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How do you make text changes in UI design?

over 3 years ago from , Creative Lead @Avocode

Hello guys,

I’m looking for advice.

I’ve been writing web & interface copy for 8 years and I still cannot decide if copy should come before design or after (or during?). Usually I send the first copy with a bit of information architecture in Dropbox Paper. Then the design team creates a component-based wireframe in Figma. But when we discuss edits we sometimes do that in Figma, Notion, Avocode, Dropbox Paper and hell, sometimes also on Slack. A lot of things are lost in the process.

So I decided to do a bit of a research. Will you help me?

How do you make copy (text) changes in UI design?

Please share your insights either in comments or here.

Thank you! I’m hopeful you’ll show me a better way.

3 comments

  • Jared KrauseJared Krause, over 3 years ago

    Our designers come up with their own copy as a suggestion. We try to avoid using lorem ipsum. Our marketing team + copywriters go over the screens in Figma and use the comment tool to suggest changes. We occasionally use a Google doc for marketing driven projects, such as a landing page or email campaign.

    Copy changes in the existing product are usually handled via Jira tickets. Happens less than it should, honestly.

    Not the most documented process, but it works for now. Our team is fairly small. I've also worked at a larger agency that managed all copy (with multiple languages) via spreadsheets. It was a pain in the ass.

    3 points
  • S B, over 3 years ago

    Text changes in UI design are really changes to code, so they happen in Git. If you're a dev that might happen in your code editor, if you're a manager it might happen in GitHub, if you're an editor it might happen through the git-backed CMS. This comes with all the benefits you get when using Git for code: you can work on new copy text independent of other changes (branching), you can roll back your changes (version control), you can see who made what edits..etc.

    Changes to code are discussed in slack, zoom, in person, on GitHub..etc. but ultimately there is a single source of truth and everything else (Figma mocks, google docs) derives from that.

    Before a design reaches code the copy text is more of a suggestion. It's best to at least have something rough to start with vs. lorem ipsum, but spending too much time on this too early is often wasted as the type & quantity of text you need may change when your project becomes 'real'. From there you improve your content iteratively like you would improve other code.

    1 point
  • Paul Bunyar, over 3 years ago

    Now, I haven't really done a lot of this. And this process may seem archaic. But it works for getting the edits and keeping a history of them in an edits folder with the project. We make a versioned PDF [V1, V2, etc.] and have the writer/content specialist create comments/edits in the PDF. Then the "designer" or whomever makes the necessary changes in the native file.

    0 points