Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Policy Escalations Specialist to UX Writer
32 Plays6 months ago
This week, we're chatting with Natalia, who studied UX/UI design and currently works as a UX Copywriter at Amazon Music, having previously worked at Cisco and CVS. Before transitioning to copywriting, she held the role of Policy Escalations Specialist at TikTok.
If you're curious about avoiding a "cookie-cutter" portfolio, Natalia offers valuable insights into how she tailored her case studies to appeal to UX writing roles and the strategies she employed to make her portfolio distinctive. She also delves into her extensive experience in UX writing and its integration within the broader UX profession.
Questions for Natalia or the host? Email the host at [email protected].
Interested in finally taking the plunge by starting your career in tech? How does $1500 off a Springboard Career Track Course sound?
Use code EPEHT at checkout to save $1500.
Learn more here.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Natalia's Background
00:00:15
Speaker
Hey there, everyone. It's Wednesday, another episode of Life After Tech Bootcamp. And I'm always so excited to bring you a new alum each week to hear about where they started, how they use Springboard to get to where they're going, and what they're up to now. So today, without further ado, I'd like to introduce Natalia. Natalia studied UX, UI design at Springboard and is now a UX copywriter at Amazon Music.
00:00:43
Speaker
Before becoming a copywriter, she was a policy escalation specialist at TikTok. Hi, Natalia. How are you today? Hi, I'm doing pretty good. It's been a great day, so nothing to complain about. I love that. I love that. And you're in California, where it's warm, and I'm in Brooklyn, where it's snow today. So I'm sure that contributed to it. Probably. Well, OK. So I'm dying to talk to you because
00:01:12
Speaker
Of course, I want to get to your story, but I had a really interesting question asked of me. Someone who just finished their bootcamp, they asked me, how can I make my portfolio look less junior? And that's the first time I've been asked that, not as a junior UX designer. So it really got me thinking. I gave them my answer, but I was curious to know how other people would answer that. So I'd love to hear what you would tell this person if you were asked.
00:01:43
Speaker
Definitely. So I think the biggest thing that I feel like helps in that situation is to try to not follow the template that they give you kind of to a tee, just because everyone for the most part will be doing that from not only springboard, but like all the different boot camps and just in general, just trying to find a way to make your page unique. So also like not using all the same templates other people are using.
00:02:11
Speaker
and really just finding ways to make your portfolio stand out and really highlight what you're good at and really finding a specific niche in the field is something that I feel like really helped. For example, like what I tried to really focus on is accessibility. That's something that I was really passionate about. So I really made sure to highlight that in my portfolio and really make that scene. And I also found that even just incorporating like other
00:02:39
Speaker
fun aspects into my portfolio like I have like a photography photography page on there and like a little blog page that I have a couple articles written and just finding ways to make your portfolio different so it's not the same as others I feel like is something that's really helpful oh interesting so I definitely heard
00:03:00
Speaker
So I don't have a photography hobby or anything. And I'm not really a blogger. So did you get really interesting responses from it? Like, did people, you know, comment on it during interviews, things like that?
Portfolio Customization Advice
00:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, I have had not necessarily on the photography or blog aspect, but I do have like a generative AI tab on my portfolio. And with that, I played around a lot with like mid journey, which is
00:03:30
Speaker
basically the system that it's kind of like chat GBT, but it generates AI images instead of like text. And so I played a lot around a lot with that and like did kind of the similar thing with my photography on my portfolio, but more so the images were generated from mid journey. So a lot of things that I incorporated there is just more so like learning like what prompts to use to make sure you're getting the images that you want and a lot of like
00:04:01
Speaker
AI training in that aspect as well. That's something that I was also interested in AI in general, just trying to keep up with things as AI is introduced into the field of UX. And so I've had recruiters and some folks mentioned that to me in interviews about the generative AI because it's really coming into play in the workplace nowadays.
00:04:27
Speaker
Yeah, I that's I'm so glad you shared that because I think that's such a beautiful way to show your interest that you're learning new tools, how you're applying it, but also just in a fun hobbyist way as well. Yeah, definitely. It was really fun to do like, I generated really random images of like a bunny in space or
00:04:53
Speaker
even just like an acai bowl or like a dog running on the beach with a ball and just really playing around with verbiage and what words to use for the specific prompt to get the image that you want. Very cool. Yeah. And I feel like, you know, AI and all of that could be a whole other podcast, but I think it's frustrating when I see like how AI is going to destroy the world and
00:05:19
Speaker
It only really works when you put the correct, like you say words or prompts into it. Um, you know, I'm sure you can speak like as a copywriter. Yes. Um, certain AI can like put together a whole story about a girl from Brooklyn, not wanting to go on the snow, but that doesn't mean it's going to function in like a business setting or something like that. So I love that. That's very cool.
00:05:47
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's something that I'm really interested into. And just being a UX writer, there's a lot of roles nowadays to that kind of blend itself like into conversational design as well, which is like a very thin line. And so a lot of roles are kind of doing both and even just like designing chatbots and things like that. Super interesting. Interesting stuff there. Certainly. Well,
00:06:12
Speaker
We'll definitely dive into that a bit more later when we talk about where you are now. But I'd love to talk about where you started before all of this. I have no idea what a policy escalation specialist at TikTok is, but what were you doing before you got into UX?
Transition to UX from TikTok
00:06:28
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. So before I got into UX, I was working in escalation specialists. So really, that's like trust and safety for tech companies. So I did that at Tinder and then also TikTok.
00:06:43
Speaker
And so what I did at Tinder was more so like taking in a lot of the issues from an email aspect. So a lot of times members would write in about like trust and safety reports. So for example, if they're on a date and like, I don't know, somebody stole something from them or whatever something happened, we would kind of respond to those emails and escalate them to legal and member experience as well. And just really trying to resolve any of those issues.
00:07:12
Speaker
in that aspect and then at TikTok, it was more so kind of from a policy aspect. And so oftentimes we were like a team of three or four folks. And whenever there was like a specific like worldwide event, like let's say, even if it's like elections, we would look online for a lot of misinformation, making sure we're flagging any videos or even like school shootings or things like that.
00:07:42
Speaker
be all hands on deck and mitigating, making sure that content isn't on the platform. That shouldn't be on the platform. And really just mitigating content from that aspect and making sure that they're aligning with our policies. Wow, that sounds like you've probably seen some stuff.
00:08:00
Speaker
Definitely. It definitely took a toll on my mental health, which is what kind of sparked me to look into different careers and different fields just because that isn't necessarily what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and the longevity of my career. Certainly. I think that goes without being saying or being said, I cannot speak today. Yeah. So let me hear about discovering Springboard. I know in your
00:08:30
Speaker
intake survey, you were saying that UX UI wasn't really something that you found the biggest interest in, but that UX writing really did. So would you be able to share a little bit about that journey? Yeah, definitely. So when I was at Tinder, I had the opportunity to do like a Nielsen Norman group, just kind of like intro course to UX as a whole.
00:08:58
Speaker
and really learning about different facets like UX research and UX design and the psychology behind UX. And that really intrigued me into the field of UX in general. It kind of lit a light in my spirit. And I was like, yes, user experiences is something that I'm really interested in doing. And even being a policy escalation specialist, I was more so working on the member experience side and making sure
00:09:24
Speaker
keeping the platform safe but I really wanted to take it a step further and like I've always had a creative mind but also really loved using the logical side of my brain as well and I feel like UX does a really great job of doing both and so I started looking into boot camps and things to actually get me going to start building out a portfolio because I know there are ways to
00:09:48
Speaker
just kind of build a portfolio on your own, but I'm the type of person that needs help and needs guidance kind of along the way to really get started and keep me on track to get things done kind of like by a certain date. And so I found Springboard, really loved the program. I liked that aspect that
00:10:08
Speaker
they incorporated like a specific placement in the program as well. So that's something that really drew me to springboard specifically to know that I'd be able to have like some kind of real world project in my portfolio was something that I feel like really helped and really loved that. So I signed up for springboard and I signed up for the UX, UI UX design program. And in that, as I started going through
00:10:38
Speaker
the program and working on my first capstone project where you built out your own app. I really found myself gravitating more so towards the actual copywriting and UX writing aspect of the project and I found that a lot of my findings from my project like in the research side of things when I started talking
00:11:04
Speaker
to folks who were testing my application and seeing the issues that were arising, a lot of them actually had to do with the copywriting aspect of things. And so finding the impact on how you can communicate things and how that can have either a positive or negative outcome in a user experience is something that I really gravitated towards.
00:11:27
Speaker
Once I graduated, I started to look into UX writing opportunities and content design opportunities and found myself where I am today. Certainly. And referencing that placement, which Springboard calls the IDP industry design project, did you specify that you wanted to do something more UX writing heavy or were you just placed in a general project?
00:11:57
Speaker
With that, I actually took the route of doing my own placement. Like I found my own company to do some work for in the placement and in that I did do specific copywriting work in the placement that I had found. Oh, that's awesome. How did you go about finding
Gaining UX Writing Experience
00:12:22
Speaker
your own placement? Was it just a connection networking?
00:12:26
Speaker
So it was this one Slack group that I was in that they're really focused on having folks get experiences with like really small either nonprofits or like startups that have maybe like two or three employees at the time. And so I'd found an opening through there and yeah, just started doing that and worked with like a team of, um,
00:12:54
Speaker
like UX designers that were also kind of in the same slot group that I was in and really helped build out the project for it was about three months. That's really cool. And I love that you were able to kind of extend it a bit because the IDP is only a month, so there's only so much you can accomplish really in that timeframe. Yeah, it was really nice to be able to kind of have a little bit more of a cohesive project to show in my portfolio as well in addition, but I did find that
00:13:24
Speaker
Even the first capstone in which you really build out your full application, that is something that a lot of folks found in interviews to be really astounding and that really wowed a lot of folks in terms of because you're really doing everything with that. You're doing the research, the design, the copywriting, everything, the branding.
00:13:46
Speaker
Um, so that's something that folks are really impressed by in general. Um, the fact that you have the ability to create something from scratch and see it through and have the findings and everything. Yeah, absolutely. That first capstones, you're kind of like a little startup in your own world. Yeah. So yeah, you really do do everything. So it sounds like you were part of Slack groups during the course. What else did you do outside that perhaps, you know, got you to where you are now?
00:14:16
Speaker
Definitely. I really was big on networking and LinkedIn is like my best friend.
00:14:26
Speaker
So I really was just focused on adding a lot of folks in the field that I wanted to be in. And as well, I was able to get a job earlier before I fully graduated from the course. And I think what really helped with that was again, just networking. And I had started to message some recruiters in the space as well from contract agencies and
00:14:56
Speaker
while I was at springboard, one of the recruiters that I had networked with had reached back out to me and said that she had a role that would kind of fit what I was looking for perfectly. And things just kind of worked out from there. But I would definitely say networking and LinkedIn was kind of my my biggest helper in that aspect and doing a lot of coffee chats and virtual chats to really just kind of pick people's minds and also just put your name out there as well.
00:15:24
Speaker
Certainly. Yeah, I agree getting your face in front of people showing your talents that can go a long way. You never know what could happen in the future. Yeah. So what did you get any advice during these coffee chests these networking sessions like resonated with you? Definitely. I think the biggest thing was kind of the portfolio aspect. And so
00:15:52
Speaker
really just making sure that you're flushing out your portfolio in a way that's not only showing like here's what I did, but including a lot of those like analytical like what did you learn? What did you take away from this? Were there any specific challenges that you can note?
00:16:10
Speaker
in the project that happened, I feel like really highlighting those was some pretty good advice because like some folks had said to me like at the end of the day like no project will ever be perfect and showing and be able to not only showing but being able to talk through especially in interviews how you overcame those challenges and what those challenges were are really really huge especially in UX.
00:16:40
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you're going to get told no a lot. There's technical limitations. There's budget limitations. I know that's hard to mimic in a bootcamp course, but it's true. Like, how do you work? I feel like life
00:16:57
Speaker
people who succeed in life just kind of know how to handle problems. And that definitely parlays into case studies. So with that, you're networking like crazy and you found this job before graduating. Would you be able to tell us that story? Yeah, definitely. So the recruiter reached out to me. It was a pretty junior role.
00:17:21
Speaker
for a contract for CVS for a year and it was focused on accessibility like CVS is really huge on accessibility and the recruiter had reached out to me said I was thinking about you because
00:17:37
Speaker
We had had a conversation about, when I was not working with her, about accessibility as UX writer and just UX in general. And she was really curious as a recruiter to kind of learn more about it. And so she thought about me when she found the job that really highlighted being passionate about accessibility. And what I did there was I worked on their design systems team and really
00:18:03
Speaker
as I was only a UX writer on the team. And so I wrote and published a lot of documentation for like 50 plus components and patterns for the web iOS and Android, and really help establish those guidelines for CVS design system. So, yeah, and I went through the interview process, it was pretty quick, kind of ever since then to with other roles I've been and I've been
00:18:30
Speaker
through contracts with recruitment agencies and a lot of the times for at least the ones that I've been in the interview process has been pretty quick. And with UX writing specifically, instead of kind of like a whiteboarding session, what they usually ask for is a portfolio walkthrough or like a presentation to kind of show your work.
00:18:54
Speaker
And so I had worked on doing that and I was really kind of stressed and put a lot of pressure on myself before the interview process for CBS. But surprisingly, I did not need to do that for that specific role. And so it was just a lot of talking with the manager and then talking with the team. And then, yeah, I had gone the role.
00:19:18
Speaker
Okay, that almost sounds a little, I want to say easy because I know you worked very hard to where you are and to get that job. But yeah, it almost sounds like that was very simple and kind of nice, even though it sounded really stressful and you were preparing for everything.
00:19:36
Speaker
Yeah, I got really lucky in that sense. And I feel like I really just owe it to the networking and really having that meaningful conversation with the recruiter about just like content design and UX writing and accessibility. And that's really at the end of the day what stuck out to her, which made her reach out to me again. And then it all just kind of went smoothly from that point. Yeah, certainly. And I never really considered
00:20:03
Speaker
UX writing for a design system and all that documentation. So it sounds like a lot of this work was internal, but then also understanding how all of these components fit within, I'm guessing maybe the CVS app or was this what part of, yeah, I'm so curious to know.
00:20:20
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. A lot of companies actually don't have a UX writer on the design system team. And I'm starting to see that they're hiring more for the design system team as folks are even building out of the design system because a lot of companies don't have one. But yeah, it was so I worked really cross functionally with the engineers, the UX designers, and then CVS specifically has accessibility designers as well. And so worked
00:20:50
Speaker
In tandem, they had specific designers for iOS, Android, and then web. And so I worked with all of them cohesively and just made sure we worked in agile. So every two weeks, we would kind of focus on different components. And sometimes web would be focusing on a specific component like buttons. And then iOS and Android were working on something else. And so really just going in and
00:21:20
Speaker
doing a lot of research beforehand and so a lot of times we would just kind of break off into our own research about this is what we think we should include, this is direction we think we should take and then come back and then agree on a way that we're going to approach this. Sometimes we'll take it to the inclusive design research team to do some research before doing any documentation or designing and then sometimes
00:21:46
Speaker
what kind of tackle the documentation and design first and yeah, then just kind of go from there. I really just focused on owning the UX writing content design portion of the documentation and then also just making sure that the designs that we're putting out there is aligning with what recommendations I'm making as well. And within all of that research and stuff, was there anything that really surprised you about how people reacted to certain content?
00:22:16
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I think at CVS, specifically, a lot of the conversations are kind of like headbutting at times would be between the accessibility aspect of things. And so
00:22:29
Speaker
For example, in we were doing working on carousels for a component and accessibility was arguing like from the start, kind of it's not an accessible component or pattern to really use on web to begin with. And so kind of approaching and taking those larger conversations in which this is something that teams are asking for, marketing may be asking for, but finding a way to like,
00:22:59
Speaker
write things and establish things and even take things from a larger team as a design system and make kind of tough decisions and like say like this is not what we recommend this is what we recommend I guess even for
00:23:15
Speaker
larger voice and tone for documentation was kind of a big thing so prior to me joining there's already some existing documentation from a previous UX writer but leadership found the tone to be very like don't do this don't do this and kind of more so like a dictatorship kind of voice and tone that's very like focused on the negative as opposed to
00:23:38
Speaker
showing more do this and having a more positive collaborative spin to it like we should as opposed to like you should not voice and tone. That was something that was really big. That leadership had wanted me to also focus on kind of as a larger project of really revamping a lot of the language as a whole and from a documentation standpoint for just internal documentation to match kind of our voice and tone that we push out to our customers.
00:24:06
Speaker
Certainly, certainly. And I'm biased. I'm a huge fan of CVS. I use their app all the time. Obviously, I have lots of feedback, but I know you're not there anymore. So after CVS, what was next for you?
Working at Amazon Music
00:24:22
Speaker
Yeah, so after CVS, well, actually in tandem, while I was at CVS, I was also doing a part-time contract for Cisco, and it was pretty much doing similar things, working with their design system.
00:24:34
Speaker
but working more siloed and so just working with the product designer on the team to revamp a lot of their existing documentation and then just incorporating UX writing guidelines as well. So that was something that I was kind of doing in tandem at the same time. But after CVS, at CVS, I'd actually gotten laid off
00:25:00
Speaker
they had like laid off like 5,000 people at the time and let most of their contractors go. So after that, I was kind of frantically looking for jobs, but I also had already looked prior to even the specific layoff. So I got pretty lucky because probably like a couple of days after I'd gotten laid off, I had gotten a call back for an offer
00:25:28
Speaker
for a freelance project for MindTickle, which is a SaaS company. And I was just doing some freelance work for them. And their project was really interesting because they had created this tool within GitLab to flag old copy that doesn't really match their style guide. And so my main
00:25:51
Speaker
job that it was there was really just looking at kind of siloed strings of copy that were flagged by the GitLab tool and making sure that it aligned with their style guide and UX best practices. That was really interesting. Yeah, that's that is really interesting. So was that like a ongoing contract or was that just kind of something in between
00:26:18
Speaker
Yeah, so that was like a three month contract. So really was project-based. So as soon as I tried to really just get as much as I could done, they had tons of strings. I've copied, worked on like over 30,000 strings of copy to really work and refine it. And then during that time I was looking for jobs and then I kind of landed to where I am now. And
00:26:48
Speaker
Amazon Music, I'm working as a UX copywriter. And with that role, I had known somebody on the Amazon Music team that I'm working on now. And she had told me that the contractor that was working there was leaving in the role that I'm in now.
00:27:08
Speaker
And so I had sent her my resume and wrote up a blurb and then she sent it to her manager. And then the recruitment agency reached out to me to kind of start the interview process and did a couple of interviews there and then landed to where I am today. That's fantastic. And Amazon, like I hear the interview process can be quite rigorous. Was it the same for a contracting interview or I'd love to hear about that.
00:27:38
Speaker
Yeah, no, so it was pretty relaxed and not as rigorous. And so I think from my experience so far with contracts, I think it just is kind of the name of the game with contracts for the most part. A lot of the interviews that I've done with contracts have kind of been really just two interviews kind of passed over. I mean, we talked with a recruiter from the agency and then, um,
00:28:02
Speaker
like a call with the manager and then a call with somebody else, be that somebody on the team or multiple people on the team. But yeah, it was just kind of a two step process. So I spoke with the manager and then I spoke with somebody else on the team as well. That's interesting to see how you've had like a bit of experience with different companies since graduating.
00:28:29
Speaker
Has anything in particular been kind of a constant, like anything you've learned through Springboard or through the advice of networking? You know, what do you think has really helped you succeed in all of these roles? Definitely. I would say definitely Springboard has helped tremendously because
00:28:48
Speaker
Without it, I wouldn't have as much UX knowledge. And I feel like even just knowing how to really be proficient in Figma and have that UX design background really has helped because a lot of folks really value that, especially given that Figma is kind of a newer software. Even when I started at CBS, they were just transitioning from Sketch to Figma. And so a lot of folks didn't know how to use Figma and really having a lot of that knowledge.
00:29:16
Speaker
really helps and just even that UX, larger UX design knowledge about what are UX design best practices and really just having a lot of those deeper understandings of things really helps as a UX writer and I feel like that really helps me stand out a little bit in my role because I kind of been multifaceted in that aspect and a lot of the things do
00:29:42
Speaker
coincide being a content designer and working really closely with designers as well. Certainly. And I would imagine it helps you ask better questions because you know the process a bit more thoroughly. Most definitely. Certainly. And I would say like what's been the most exciting part about all these different contracts? I would say just being able to work
00:30:08
Speaker
within different teams and different processes, I guess, specifically from my experience, going from kind of starting out in a larger role, kind of be that more analytical and more kind of deeper thinking in terms of how are you going to establish these guidelines for the organization and all the other content designers and UX writers to follow and word counts and things like that.
00:30:37
Speaker
to really going and working on specific copy for the products, like at Amazon Music in different aspects there. And I guess specifically with Amazon Music, one of the things that I find really exciting too with AI and being that I'm really interested in conversational design and working with Alexa and so finding ways to write an Alexa notification and working in that aspect of
00:31:08
Speaker
finding things creatively that you can do with Alexa. That's a little bit different there that I find really exciting. Yeah, that is really cool. And I guess Amazon is more on the forefront of AI. I know some companies are cautious about letting certain tools into their business. What is the, I guess, AI opportunity like at Amazon? Are you allowed to use third party tools or do they give them to you?
00:31:37
Speaker
to help with your job? That is a conversation that is still kind of ongoing. And so at the moment, I believe, I mean, we usually just don't use it for our work specifically, but at least our team, we kind of play with AI more so on the side just to kind of keep up with it and make sure that we're still, you know, learning how to use the tool and making sure we're proficient in it and really just kind of staying
00:32:07
Speaker
up with the times. I know Amazon is just doing a lot of research in terms of AI in general, just given the nature of the company and just Amazon Music as a whole. I mean, I know Spotify has done some cool things with like AI features in the app, like they had DJ mode. And so Amazon Music is kind of
00:32:33
Speaker
really just trying to stay at the forefront and really just do a lot of research kind of internally about like, how can we improve our app? Is there anything we can incorporate with AI? And then even just having integrations with Alexa and a lot of folks that use Amazon Music mainly just use it from their Alexa. And so finding ways to really just kind of keep up and make Amazon Music stand out as a music app.
Tips for Aspiring UX Writers
00:33:00
Speaker
So I'm curious, if someone's interested in getting into specific UX writing, what kind of advice would you give? How would they set up their portfolio and target these types of roles? I mean, just in general, my advice is really number one, networking and making sure that you're having conversations with UX writers from different organizations and just having those connections is really one of the biggest things that I have.
00:33:28
Speaker
to think for so far in my journey and really making sure that in the portfolio you're including things that are indicative of what you're trying to preach as a UX writer and so I feel like that's one of the biggest things I kind of hear a lot from as a UX writer in portfolios is just making sure as UX writers we want things to be clear and concise
00:33:53
Speaker
making sure you're focusing on information hierarchy. So what do you want them to see? What's most important? Place that on the front of the webpage and just, yeah, just really making sure you're incorporating a lot of what you look for in other, when you're working for a company and their application and their CTAs and everything and making sure you're incorporating that into your portfolio. It's a really big thing. Yeah, I agree. I often hear that.
00:34:18
Speaker
people who want to get to UX Designer, you know, writing, they'll express that, but then their portfolio forgets all of the principles that they've just learned. And I know it's very hard to translate that into their own portfolio, but it is important to consider. Yeah, definitely. So with that being said, you've come this far, you've worked at some really cool companies. What do you see is next for you?
00:34:46
Speaker
That is a good question. I'm really just looking, I mean ideally I would love a full-time role just because being a contractor is pretty stressful even though the market right now is like not completely stable anywhere but just even having you know a little bit of a better benefits package and having PTO is kind of a huge thing because agencies often don't really do PTO and so
00:35:12
Speaker
really having a full-time job is kind of my ultimate goal next. And really being able just to scale in my career, so potentially going into like a senior UX writer role as well is something that I'm really looking forward to and looking for. Yeah, and I hope that for you as well. I know that certain companies
00:35:37
Speaker
I did notice that in applying a lot of companies are really relying more on contractors these days, but I'm steadily seeing some companies making a bit of a shift in that they might start with a contractor, but they really do want to push them to be full time and integrate them because you lose so much knowledge when a contract is up and it can't be renewed. So I know there's some types of rules out there. Like you can only have a contractor for 30 months.
00:36:07
Speaker
And I feel like that would be such a waste to bring someone in and then have to cut them after that 30 months and just train somebody new again.
00:36:17
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. For most of the contracts I've been, I mean, at least at CVS that was supposed to be the case, but it's just the economy is awful right now. And that's kind of the scary part is like the unknown with that. But I've learned a lot within my contracts and I'm definitely really appreciative because it's also really helped me build out my portfolio and being able to have
00:36:39
Speaker
those different projects with different companies and different teams and different aspects of UX has really helped me be kind of more well-rounded in the field. Well, we're all rooting for you. I can completely relate like meeting vacation days in the Better Benefits package. I feel, well, we'll manifest that. But with that being said, is there anything we didn't get to talk about that you really would like to share with the listeners?
00:37:09
Speaker
Yeah, I guess just I guess another thing I would really say is just nowadays too with the AI coming into the picture, especially as a UX writer or content designer is really looking into I would recommend conversational design because I feel like as AI grows in the field, there will be more of a need for conversational designers and AI designers. And so I would definitely recommend folks who
00:37:37
Speaker
are starting out in UX writing or wanting to transition to UX writing to really look into that and just kind of stay on top of AI trends. I feel like that'll be really helpful because at the end of the day, I don't know, I'm personally not scared of AI, but I feel like it's just more so being able to know how to use it. And because at the end of the day, kind of like you mentioned before, like AI will always need a human to train it or to kind of
00:38:07
Speaker
make sure things are working correctly. And so that's something that I feel like will definitely grow, even as UX writing is growing too, because it's a rather new field as well. Yeah, I think that's great advice. And let's be honest, AI is not going away, whether you're afraid of it or not. Yeah. So I my manager, we were talking about this, he feels we should just learn tools now, because they're
00:38:37
Speaker
here and there's a value in them and yeah, I would have loved a mid-journey back when I was putting my portfolio together. Searching through stock photos of an exact photo that I want where I could just put a prompt into a machine and have it spit out what I wanted would save me so much time. So yes, I think that is amazing advice and I loved how
00:39:04
Speaker
you shared a lot about AI, we really haven't had someone discuss it in this way yet. Awesome. Yeah. Well, with that being said, we're coming up on time. And are you open to listeners connecting with you on social media? Yeah, of course, I would love to. And if anyone would love to have a coffee chat or anything open to that as well. Certainly. So a lot of other people have suggested LinkedIn. Is that a platform that works? Or is there another platform?
00:39:34
Speaker
Yeah, LinkedIn is perfect. Great. Would you be able to spell your name so people are adding the correct Natalia? Yeah, it's Natalia Rivas. So N-A-T-A-L-I-A, and then R-I-V-A-S. Amazing. Yes, thank you so much. I know some of the previous guests have reached out saying that they've connected with each other. Other people have gotten some coffee chats. So it's been really exciting to see how
00:40:02
Speaker
This young podcast is growing and connecting others. And I think you have a lot of really cool things to share with people, specifically if they're interested in UX writing and AI. So thank you so much for your time and sharing your story. And for everyone listening, if you have questions for Natalia or myself that could be answered on a future episode, please email me at alumnipodcast at springboard.com. Natalia, thank you so much. Thanks, you too. Thanks for having me.