Why Designers Dominate in Conversation Design - and How UX Content People can Compete
Conversation design is booming, but content folks are often overlooked in favor of designers. Why? It’s not necessarily about talent—it’s about perception. UX leaders, who are often former designers, see conversation design as a UX function, prioritizing skills like interaction mapping, prototyping, and design thinking. Meanwhile, content strategists, despite their expertise in tone and messaging, struggle to position themselves as essential to this field. To break into conversation design, they need to reframe their skills, embrace UX principles, and showcase their ability to shape seamless, engaging conversations.
Let’s break it down.
Designers’ Skill Sets Align With Core Job Needs
User Experience (UX Focus): Designers are trained to think about the overall user experience, including visual, interactive, and functional elements. Conversation design often involves understanding the flow of interaction, which aligns with their expertise in designing interfaces.
Prototyping Tools Proficiency: Designers often know tools like Figma, Adobe XD, or specialized prototyping software, which are sometimes used for crafting conversation UI prototypes.
Human-Centered Design Thinking: This mindset prepares designers to empathize with users, map conversation flows, and iterate based on feedback—key aspects of conversation design.
Content Teammates Are Less Associated With Interaction Design
Focus on Long-Form Content: Content strategists typically focus on developing content strategies for broader marketing or editorial needs, such as blog posts, websites, or social media, which may feel less immediately applicable to designing interactive conversation flows.
Limited UX Integration: Although content strategists often craft tone, voice, and content structure, they may not always work in roles that emphasize interaction, which is critical in conversation design.
Industry Perception and Job Framing
Conversation Design Framed as a Design Role: Many employers see conversation design as part of the design field, emphasizing user flows, wireframes, and prototyping. This naturally leads to prioritizing candidates from design backgrounds.
Misalignment of Content Strategist Titles: While content strategists are deeply skilled in voice, tone, and content, their job titles may not immediately signal expertise in interactive, technical, or design-focused work.
Overlap in Skills, but Designers Are Positioned Better
Both roles share important skills like crafting tone and creating engaging interactions. However, designers often market themselves as problem-solvers for interaction, while content strategists focus on storytelling, which may seem secondary in conversation design.
Recommendations for Content Designers and Strategists:
To compete for conversation design jobs, content strategists can:
Learn UX and Interaction Design: Familiarize themselves with conversation flow mapping, wire framing tools, and interaction principles.
Develop a Technical Portfolio: Highlight projects involving chatbots, voice assistants, or interactive content.
Reframe Skills: Position expertise in tone, voice, and microcopy as central to user interaction, showcasing their ability to guide seamless, engaging conversations.
Conclusion:
The gap isn't about who is better suited but about how roles are perceived and how skills are marketed. Designers' emphasis on interaction and prototyping makes them more likely candidates, but content strategists with the right positioning can break into this field too.
