About the participant: I have been working with texts and content for more than eight years as an author, journalist, editor and
What kind of course: UX writer
Name: UX Writer
Duration: from December 5, 2022 to March 15, 2023
Format: online learning on the educational platform "Netology", lectures, workshops and articles
Faculty and invited experts: Irina Motorina (Head of UX-Writing at Yandex.Plus), Dmitry Komarov (managerAvito product), Vladimir Lalosh (UXW consultant, author of the Floating Editorial Telegram channel), Lera Zhelezova (UX editorat Sberbank.Online), Alsu Kutuzova (User Experience Research Specialist ), Anna Zheltova (customer journey expert at Sberbank), AlexanderMarfitsin (UX Writing Lead at SberDevices at Sberbank).
Curators and graduate students: Maria Mironova and Ekaterina Kozhaeva
Where does it all start
Before active learning begins, participants have access to additional materials.For those who are just starting a career in editing, there is an opportunity to take the course "Introduction to Copywriting.For future project managers, there are three modules in the main course "UX Writer" on the basics of Agile and Kanban, as well as Soft Skills for project managers.Before the start of the main classes, you can take another free course "How to Study Online".Several short video lectures and additional materials help you navigate and build your study plan.
In addition, before starting training, it is requiredfill out the student questionnaire. It is simple, but allows teachers and tutors to understand the student's level of preparation and his expectations from the course. Those students who want to get a diploma of professional development after the UX writer course can upload scans of education documents. If a student of Netology is also a student at a university, or receives a secondary specialized education, then even after a few years, after receiving a diploma, you can get an official certificate. The educational platform has a state license, its operation can be checked on the Rosobrnadzor website.
There is even a special lesson on how to navigate inpersonal account. It feels like everything is arranged so that not only the generation that grew up with a smartphone in their hands could pass the training. People of any age and level of computer literacy will be quite comfortable.
If the student is unable to attend online, thenThe video is uploaded to your personal account within a day. Very convenient, given that many course participants work and are busy. Lectures usually start at 7 pm.
To allow students to communicate, course participantscan join the Telegram chat. While we stopped at the acquaintance. But the first thought that came to my mind when I read the post-acquaintance of each student is networking time! As a remote workaholic, it's always a pleasure for me to meet colleagues in my field.
How is the training
The course consists of lectures, workshops andpractical part - homework, tests, quizzes and a diploma. In total, there are two workshops during the course, the duration is up to two hours. Teachers advise visiting them online to ask questions and dive deeper into the process. Lectures can also be watched in recordings.
90% of the material has a practical part in the formtest, self-study or homework. In the tests, there are two attempts to pass and the ability to order an additional one. Homework takes two to four hours to complete. Homework assignments have a quite adequate deadline - a week or seven calendar days from the release date of the lecture. Ideal for even the busiest students (like me). To get admission to the diploma, you need to pass all seven homework assignments.
Start date
The course begins with an introductory lecturewebinar curator. In class, he explains how the training works and what questions he can help with. So, the curator of our course (and all those related to the text) Maria Mironova helps to plan training, answer all questions about the process, resolve disputes, build communications and monitor progress. You can contact her by mail, chat bot on the website or in Telegram.
It is convenient that all training is based on the principle of developing large IT projects. The course is divided into three stages:
Discovery- the stage of research and search for the right solution.
Delivery— the stage of development, assembling layouts and checking the design solution.
Project— the stage of assembling and designing the project to get credits and add it to your portfolio.I'm now at the beginning of the Discovery phase.
On the course, we are taught a product approach: first we work on a hypothesis, then we look for a solution, and at the very end - a text. This is how all product teams work.
By the way, all tasks are designed for the fact thatresults can be used for portfolio. Before starting the training, the student is asked to choose a topic on which he will work: an application for food delivery, meditation or a smart home. But, if a student is already working in a company, then the project can be developed for her. It is important that this is not a landing page, but an application.
Basics of working with FigJam and Figma
Most of the homework assignments in the course are completedon the FigJam interactive whiteboard (quite logical, given that UX design and UX content are created in conjunction). It draws layouts for sites and applications. For those who have not worked with this interface (I am among them), there is a free additional course "FigJam and the basics of Figma". In several lectures and articles, Netology has collected a base on editing and FigJam and Figma programs:
— How to create a frame and arrange objects in it.
— What is a grid and how to set it up in Figma to assemble layouts faster.
— What is responsive design and how to approach it.
Who is a designer and how does he work?
If there is no time to complete the whole course yet, thenThe main course has a lesson on working with FigJam. In the screen recording mode, students, along with the teacher, register on the platform and understand how everything works. In 30 minutes, I learned enough to do my first homework, but more on that later. The lesson comes with a "cheat sheet" with the most popular hotkeys in Figma and FigJam.
First educational lecture
The topic of the first lecture in the course is “How can a textsolve business problems. Before the lesson, there is also a cheat sheet with frequently used terms: what are bugs, release, prototype, feature, and who is a product manager. As I wrote above, the course is suitable for any age and training, even if a person does not know the “not a bug, but a feature” meme. Everything is explained very clearly.
At the lecture itself, Lera Zhelezova, UX editor,who now works at Sberbank.Online, tells how the profession works. It was helpful because I don't have that kind of work experience. Lera spoke about how she started, what difficulties she faced, about the ethics of the UX writing community and the bugs that she will have to face in the process of work. There were also personal tips and cases: how to work in a new team, communicate with a product owner (and who it is) and make yourself heard.
An important insight - the work of a UX editor is necessary forall stages of development and the task of this specialist is to convince the client that he is useful. The market is just developing, and now it is necessary. Our job is more than writing “text for a button.”
First homework
After the lecture and additional video with answerson popular questions, as usual, a quiz (“How to communicate with partners, customers and colleagues. Quiz on the basic rules of business communication”) and additional materials. Then - homework on the topic “How to work with the UX editor and what problems the text solves.” And this is what surprised me the most.
The students were asked to try themselves as a project manager and imagine that they are working with a UX editor.
You are a product in a team that developsapp for food delivery service. References — Yandex Food, Delivery Club, Cuisine in the area. You set the editor a task: to write a stub text for the case when the selected restaurant in the service is no longer working and will open only in the morning.
Methodists offered two options.Our task is to make corrections, give feedback and tell what information the editor lacked. The assignment was very helpful. In the process, you understand what information to request and the importance of your work. It's valuable.
After asking a couple of questions to the graduate students of the course (theyhelp students, are always in touch, answer questions on homework and give advice based on their learning experience), through a special form (answers are available to everyone), I completed the task. Today came the answer - I received a test.
Next lecture: "Analysis of the effectiveness of the UX writer." What will be useful at the lecture and how the final defense of the diploma will pass - in the second part.
Read more:
The tomb of the “midwife of Jesus” was unearthed: scientists told what they found there
Einstein is wrong again and his main theory was rewritten: how it changes the world
Published test video of the world's first propeller with 11 blades