The lone convo designer: a checklist for a team-of-one
Just started as a conversation designer? Doubting whether you're doing things right? No worries, you're not alone!
When I just started working as a tech writer (a long, long time ago), I often found myself wondering how to do things. How to find a way in which my activities made most sense. And most of all…whether I did things right.
I hear from a lot of conversation designers who are in a comparable position today: the only one in your role, fairly new to a field that in itself is still maturing every day. So where do you start?
1. Find your allies
Even if you’re the only official conversational content person in your company, chances are that there are people who can advocate for you. Typically, I look out for people in customer support — they talk to your target audience every day. Software testers and functional administrators are your potentially best friends too. And secretaries and project management officers often unofficially run a place.
2. Find your business sponsor or manager
Find that one person who was so passionate about conversational that she decided to hire you in the first place. She’s the one who sits at the decision making table and champions conversational as the way-to-go-forward. A once-a-fortnight cup of tea will keep you aligned.
3. Set up your design-process-for-1
Working on your own means you’ve got a lot of balls to keep in the air. I find it’s really helpful to sketch out a small process that helps me distinguish between roles, and stick to one role when I’m working.
Plus: it’s a great tool to communicate about your work with others! If you’ve got the process all visualised, it’s so much easier for other people to understand what it is that you’re actually doing.
4. Create a release rhythm for yourself
Everything becomes easier when it has a deadline, even if it’s a self-imposed one. Think in major and minor releases: major releases involve every change that’s fixed-deadline, high-risk, or has external dependencies. Minor releases are the changes you can do on your own. These releases work like buckets that you can fill.
5. Don’t become the ‘content person’
Just because you know how to ‘do’ content, doesn’t mean you’ll take meeting notes. ‘Pretty up’ a brochure. Correct someone’s resume. The real risk is that you’ll sell yourself short. You’ll hide the real talent you bring to the table: analysis, interaction design, project management.
6. And most of all: believe in yourself
There’s no hard and fast metric that determines whether you’re a conversation designer yes or no. You’re a conversation designer the minute you start calling yourself one. Instead of asking ‘Am I doing this right?’, try:
- What conscious design decisions did I make in this dialog?
- Can I explain why I made those decisions?
- Can I think of better alternatives?
- What are the constraints that I’m working with?
These questions will put you in a growth mindset.