Resources

There are a handful of books and links I recommend to people whenever they ask me where to get started with content design. This isn’t by any means an exhaustive list, but it’s a good place to begin.

Sarah Winters wrote the book Content Design (under the name Sarah Richards) and gave us all a focus and framework for what content design was and should be. Her emphasis on first doing content discovery and research, then centering the design on what the user actually needs (and not what the designer or organization wishes to say) was revolutionary when it came out and continues to be a definitive guide. This book also contains some very helpful recommendations for how to run effective content critiques, do pair writing, conduct user research, and develop several other practical skills.
See also her team’s Readability Guidelines, which will help anyone who wants to make their style guide less focused on old-fashioned and frequently irrelevant rules of grammar and punctuation and more focused on how to create truly useful, accessible, inclusive content (http://bkaprt.com/ccd12/05-01/). Better yet, it’s all based on evidence and research, rather than personal preference for this rule or that.
We’ve been treated to a wave of sterling books recently on the nuts and bolts of UX writing. One that stands out is Writing Is Designing: Words and the User Experience by Andy Welfle and Michael Metts, both for its thoroughness and use of real-life examples, and for how it incorporates the voices of real people doing this work in a variety of industries and fields. Read this book to learn more about how to do great UX writing, and to get introduced to some of the smartest, kindest people working on it today.
Rachel McConnell’s book Why You Need a Content Team and How to Build One is a terrific resource for content people on teams of all sizes and stages of growth, from the solo practitioner to a large, globally integrated team. She helps you diagnose which stage you’re in and what you might need to advance to the next level. It’s an invaluable guide, especially if you’re building a content team for the first time.
Ann Handley’s book Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content is what I give people who tell me they want to get better at writing but don’t know where to start. It’s empowering, practical, and down-to-earth. Ann’s newsletter for writers, Total Annarchy, is a fortnightly infusion of insights, ideas, encouragement, and fun. Shenanigans, as Ann would say. It’s one newsletter you will read, learn from, and laugh at, every time (http://bkaprt.com/ccd12/05-02/).
Donna Lichaw’s book The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love will not just remind you how much you love the movie Back to the Future; it will also give you a clear, actionable model for how to apply the principles of storytelling to create truly user-centered experiences. A lot of people like to say the user is the hero, but then create content that’s clearly centered on what the company wants the user to do. This book will snap you out of that trap. It’s also a great book to give to people you work with, so you have a shared language and vision for what you’re trying to do.
Shopify built Rory, an editor bot that applies the rules of their style guide to their help documentation (http://bkaprt.com/ccd12/05-03/). It was adapted from an earlier, open-source editor tool called Alex (http://bkaprt.com/ccd12/05-04/). The source code for both Rory and Alex is available for anyone to use and adapt (although even open-source tools have license requirements, so make sure you comply with those). Alex comes complete with standard rulesets (for inclusive language, clichés, jargon, and more) that will likely apply to your style guide. Add a few rulesets specific to your house style, set it up on your server, and you’re good to go.
The Content + UX Slack group is a must for anyone interested in chatting about content design, learning more about UX writing, or meeting helpful, smart people who do great things with words. Ask questions, find a job, explore new topics, and make new friends from all over the world (http://bkaprt.com/ccd12/05-05/).

Content design is increasingly becoming a very large and boisterous party, one to which I’m delighted to report that newcomers and fresh perspectives are most heartily welcome. You’ll find an open door to the party through any of these resources, but then you will quickly find yourself drawn into some fascinating side conversations and brilliant new friends to go deeper with. Please join us, and then tell us what you’ve learned.