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Photo: Pixbay
Most designers are aware that programming is essential for their professional success, but few acknowledge that writing well is just as important.
A report by John Maeda digs into the issue and states that coding is not the only unicorn skill, noting that writing can help designers stand out. It also provides a list of university programs that give designers writing training.
In one of the articles highlighted in the report, designer Susan Stuart compares good writing with great UX design.
“I’d like to draw the parallel with writing — because a core skill of the interaction designer is imagining users (characters), motivations, actions, reactions, obstacles, successes, and a complete set of ‘what if’ scenarios”.
In another analysis, expert Nicole Fenton points out that while most tech projects have an engineer and a designer, most don’t include a writer. Then, encourages designers to see writing as a creative tool.
“I like this idea of writing as a way of figuring things out and exploring possibilities—and that willingness to experiment fits right in with design”.
Also, Fenton says that the lack of language skills can jeopardize teams’ goals due to communication problems, like:
- No product vision
- Different goals and expectations
- Oversimplifying the problem or solution
- Design doesn’t sell itself
Summarizing, writing well can help designers to think clearer, avoid embarrassing mistakes in the design process, and communicate better with colleagues and clients.
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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