for success. 🌮
There's no secret recipe. I wish...
What has helped me is another quote I got from Dan Hon: "Make friends. Break silos. Build bridges." which helps me explain a step-by-step approach to my broader teams.
When you first join a team, it's the best time to grab time with the folks you'll be working with to start creating those relationships and also, get to know each other a bit better. There are always nice surprises or hobbies you share with folks you work with. Once you start opening up (it's hard, I know) that creates trust, and that is what helps break down the silos that exist, especially between crafts.
Last but not least, it's time to pick up that rubble and create makeshift bridges with other teams, people, stakeholders, etc.It takes time and effort, but we're humans, and it's that humanity that actually sparks good collaboration. It goes waaaay beyond being involved early, it's about being seen and feeling like you belong.
At King, your colleague Patricia Gomez highlighted the necessity of keeping detailed records, something you used to manage with Post-its before COVID. Since transitioning to an entirely virtual workspace, what tools, processes, and techniques have you begun using to document essential elements like meeting notes and decisions, addressing Patricia's concerns about forgetting important details?
I used to absolutely hate documentation. In conversations with Patricia, she helped me realize, that was the only way for me to be more efficient. Once my knowledge was on a link we could share with the wider team, that saved me time explaining over and over the design decisions about a specific content pattern. I've learned to use my team's wiki and always bring our content design documentation as close as possible to the product design documentation, which always helps other stakeholders realize we are in this together. I see documentation as not only a time saver for me but for the rest of my team, not having to repeat themselves or search for answers to what we agreed upon on Slack is a game changer. And having it all in an easy-to-find and search manner is also very important.
Content designers are typically involved at the very end. They are provided with a high-fidelity UI prototype and asked to write or improve the copy with little context, if any. How does this process cause problems and difficulties?
It's often too late to actually use content as part of the design process and you end up filling space. There might be a shorter or better or even totally different way to guide folks, but if the process is too far ahead, going back to the drawing board might not be an option.
When content design and product design work closely from the beginning, the solution that you can provide tends to be much richer, because you're taking into account 2 of the main ways folks interact with your product or service: words and visuals.
You are a core believer that collaboration across research, design, content, and development is crucial for solving complex UX issues. We share this view at Punkt and are committed to creating a suite of UX tools that streamline the process from discovery, planning, research, prototyping, and publishing to ensure the whole product team has access to every detail of the UX process. What are your thoughts on this approach?
That sounds like the dream!
Finally, at Punkt, we are revolutionizing the UX industry by building a Content-First UX platform where Content Designers and UX Writers co-lead the product UX/Design decisions. We believe a Content-First UX approach will fix too many daily issues most product teams deal with. Is it possible to give the Content Team the lead in guiding the entire UX process?
I think it depends on the problem you're trying to solve. For sure, there are projects where content can lead the way, no doubt, but there might be others where you'll need a visual, or, a data, or even a technical approach to take the lead. It's not about one craft or the other leading, it's about figuring out which craft is best suited for that particular case.
👋 Don't forget to follow Mario
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/marioferrer
Website justmario.com
Intro
Welcome to Spotlight, your gateway to the UX/ Content Design world, through a distinctive series of interviews that spotlight the industry's leading voices. Our succinct, direct-to-the-point approach poses ±10 sharp questions to veterans and rising stars, gathering insights and perspectives shaping the UX scene.
Meet our guest — Mario Ferrer,
Staff Content Designer at Shopify
Early in his career, he assisted senior copywriters with creative concepts and crafted copy for advertising campaigns. He also developed content for the corporate blog and email marketing for companies like VRTC, Inc., LetsBonus, and Softonic. His career took a significant turn when he entered the field of UX Writing with King. Mario led the Content Design team at King and established the distinctive voice and tone of the Candy Crush game, contributing to its global success.
Highlighting just a few of his ✨ super powers:
He's an advocate and firm believer that the collaboration between research, design, content, and development is what allows teams to solve complex design problems. And the importance of having enough context for UX Writers to do the job.
He ran 'lunch and learn' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams, and to help other stakeholders understand the impact of UX Writing on improving product experiences.
One of Mario's biggest internal achievements at King was leading the team to an approach that killed the Lorem Ipsum in the earliest stages of the design process.
He started Content Design España (Formerly UX Writers Spain), a local community of practice that helps newcomers learn more about UX Writing through mentorships, workshops, and events that explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
He actively shares his thoughts, experience, and knowledge about UX Writing and Content Design in talks, conferences, courses, and workshops to help newcomers learn more about UX Writing and explain how the role provides value to product teams and their design processes.
You can reach Mario Ferrer via Linkedin to talk about UX Writing, product teams' daily struggles, or the best tacos 🌮 in town.
Señoras y señores, vamos !!!
Without further ado, let's get to the Q&A:
12 Questions with Mario Ferrer
Starting your journey in the world of UX Writing, you spent a great deal of time 'learning by doing' - switching your use of Google Docs for software like Sketch. How did your impact on the design process change by switching from writing in docs to writing in mocks?
There's this quote I love by Jon Saito from one of his early medium articles (2016 https://medium.com/@jsaito/how-to-design-words-63d6965051e9), where he wrote "write in mocks, not docs" and that simple line stuck with me.
It seems like such a simple idea, but it was at the time a huuuuge change in the way I worked. It ripped me out of my comfort zone and I had to learn the very basics of Sketch and then integrate Abstract to the mix. However, I'm glad I did it, because having my writing in context helped me make much better design decisions and the product designers I used to work with also realized that content was not something you filled out space with, but part of the experience itself.
You succeeded in driving the King team to a Lorem Ipsum-free process. What tools and techniques have you used to put a process that kills Lorem Ipsum?
More than a process, it was an empathy exercise or workshop, where I got product designers to write the content for their designs. That helped them realize how writing to explain a feature or a flow is something that requires way more than just typing. It also got them into the habit of writing their own "proto-content" or first pass, that way, me being the only one at the time, could expand my impact as a content designer, by teaching my wider team how to fish instead of just handing over the fresh catch of the day.
I partnered with Sergi, one of my first UX mentors, and wrote a medium post about our process back in the day https://medium.com/designfeld/the-one-where-we-killed-lorem-ipsum-c8a2793ffa55.
How can content design and UX writing help products thrive and meet business goals, and, in your case at King, can users enjoy a new game feature?
Because we are great at balancing user and business needs. Folks want to understand what they can do with your product or service, and clear guidance gives them just that. If people don't understand or get clear, concise, and useful instructions, they'll leave, their time is valuable. So that's a huge part the writing plays, it guides people through the experience, it provides context, and in specific places, it helps them enjoy what they are set out to do, like playing a game.
You ran 'lunch and learns' meetings for teams to spread the word about UX internally, especially with non-UX teams. What was the impact on the product's success?
It's an empathy exercise. As UXers we're always speaking about the empathy we should have with people we design for, but we forget to have empathy with the people we design with. So running these low stake, easy-going sessions, was a nice introduction for our team with other stakeholders. These sessions gave us a chance to explain that the user experience is not only the UX team's responsibility but everyone involved in the product. And we all know when folks feel involved, seen, and understand how they can contribute to something that makes them proud, they are much more open when it comes to collaborating.
Given King's Games' worldwide success, the localization team must have translated everything your team wrote into 23 languages or so. Were you responsible or part of the localization projects? Can you elaborate on how it works, from validating the copy to ensuring localization matches the region's cultural nuances (e.g., 🇪🇸 Spanish/ 🇫🇷 French)? And what tools did you use for that?
Thankfully we had a wonderful globalization team. We worked alongside them to make sure the English microcopy that my team wrote, made sense in the different regions and languages.
Your team at King used an internal CMS for localization. What are the cons and pros of using an internal CMS from a UX Writer's perspective?
Having an internal CMS was helpful as we could suggest changes to the system and partner together with the tech teams so they could understand our needs as UX Writers. The con of an internal system is you need a team fully dedicated to it, and not all companies can do that. That said, a CMS is a tool that should make folk's work easier, so it depends on the team's needs and constraints to figure out what's best for them.
Throughout your talks and interviews, you always stress on the necessity of providing adequate context for UX Writers. During your time at King, Skyscanner, and Shopify, what strategies did you use to keep yourself and your content team aware of the context?
We pick our battles ⚔️.
We also rely on our wider team to get the extra context. It will always depend on the size of your team. Rituals like weekly syncs and crits are incredibly helpful, as well as making sure the info is available via documentation or even async comms via Slack. Videos with walkthroughs or Figma prototypes are a great way to provide context, but let me tell you, a good old-fashioned conversation face-to-face, is always my favorite way to gather context.During your discussion with Joe Welinske, you mentioned the benefits of involving UX Writers early in the process, as it provides them with deeper context and a clearer grasp of the issues at hand, allowing them to offer valuable insights. However, the reality in many UX teams often differs from this ideal. How effectively have you implemented this approach in your past roles? We'd love to hear your "secret recipe" for success. 🌮
There's no secret recipe. I wish...
What has helped me is another quote I got from Dan Hon: "Make friends. Break silos. Build bridges." which helps me explain a step-by-step approach to my broader teams.
When you first join a team, it's the best time to grab time with the folks you'll be working with to start creating those relationships and also, get to know each other a bit better. There are always nice surprises or hobbies you share with folks you work with. Once you start opening up (it's hard, I know) that creates trust, and that is what helps break down the silos that exist, especially between crafts.
Last but not least, it's time to pick up that rubble and create makeshift bridges with other teams, people, stakeholders, etc.It takes time and effort, but we're humans, and it's that humanity that actually sparks good collaboration. It goes waaaay beyond being involved early, it's about being seen and feeling like you belong.
At King, your colleague Patricia Gomez highlighted the necessity of keeping detailed records, something you used to manage with Post-its before COVID. Since transitioning to an entirely virtual workspace, what tools, processes, and techniques have you begun using to document essential elements like meeting notes and decisions, addressing Patricia's concerns about forgetting important details?
I used to absolutely hate documentation. In conversations with Patricia, she helped me realize, that was the only way for me to be more efficient. Once my knowledge was on a link we could share with the wider team, that saved me time explaining over and over the design decisions about a specific content pattern. I've learned to use my team's wiki and always bring our content design documentation as close as possible to the product design documentation, which always helps other stakeholders realize we are in this together. I see documentation as not only a time saver for me but for the rest of my team, not having to repeat themselves or search for answers to what we agreed upon on Slack is a game changer. And having it all in an easy-to-find and search manner is also very important.
Content designers are typically involved at the very end. They are provided with a high-fidelity UI prototype and asked to write or improve the copy with little context, if any. How does this process cause problems and difficulties?
It's often too late to actually use content as part of the design process and you end up filling space. There might be a shorter or better or even totally different way to guide folks, but if the process is too far ahead, going back to the drawing board might not be an option.
When content design and product design work closely from the beginning, the solution that you can provide tends to be much richer, because you're taking into account 2 of the main ways folks interact with your product or service: words and visuals.
You are a core believer that collaboration across research, design, content, and development is crucial for solving complex UX issues. We share this view at Punkt and are committed to creating a suite of UX tools that streamline the process from discovery, planning, research, prototyping, and publishing to ensure the whole product team has access to every detail of the UX process. What are your thoughts on this approach?
That sounds like the dream!
Finally, at Punkt, we are revolutionizing the UX industry by building a Content-First UX platform where Content Designers and UX Writers co-lead the product UX/Design decisions. We believe a Content-First UX approach will fix too many daily issues most product teams deal with. Is it possible to give the Content Team the lead in guiding the entire UX process?
I think it depends on the problem you're trying to solve. For sure, there are projects where content can lead the way, no doubt, but there might be others where you'll need a visual, or, a data, or even a technical approach to take the lead. It's not about one craft or the other leading, it's about figuring out which craft is best suited for that particular case.
👋 Don't forget to follow Mario
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/marioferrer
Website justmario.com
