Roles & Org Structures
What UX content workers do all day, how they keep their skills fresh, and how their teams and orgs function.
What we work on day-to-day
We know from conversations in the community that many content designers and UX writers are now getting involved in processes earlier, and doing more of the design and product work our field has been arguing for the past few years. But we also know that many folks are still struggling with visibility.
To find out more about where we are—and are not—included in the design process, we asked, “How often do content designers/UX writers participate in (or lead!) the following activities where you work? If you’re an ops person, manager, or otherwise not actively working on projects, use your colleagues or reports as an example.”
Respondents answered this question on a Likert scale of 1 (never) to 5 (very often). Because these questions were quantitative, we don’t know much about the context for respondents’ answers, such as whether tasks like research or sketching are being done as part of overall design processes and workflows, or if content folks are doing their own.
We’re in the design files and at the design crit.
More than three-fourths of all respondents are now working directly in design files often or very often (4 or 5 on the scale), and two-thirds are often or very often attending design jams and crits.
How often are CDs/UXWs working directly in design files?
How often are CDs/UXWs attending design reviews/jams/crits?
We’re designing systems and structures.
We also found that two-thirds of respondents are often or very often working on information architecture, and more than half on design systems.
How often are CDs/UXWs part of information architecture and naming?
How often are CDs/UXWs working on the design system?
Exclusion is still common.
That so many respondents are attending design crits on at least a regular basis suggests that our work is seen as valuable (or we’re at least visible) in these informal contexts. But there’s still a gap to be closed when it comes to translating that informal contribution into formal ownership during important parts of the process.
For example, more than a quarter of us almost never get to do research, and almost a third don’t get to do things like user journeys, user flows, wireframing, mockups, and prototypes. These are all tasks that signal some degree of ownership, and can be more than competently done by a content pro.
How often are CDs/UXWs part of discovery and research?
How often are CDs/UXWs doing ideation and sketching?
How often are CDs/UXWs involved with user journeys or user flows?
How often are CDs/UXWs part of wireframing, mockups, or prototyping?
Seeing what looks like progress for everyone else must feel pretty terrible. So this is just to say that if you’re part of the 12% who don’t work directly in design files (and want to do this) or the 15% who don’t get to do information architecture and naming, despite this being core to great content work, we see you.
Doing the work, but not presenting the work.
Finally, there is what we’ve been calling The Sad Chart: we’re doing more than ever, but almost half of us are never or almost never getting the opportunity to present the work we’ve been part of. Only about a quarter of us are finding that our increased responsibility has led to frequent opportunities to take the lead in sharing that work with others.
How often are CDs/UXWs presenting design work (not just the content)?
Questions for community discussion
How can we acknowledge our collective progress, while still making space for the significant numbers of content folks who are still stuck in, “We’ll let you know when we’re ready for copy,” and may not have the power or leverage to change this themselves?
Since it’s relatively clear that doing more tasks and taking on more responsibility hasn’t translated into greater recognition, what would it look like for us to decide—maybe collectively—to do… less?
Where people turn to grow their skills
We asked, “How do you keep your own skills and knowledge fresh?” The responses we received revealed both a deep commitment to learning—and major barriers to it.
UX content folks do a lot of reading.
Almost every response mentioned reading in some capacity, and online articles and books on UX-related themes were the most popular sources of information.
People also mentioned talks and meetups, as well as Slack groups and newsletters. A few also attended courses/workshops and conferences.
More than 1 in 5 said they followed other UX content people on LinkedIn, where people seem to be getting a lot of value:
Following every UX pro on LinkedIn and attending free UX events whenever possible. The UX fam includes some of the most brilliant people and everybody just wants to share what they know and help others within their discipline(s). I learn 10 new things a day just by scrolling LI and checking out blogs/podcasts/etc. that are shared.
—Senior copywriter, USA
On-the-job learning is constant.
A number of people considered that their day-to-day work was demanding enough to keep their knowledge and skills fresh:
Writing for my industry is really challenging—every day feels like a refresher of basic and advanced UXW principles.
—User experience writer, Hungary
My role is very challenging and is expanding my abilities. I (am blessed to) get what I need from work.
—Senior UX writer, USA
Money matters when it comes to professional development.
Many people said they only attended workshops and talks if they were free, and of those attending courses and industry conferences, a majority said their organization covered the costs. While the question did not explicitly ask about financial barriers to continued training, we suspect that money continues to be a barrier for many of us.
When there’s no time to learn at work, people opt out.
More pronounced than even money was the barrier of time. Many respondents said they were overwhelmed with work as it is and have little time to focus on skills training. The expectation that skills training is done in one’s spare time appeared impossible to many, and almost ludicrous to some.
I’m in the grind so much right now. I haven’t done much recently to further my skill set other than work.
—Senior manager of content design, USA
Who has time for that?! When we can’t spend an ounce of our workday on growing our skills it all has to happen in my spare time. I usually take courses and study after kids have fallen asleep. Late nights! Exhausted brains. Sick and angry about never getting a budget to spend on my development.
—Content designer, Sweden
Feels overwhelming a lot of the time, especially when something like ChatGPT hits and I feel so behind on it. But in general I use LinkedIn to keep up with the discussion, articles, etc. at least a few times a week. I attend Button yearly thanks to our company’s education stipend, which is amazing.
—Senior content designer, USA
I'm not sure I do. This seems to be a big extracurricular for content people and I don’t have the time.
—Senior content designer, UK
I feel like I’m surfing chaos, but it seems to work for everyone. I try to take seminars and read books, but unless it’s on work time it’s probably not happening. But then I just did 2.5 years of a 996 work culture, things might be different working only 40 hours a week.
—Content design manager, USA
It’s hard to keep up because of the workload. I try to squeeze it in between tasks, but mostly use my free time to work on this.
—Senior content designer, Netherlands
Questions for community discussion
How do roles and expectations need to change to allow for realistic ongoing learning and development? How might we advocate for this?
How might we as a community balance offering accessible educational resources with fairly compensating educators?
What do org and reporting structures look like?
Should the content team be centralized? Embedded within product areas? In a center of excellence? Or just part of design? These questions are common in the content community, and clear answers are hard to find.
In our dataset, we found that organizational structures varied widely—and so did the benefits and drawbacks of those structures.
How does your reporting structure work?
38% - Report to a design manager or lead
28% - Report to a more senior content person
13% - Report directly to a VP or C-level
10% - Report to another type of manager (marketing, tech writing, etc.)
6% - Report to a PM
5% - Freelance, no reporting structure
We also asked respondents an open-ended question about where they “sit” in their organization—i.e., which department or business unit they fell into. Answers to this question were fascinating, but also difficult to categorize because the way people described their organizational structures varied widely.
Ultimately, we found 208 responses we felt comfortable placing into a category. Of those, most respondents fell into one of three common organizational structures:
27% - In a design or UX org
14% - In a content org or team
13% - Embedded at the product level
Other answers varied quite widely and were small in number (e.g., 8 respondents reported into marketing/comms, 4 said they were part of a strategy team, 3 were in a center of excellence, etc.), so we couldn’t identify themes or trends for those areas.
What works and what doesn’t about common team structures.
Looking more closely at the 3 most common answers, we then looked at what respondents said worked—and didn’t work—about where they sat in their organization.
Design/UX org
What works about this?
The biggest benefits these folks noted were that they liked being part of the design process and having a good relationship with the design team. They also tended to mention opportunities to collaborate with cross-functional partners, get involved early and have strategic impact, have visibility and influence in decision-making, stay informed and not siloed, and have access to leadership.
We sit in a design team that includes product designers, user researchers, brand designers and design ops. Being part of the same team helps us feel like designers and ensures that we’re included in rituals.
—UX writing manager, France
What doesn’t work?
An overwhelming problem here is a lack of mentorship. People mentioned that they felt like their design or UX leaders didn’t understand or “get” content, and that they lacked parity or equity with product design. Several respondents attributed the problem to the fact that their leadership came from generalist or visual design backgrounds, rather than from content design.
This group also frequently reported being spread thin, often because there were few content people compared with product designers, and feeling a lack of respect or being “left out” of strategic decisions. Many in this group also noted that because content was decentralized, consistency and quality varied widely across the org, with little oversight or alignment across teams.
Sometimes my manager is not able to help me because he’s a designer, not a UX writer.
—UX writer, Poland
Content org/team
What works about this?
These respondents most often reported that they appreciated having managers and peers who understood their role. They also frequently mentioned that the opportunity to support and grow other content professionals was a positive. This group also commonly mentioned feeling a sense of autonomy over their work, and some said they felt respected or equitable within their org because they had representation at the leadership level, versus only being represented by design.
I have power to make decisions that benefit my team and discipline and get to work with the leaders of other disciplines (tech, product management, design) and know them well.
—Head of content, Norway
What doesn’t work?
The biggest issues respondents noted with this model were that they were split across too many different products and projects, that they felt a disconnect with design that led to a sense of being “outsiders,” and that they felt overworked and under-resourced trying to support content for the whole organization. They also reported that people from outside the content team often didn’t get what they do, and as a result, undervalued or limited their work by not inviting them to meetings or only reaching out at the end of the design process.
About half of our product designers view themselves as higher up in hierarchy from content design and guard their work as a result. They then let content designers know when they are ‘ready for copy,’ which is basically a request to fill in a completed design with words.
—Senior manager, content design, USA
Embedded in the product
What works about this?
People who said they were embedded on one or more product teams or squads tended to report that they liked being close to the product and having both knowledge of and influence over the entire product. They also appreciated being able to jump into any part of the process, collaborating cross-functionally and not being siloed, and experiencing trust and ownership within their work.
I get to work close to the product and at the earliest stage right through to ship.
—Principal content designer, USA
What doesn’t work?
The most common themes here were a lack of connection to other content people and lack of support from a manager who understands content. Respondents also told us they often felt siloed in a product area, leading to inconsistency across products. This group also reported not getting a lot of time to work on things like craft, tool discovery, or being able to develop a design culture.
I’m spread way too thinly, and don’t get to work with other content designers much.
—Senior content designer, UK
A few people also talked about the difficulty in having a manager from outside of their embedded product team, saying it could make getting support or feedback on work difficult since their manager was more removed from that day-to-day product work.
Questions for community discussion
All operating models present strengths and drawbacks. How can we as a community build a stronger perspective on when each is appropriate, and when it’s not? What other unexplored options might exist?
What can we do to mitigate the drawbacks of the operating models we find ourselves in? Where are we getting stuck in frustration instead of moving forward with reality?
How might we channel the generosity of the content community to fill some of the mentorship, support, and leadership gaps we have in our organizational structures? How do we do that in ways that are sustainable, not exploitative, for content practitioners?
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