I have been known by many names throughout my relatively short career. My job titles have included: Information Developer, Information Designer, Content Designer, and Technical Writer. Other popular titles include UX Writer, Content Strategist, and Information Architect.
So do all these titles mean the same thing? Unfortunately, it really depends on the company. From perusing many job listings, there are definitely distinctions forming. However, the smaller the company, the more likely it is you will have some combination of these roles. The bigger the company, the more specialization you will see.
Based on my working and job hunting experience, here’s how the roles and responsibilities typically break down.
UX Writer
What do they do?
UX Writer is probably the newest evolution of the technical writer role. This role has become increasingly important as B2B and B2C SaaS companies seek to limit the need for external documentation and keep people in their applications. Therefore, UX writers need to be great at producing short-form copy that meets brand guidelines.
This role is usually extremely specialized and works heavily with the design team and frontend engineers to own all copy in the UI. You need to understand the product and the users so that you can ensure the content they need is available in the right format, at the right time.
Common content types: Error messages, hoverhelp/tooltips, guided tours, design systems, product emails, microcopy
Works with: UX, User Research, Product Manager
Skills: user journey mapping, user research, succinct copywriting, technical knowledge, information architecture
Tools: Design & prototyping tools (Sketch, InVision, Figma, Axure, Adobe XD), Guided tour tools (WalkMe/Pendo), User research tools: Mural.ly, Miro, UserTesting.com
Content Designer/Information Designer
What do they do?
Content Designers (or sometimes called Information Designers) tend to be the most generic title right now. Content Designers could be creating anything from marketing materials to video scripts to end user documentation.
Content Designers *tend* to be less technical, though that’s not a hard and fast rule.
Example deliverables: website copy, emails, landing pages, user guides, blogs
Works with: Marketing, Design, Developers, Product Managers, Sales, Support
Skills: copywriting, flexibility, GTM
Tools: Confluence, WordPress, PowerPoint, design tools
Technical Writer/Information Developer/Documentation Engineer
What do they do?
The most traditional title, Technical Writers—as the name suggests—are usually the most technical of all content titles. Technical Writers often have a development or testing background, allowing them to write for their engineering end users.
Historically, Technical Writers have also seen their responsibilities expand to some UX writing and technical content marketing materials. The smaller the company, the more likely that Technical Writer will have a broader scope of work.
Technical Writers tend to work more closely with engineers that other types of writers, so it’s important to be comfortable working with a scrum team and likely in an agile environment.
Example deliverables: API documentation, scenarios, release notes, technical blogs, whitepapers
Works with: developers, QA, product managers
Skills: technical understanding, clarity, information architecture, stakeholder management, doc as code, Git
Tools: Authoring tools: Oxygen; Versioning control systems: GitHub, BitBucket; Markup languages: Markdown, DITA XML; Ticketing systems: JIRA, Trello, ZenHub
Instructional Designer
Instructional Designers or Developers should be thought of as trainers. If a company has advanced learning paths or an academy, or even live training, an Instructional Designer is usually the creator of that content.
Instructional Designers often have a teaching or support background. They typically work less closely with the development team than Technical Writers. Instructional Designers sometimes (though not always) conduct courses in person or online, so it can help you if are a strong presenter.
Example deliverables: online or in-person trainings, videos, webinars
Works with: sales enablement, marketing, product manager, designers
Skills: video creation, course development, presenting
Tools: Adobe Captivate, Camtasia
Bonus: Information Architect/Content Strategist
Information Architects or Content Strategists are usually a manager-level positions. These folks think about the big picture and ensure content is organized in a way that makes sense They often have ownership over tooling and organizational content strategy.
For any of the above roles, you should ask the hiring manager about career progression. It’s important to understand what the title is at the next step, and if that fits with your goals.
Conclusion
If you are interviewing for any of these job titles, I’d encourage you to ask specifically about the deliverables, collaborators, skills, and tooling that are expected for that role. Definitely keep in mind that the technical writing field is constantly evolving—and that’s half the fun!
Have you heard of any other new titles related to technical writing? Let me know in the comments!