Chapter 61. Break Your Lorem Ipsum Habit: Sketch with Words!
Emily Roche
It’s the beginning of a project. You’re in UX heaven as you sketch out ideas and interactions that will shape the experience. You sketch with shapes and icons to indicate where images and videos will go, and add Lorem Ipsum to show where the words will go.
WAIT. On behalf of UX writers and content strategists everywhere, please don’t do this. A sea of Lorem Ipsum indicates that the content we need to write is an afterthought in the design. No one’s really thought about what the words will describe, or what people should do when they see CTA (call to action) copy in a text link or button.
Why Lorem Ipsum Doesn’t Help
It’s wonderful to see UX writers and content strategists included as key members of digital project teams. While UX writers are becoming more common, they’re often in short supply. Organizations tend to hire more “traditional” UX talent, such as designers, rather than writers. As a result, UX writers usually juggle several deadlines at the same time.
Also, UX writers typically don’t start working until it’s time to “add the real words,” which is usually well after the project kickoff date. This means that when a UX writer joins the team they’re already behind. Why? Because even though Lorem Ipsum shows where words will go, it doesn’t convey the meaning behind them. UX writers will need to ask ...
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