Writers of Silicon Valley

It's been just over a year since I started Writers of Silicon Valley. In that time I've interviewed 12 expert UX writers and content strategists from around the world. They've worked at companies like Google, Spotify, Facebook, Netflix, Uber, and more. I've gone through the past year's worth of episodes and combined what I think are among the 12 best pieces of advice for UX writers, both beginner and veteran alike.

This might be one of the most illuminating conversations I’ve had in a long time. Shayla has an extensive history, ranging from poetry to journalism. She joined Google to work on accessibility tools. In this episode, we talk about accessibility and diversity in UX writing, what it’s like to work as a Google UX writer, how UX writers can make sure their copy is truly accessible

Early Bird tickets for the UX Writing + Content Design Summit are now on sale! Buy now and save $100. Don’t miss out! Visit www.uxwcdsummit.com. In this conversation, we cover: what’s it like to work at Netflix? How do you succeed as a UX writer there? What are the specific design challenges you have when it comes to using words in an app like Netflix? And what is A/B testing like there?

There have been a few books on UX writing published, all of them very good, but I think this one might take the cake. Andy Welfle and Michael J Metts have written "Writing is Designing". I think it advances the conversation as it approaches writing as a design tool, and builds on the great work that has already been published by other UX writers.

Are you looking for a job as a UX writer in 2020? Then no hyperbole: you need to listen to this podcast. Gordon MacRae is an instructional designer, product manager, UX writer, and more. He started the UX Writing Jobs newsletter in 2018 to collate all the opportunities for UX writers around the world, and he's learned more along the way about the market than just about anyone else.

Tamara Hilmes is a UX Writing Manager at Spotify, and she and I spent some time talking about her background, what makes working at Spotify so great, and the skills she needs to succeed at a major company there - and how to succeed as a UX writer, specifically.

Dropbox is one of those fascinating companies. Steve Jobs wanted to buy it at one point. Now it's huge. HUGE. With that growth comes a need for UX writing, and that's why Angela Gorden is here today. Angela Gorden is all about making big ideas easy to absorb. Currently a UX writer and manager at Dropbox, she studied design thinking at Stanford University and creative writing at the University of Iowa. Angela blogs about product, design, and writing on Medium.

Yep, I get it. You signed up to listen to other UX writers, not me. In that case I say, skip! Delete! Burn! Destroy your phone, even. Last week I gave a presentation to Content Melbourne, at General Assembly. I spoke about how journalism skills can help you as a UX writer. It’s just a piece of bonus content, so I hope you enjoy it.

We spend so much time and effort thinking about UX writing that’s “delightful” we often miss the point: form over function. Good UX writing should be…pretty boring, actually. Ryan Farrell is a content strategist at GoodRx, but you might very well know him as the creator of the Daily UX Writing Challenge. We talk about the newsletter, the skills we think are underrated in the UX writing community, and whether Neil Armstrong should have been told “good job” by his onboard computer when landing on

At the time we spoke. Annie Adams was working as a UX writer in the fashion industry (she’s still a UX writer, just in a different industry now). Our conversation covered so much - best practices for testing copy, the nuances of the fashion industry, and much more.