Design x Sophie Tahran
UX Writing Lead at The New Yorker
Illustration by Bonnie Kate Wolf
Interview conducted by Thatcher Snyder on June 21, 2021
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a Brooklyn-based UX writer. I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing but didn’t necessarily want to pursue creative writing because I was more interested in the nuts and bolts of language.
I ended up studying copyediting in college and studying abroad in Cairo and Jerusalem, where I tried (and failed) to pick up some Arabic and Hebrew. Both languages are based on “roots,” where the vowels distinguish each word’s meaning between its consonants. While I didn’t get far in learning either language, I found that I loved that sort of nuance.
I didn’t know at the time, but my eventual specialization, UX writing, would also be centered around the idea that the tiniest details of language matter.
What was your path to becoming a UX writer?
A friend encouraged me to apply to Lyft HQ when the company was relatively small. I wore a lot of different hats to start: onboarding drivers, building out our knowledge base. Those roles allowed me to see how our internal decisions directly affected the people on the road and how good design could impact someone’s day-to-day.
After a while, I noticed that our Driver Communications team had a lot on their plate. I volunteered to pick up a blog post here, an email there, until I eventually joined the team full-time and got my first “Writer” job title.
I then became a copywriter on the Creative team, working on everything from the words printed on ping-pong balls to the packaging for a short film before I finally began working on product launches. I started partnering with Product and Design and realized that the more involved writers were at the beginning of the design process, the better our work became.
One of our product designers eventually introduced me to the term “UX writing.” I was in San Francisco at the time, where several prominent tech companies had already developed the practice—places like Dropbox and Pinterest. Some of their writers very kindly agreed to get coffee and compare notes. I also joined the Content + UX Slack group, signed up for product design courses, attended meetups, and started reading articles on Medium. There weren’t quite as many conferences, books, or courses as there are today, so the resources were relatively grassroots. But there was a strong community of UX writers in the area.
I had been at Lyft for a few years when I learned that InVision was looking for its first UX writer. It was the right time to take on something new, and I had been looking to gain more design experience to round out my writing background. So, I joined InVision, where we designed tools for designers.
A couple of years after that, I got an email from a design lead at Condé Nast. He asked me to look at a job description for the first UX writing role at the company, which would be focused on The New Yorker. I decided to take the phone call, and that led to where I am today.
“I didn’t know at the time, but my eventual specialization, UX writing, would also be centered around the idea that the tiniest details of language matter.”
What was it like building out the UX writing practice at InVision?
It’s relatively common to join a company as the first or only UX writer. The thing that really allowed me to hit the ground running was that InVision’s leaders fully recognized and evangelized the value of UX writing.
I started building relationships, learning the team’s practices, and identifying which resources were already available. From there, it came down to integrating myself into the process in a fluid way. It was a matter of balance: I wanted my presence to be additive rather than disruptive.
Being a team of one, I also made sure to automate whenever possible—things like building out a style guide and integrating it into our design system. That way, I could prioritize big-picture projects instead of answering questions like, “Do we say ‘sign in’ or ‘log in’?”
What does your day look like at The New Yorker?
My team is highly cross-functional. It’s a place of consensus—we’re working with a well-established voice that readers have known for decades, so decisions just can’t be made in a vacuum.
Mornings primarily consist of conversations between our various product and editorial collaborators, which (ideally) leaves afternoons open for deep work. At the end of the day, our job is to ensure that, whether we’re working on augmented reality or audio narration, we remain true to The New Yorker.
How do you think about expanding or augmenting a voice like The New Yorker’s?
There’s a central tension between where we’re coming from and where we’re going. Yes, there’s that sense of responsibility that you and I were just discussing, but growth necessitates a certain amount of risk. We’re constantly searching for an equilibrium between our style and digital best practices.
How do you align the Design team around UX writing?
It begins before a UX writer joins the team. The director who hired me, Lydia White, advocated for the discipline long before I got there and also set up my interview panel with representatives from Design, Product, Editorial, and Marketing, which laid the foundation for many of my cross-functional relationships.
We also regularly reinforce the fact that UX writers are core members of the Design team. Writers participate and present in critiques, speak to copy during product demonstrations, own Figma files, lead projects, sit on design hiring panels, and more.
There’s always education to be done, especially as new members join the team. Still, our goal is to create a shared understanding of UX writing on a foundational level. It helps us avoid having to barter for involvement on a project-by-project basis.
“As UX writers, we’re responsible for the product’s voice, but that often boils down to getting the right people involved.”
How often do you interact with New Yorker editors?
It depends on the project. If a screen would benefit from the addition of an illustration or quip, for example, we’d work closely with the Art Dept. or a Shouts & Murmurs writer. As UX writers, we’re responsible for the product’s voice, but that often boils down to getting the right people involved. Everything is collaborative, especially when you have the opportunity to bring in such talented specialists.
You’ve written articles on UX writing and spoken at conferences. How do you approach communicating what UX writing is to people who don’t know?
When it comes to public speaking, I usually approach it with a high level of panic. That’s the key ingredient.
But really, it’s incredible to see how many UX writing resources are out there, which wasn’t necessarily the case when I started. I learned about the discipline by chatting with practicing UX writers, so speaking and writing feel like my small way of paying it forward. The topics I cover are based on the questions I hear most often from prospective UX writers and colleagues. If it seems like it’d be helpful to put some information out there, I’m happy to do it.
As time goes on, though, I feel less and less like it’s my voice that needs to be heard. We’re seeing so many brilliant new writers in the field—people who are fostering communities and sharing their points of view. I’d love to hear what they have to say.
“We’re seeing so many brilliant new writers in the field—people who are fostering communities and sharing their points of view.”
What’s either your favorite word or a word you’ve learned recently that you find interesting?
An impossible question! The first thing that comes to mind is a recent conversation with some friends who learned English as their second language. One mentioned that they thought our word for “pacifier” was hilarious because it’s so literal. I’d never thought about that. So, not a favorite per se, but a moment that led me to see a common word in a new light.
What’s your favorite book or a book that you’ve read recently that you found interesting?
The one I find myself recommending most often is The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. I devoured that and then picked up her earlier book, Station Eleven, on a friend’s recommendation. I was hesitant to read it at first because it takes place during a pandemic, but I thought it was fantastic.
Do you have a favorite UX book or resource?
There are so many great resources out there—anything by Kristina Halvorson, Sarah Richards, Scott Kubie, Torrey Podmajersky—but if I had to pick one right now, I’d go with Writing Is Designing by Andy Welfle and Michael J. Metts. I had a chance to read an early draft and couldn’t wait for it to come out so I could start recommending it.
Who is your current favorite New Yorker writer?
Oh man, it depends on the day. Rachel Syme’s pieces have stood out to me over the past year or so. She has this ability to tap into cultural moments and omnipresent figures, like the Kardashians’ makeup artist, that I wouldn’t necessarily have considered myself. I’d say Naomi Fry works in a similar vein. They’ve both managed to capture some much-needed levity during the pandemic.
That said, I’ll always pore over a Chotiner Q. & A., and I don’t think Jane Mayer has ever written anything less than spectacular. And then there’s Helen Rosner, John Seabrook, Emily Nussbaum...
