UX Writer Jobs: Uber, Skyscanner & GoPro

My process for writing this newsletter is haphazard. Or rather, it lacks any process whatsoever. I write most of it in my head, on my bike on the way to work. A situation which presents some logistical difficulties.

Every day I cycle 15-miles. A seven-and-a-half mile each way trip to work. The pollution might be slowly killing me, or the constant weaving in and out of traffic might quickly kill me one day. But I wouldn’t swap those two hours for anything. It’s the only time of the day when I can’t check my phone, when I have to be constantly alert. The line between living and dying is too great.

Unfortunately, all that time without a screen gives my mind time to wander. After I’ve picked over any problems at work, the perceived slights and office politics, worried that my friends all hate me, worry that I’m not seeing enough of my friends, or that I call my family often enough, my mind invariably starts writing this newsletter.

Like all things in life, there are pros and cons to this approach. It’s bad because I have no way of writing down my thoughts. Good because by the time I get to work I often have a first draft or a reworked second draft of what I want to write in my head. I just need to get to a computer or notebook fast enough to write it all down.

This repeats itself for five days of the week. And then on Saturday, I sit down, answer any emails from the last newsletter and crack on with writing the next one. After all that’s said and done a newsletter pops out the other end, hopefully fully formed.

On that note, on with the show.

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Thank you to everyone who wrote in after last week’s email. When I used to write a monthly newspaper column I would get no feedback. Or if I did, it would come months later, via a friend of a friend. Second-hand and diluted. That’s the beauty with this newsletter. The feedback is immediate. So thank you.

In my day job I’m struggling to get the team out of a negative cycle. Almost daily, someone comes to me with complaints about our product. How are we going to fix it? What are we doing to address this or that bug? Who do I go to to answer this question?

It’s exhausting and keeps us in a state of paralysis. While everyone is trying to solve small problems, the bigger issues (how do we best serve our customers? Which competitors should we be worried about?) are lost in the daily grind.

My favourite answer to this problem is to ban everyone from asking anyone anything that requires an answer within a week. I learned this from Rob Fitzpatrick’s blog (Surplus Time). The first month his company implemented this, the results were a disaster. But, after one or two months, they realised they had been forced to solve all the problems that ate up small pieces of their day (robust client handover documentation, a per-project readme, a standardised pricing list, polished sales material).

Maybe there’s something useful in this advice. To pull your teams and colleagues out of the day-to-day problems that every business has.

On that note, a couple of book recommendations this week. If you do any sort of customer research (or even need help with interview questions, product tests, product validation) then you should pick up a copy of Rob’s book The Mom Test. It goes against a lot of common advice about asking customers to predict future behaviour and gets at the root of how people actually act. Also, it’s hilarious.

Similarly, check out The Workshop Survival Guide by Devin Hunt and Rob. Devin taught a lot of early GA classes so I can vouch for how good he is at teaching. For anyone that runs or designs workshops, this is packed full of useful tips and insights into how people learn. Get on it.

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Skyscanner have re-posted their ad for a Senior UX Writer (or maybe they’re hiring again, I don’t know). The role’s based in London if you’re interested. Skyscanner were recently acquired by the Chinese online travel company Ctrip. So make sure to ask lots of questions about how the acquisition is going if you interview for this one.

BookingGo are after a Senior UX Writer in Manchester, England. They’re the ground transport division of Booking.com (I guess the clue’s in the name). You’ll have 3-5 years of experience and be able to “bounce back when your ideas get shot down”, which sounds like a bad William Tell act.

Curtis and Mayfair may sound like a posh English boarding school but they’re a “property service company” who are hiring a UX Copywriter in London. Tbh, this looks more like a copywriter role.

Backbase are hiring for a UX Writer in Amsterdam. You’ll work with a team of 30 UI/UX designers and 5 dedicated UX Researchers and have 3+ years of experience.

BUX are recruiting a (Part-time) UX Copywriter in Amsterdam. Mix of UX and marketing writing with this one. A minimum of 2 years experience required here.

CivicActions are still looking for a UX Content Strategist. It’s a remote role.

Kabbage Inc are looking for a UX Writer / Conversational UX Designer in NYC. I expect we’ll see more of these roles include “conversational UX” as a requirement in the next few months….

Uber Eats are hiring a UX Writer in San Francisco. You’ll need 2+ years of relevant experience. Bonus points if you have a degree in English, Psychology, Design, Marketing, Advertising, Journalism, HCI or “any area that emphasises storytelling and strategic thinking”.

Smartsheet are after a UX Writer in Bellevue, WA. You’ll report to the Senior Director of Experience Design for this one.

Qualtrics are looking for a UX Writer in Seattle. You’ll have 5+ years of experience for this one. If you have B2B SaaS work samples then that’s a bonus.

GoPro have a job ad up for a UX Writer in San Diego. You’ll need 7 years of experience here but a ton of good perks including “two dedicated hours during your week to explore your passions and capture it with your GoPro”. Although what if your passion is sitting on your sofa in your underwear? I guess someone, somewhere will probably pay for that.

Infinite Computer Solutions sounds like a company that still runs Windows 95 but they’re looking for a Content Writer / UX Writer in Austin for a 12 month contract. You’ll have 3 years of experience, with 2 of those in technical troubleshooting. Sounds like a blast.

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Whenever I see one of those “creative rituals of the rich and successful” articles I always remember that the Associated Press actually published this:

“The only useful, no-nonsense-but also-lots-of-nonsense email I read top-to-bottom every week. For work and just, life.”

– Anieca Ayler.

Got a piece of “faint praise” for the newsletter? Email it as a reply!

My name is Gordon Macrae. Got a job tip or opinions about UX writing roles? I’d love to hear from you, reply directly to this email.

Good luck out there!