Hi, friends. How are you holding up?

We’re doing okay. We’re both sheltered in place. We’re safe, and healthy, and we have plenty of food, and we’re working from home. Michael’s family is navigating the world of educating their kids remotely, and, well, Andy’s kids aren’t allowed to go to school (they’re cats).

We both have members of our family outside of our household who aren’t doing so great — a member of Michael’s family has been struggling with COVID-19, while members of both our families are considered high-risk. Others lost their jobs or are seeing less income because of the need to stay home. So many of us are feeling that instability and uncertainty, right? Even still, we’re getting through this, and we’re grateful for the reminders that we’re all in this together. Remember, as Sarah Richards recently reminded us, not to be too hard on yourself.

As you might imagine, many (if not all) of the in-person events where we were supposed to talk and conduct workshops have been cancelled. Our day-long “Writing Is Designing” workshop in New York City with our fellow Rosenfeld authors is going virtual, and so is Confab, our beloved content strategy conference that’s typically in Minneapolis.

So that’s got us thinking. We’ve done plenty of talks about the book over video conference software. How can we conduct a workshop that way? In-person workshops are collaborative and adaptable. That’s what we like about them. But remote sessions can be good in different ways. Here are some of the ideas we’re considering as we look to move workshops online:

• Breaking out lessons over a few days or weeks to create a less intense learning schedule

• Enabling attendees to chooses subject matter that suits their needs, so that if you’re feeling confident on voice and tone for example, you could skip it

• Creating a mix of activities; some that groups can do together during the workshop, and others that attendees can complete at their own pace

• A way to create an ongoing community between attendees, where we can keep learning from each other after the workshop is over

We want to hear what you think, especially since many of you have teams, or are on teams, who are remote right now: Are you looking for UX writing training? What’s important to you about remote events? What do you wish you could find in an online workshop?

Let’s talk. Feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts.

We hope you’re able to stay safe and healthy.

What we’re writing

From Michael:

Making UX books more inclusive →

When Andy and I started writing our book, we felt responsible for making sure it was meaningful to a wide audience. We want to enable anyone to write for digital products if they want to. However, we knew that as two straight white guys who grew up in the midwest United States, we needed to get outside our own perspectives to make the book truly inclusive. We hired Natalie Yee to be an inclusion reviewer, and I recently co-wrote a blog post with her about what this process was like. Natalie and I hope more authors see the value in this type of review, and are encouraged to do one themselves.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

As the authors went through these edits, they began to see how at times, the writing was too focused on their own experiences and could have unintentionally alienated some readers. The process helped them create a stronger reader focus.

What we’re reading

From Andy:

COVID-19 Communications 101 →

There’s a lot of new terminology floating around out there right now. In the US, we’re seeing new phrases like “social distancing,” and “shelter in place,” alongside older, scary terms like “quarantine” and “lockdown”. What are the differences? Are these terms used uniformly across the many governments that are restricting our movement for the good of public health? Does “shelter in place” mean the same thing, legally, in San Francisco, California as it does in, say, Johnson City, Tennessee or even in Lisbon, Portugal? The answer matters more than people might think — it could be the difference between whether or not you can leave your house to get essentials.

You might have seen this floating around UX Internet recently. it’s a simple infographic, created and shared on Reddit by user /u/Hybrid_UX_Research. Basically, it’s advocating for a different approach. Focus less on those jargon terms and more on what they mean.

And while there is more to this particular example, it follows advice from our book (Check out Chapter 3: Creating Clarity) and from our friend, mentor, and colleague Sarah Richards (author of the amazing book Content Design). 

For sure, there needs to be a link accompanying any widely-distributed message like that to give the details of what the messaging entails, because the details are important. Let’s take San Francisco’s “shelter in place” order —  check out the difference in approachability between the order itself, and the info page for citizens on SF.gov.

 As Richards says in Content Design: “it’s not dumbing down. It’s opening up.” 

How I Filled My First Coronavirus Journal →

My friend and fellow stationery podcaster Adam Web (from the fantastic Take Note podcast) mentioned recently that those of us who journal should be keeping record of this time in history. Our kids and grandkids are going to want to know what life was like during what seems like will be a historic pandemic. Adam’s an avid journaler, and especially loves to use small pocket notebooks, like Field Notes. Check out his post, and see how he’s been capturing his life and a snapshot of the world right now.

From Michael:

Engaged: Designing for Behavior Change →

Fellow Rosenfeld Media author Amy Bucher recently published this book, and it is filled with thoughtful, practical guidance on this subject. Refreshingly, Bucher approaches this topic responsibly, in a world where tech companies are willing to do almost anything to human change behavior if it has business value.

Here’s my favorite quote so far:

But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. It’s easy to creep into dark patterns and manipulative design choices, if your goal in applying psychology is to keep someone within your product as long as possible without it being beneficial to them. Behavior change design is about helping people achieve their goals, not yours.

I’m keeping a thread on Twitter with what I’m learning as I read it if you’d like to follow along.

What we’re up to

Nothing. Nada. Hit us up.

Pencil of the month

The Musgrave Test-Scoring 100

From Andy:

Since I’ve been working from home, I’ve been trying to be better at journaling and keeping a paper planner. Following Adam Webb’s advice, I’ve been trying to capture my thoughts, observations, and feelings about this time.

Last week, I started a brand new journal; this Leuchtturm “Red Dot” journal that Michael gifted me recently. It’s Moleskine-style, but better in every way — better paper, better cover, and brilliantly styled, with a deep blue cover and bright red accents on the page ruling and edges.

I typically write small, and this little weird silver pencil, made by Mugrave in Shelbyville, TN (one of only three remaining US pencil manufacturers!) has a great point retention considering how dark and smooth the graphite is. I’ve loved this pencil for years, especially because of how oddly styled it is (I even have a Test Scoring 100 t-shirt!), and it’s a joy to pick up and use.

Check out this episode of The Erasable Podcast where we interview Henry Hulan III, the president of Musgrave Pencil Company. He’s a delight to listen to. And if you want a few of these babies for yourself? Buy ‘em from CW Pencil Enterprise, and help support a struggling small shop in New York City run by some really fantastic, passionate people.

That’s about it from us. We’ll try to get this newsletter out in a more timely manner next month — hopefully the time in between won’t be so… eventful.

Much love,

Michael and Andy