Illustration by Cynthia Marinakos.

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve focused your writing on your reader but it got knocked back by a stakeholder?

I recently edited an article piece promoting professional development courses to teachers.

This article was for a web page and an email newsletter. It had to go through at least 5 approvals before getting published.

When I sent the article back to the stakeholder for review, she wrote back:

‘I have made significant changes to the attached article as I have aligned the content to previous Media Releases which have been approved by our Director.’

What this highlighted was when a stakeholder shares information, they:

• Are pressured by time
• Automatically assume the people above them are right
• Don’t know how to truly focus on writing for their reader
• Don’t want to look like they don’t know how to do their jobs

Today I want to share with you how to stand up for your reader while getting your stakeholders on board when it comes to UX writing.

To do this, we’ll look at:

• Ways we improve the user experience through writing
• 2 real examples of how to stand up for readers and defend your writing
• 7 Tips to bring stakeholders on the journey

Let’s dive in, shall we?

1Ways we improve the user experience through writing

“In some cases, people will get bored or fatigued as they scan text. Other times, the words they read offer only a weak information scent, which may be enough gratification to continue scanning, but not enough to read more of the text.”

This is a comment from a participant in an eyeball tracking study run in 2006 by Nielsen Norman Group. They found people read web content in an F-shaped pattern.

First, they scan the page from left to right. Then they return to the left side of the page and scan downwards. Then, they’ll follow a second horizontal movement, return to the left, and keep scrolling down. Here’s how it looks:

Photo: Eyeball tracking study results. Source: Nielsen Norman Group.

This study is one of many that helps us understand the way our web visitor reads. And why we consider ‘user-centred design’ when writing.

We focus on understanding — and giving our readers what they need, in the way they look for it.

We’ve got to help our readers scan text and quickly find what they need. Or we’ll lose them.

A few ways we do this include:

Chunking: break walls of text into smaller chunks.

Subheadings: write clear subheadings that tell readers what each section is about.

Lists: list items instead of including them in a long line separated by commas.

Links: label links clearly to tell readers where the link will take them.

Plain language: use simpler words and phrases.

Cut: slash repetition and unneeded words.

A few of these are explained more in these 6 skills every writer needs to know.

These content design decisions are not known by the average person. So they may be uncomfortable to see 2 pages of text reduced to 1 in a format that blows their minds.

They may push back. Refer to higher authority. Show their authority. Or refuse to accept your changes.

It’s much easier and faster to throw our hands up in exasperation. Say ‘ok’. Accept all their edits and move on.

But we’ve got to remember our readers.

We’ve got to stand up for them by sticking to our design decisions.

Never forget:
You are your reader’s champion.

That’s what we’ll look at next. How to stand up for readers when stakeholders challenge the way we share their message.

2 real examples of how to stand up for readers and defend your writing

This email is in reply to the stakeholder’s email in the introduction — where she informed me she’d made significant edits because she wanted to use the writing used in a media release and approved by her executive director.

Example 1

Thanks so much for your edits. I’ve included the list of courses according to your email.

A few of the edits rephrase what we already included. We intentionally made the structure and complex sentences easier to read.

We understand your media release may have phrased it a certain way. We’ve kept the meaning of what you’ve shared.

It isn’t as widely known as it should be, but the department now follows the federal style guide for all communications. This advises shorter sentences and simpler language online: <add link to Clear language and writing style | Style Manual>.

The risk of using very long sentences is people tune out online and won’t absorb your message. We want to make sure it’s easy and quick for them to read.

The federal style guide is also why we use numerals for 2 and above instead of writing out numbers: <add link to: Choosing numerals or words | Style Manual>l

Here’s a bit of info about how people read online: <add link to: How people read | Style Manual>

These courses are important and we want them to reach teachers as easily as possible.

Please have a look and let us know your thoughts. Any questions, let me know :)

Example 2

This email shares a piece with a stakeholder who wants us to use a ‘light touch’ when editing what they send us.

To prepare for her push back, I decided to explain a little when I sent her the piece back for her to review:

Please find the reviewed content below — the original is on the second page:

Master teachers appointed for Teaching Excellence Program <link to draft>

In case you’re wondering about the edits, we’ve edited to make sure your message makes the impact it deserves and is easily, quickly understood by teachers.

As with all pieces published on the department website, we’ve aimed for clear language <link> and structured content <link> according to the Federal Style Manual <link>. This ensures government content is accessible to every reader.

Please provide feedback by 5 pm today, Wednesday 17 November.