It’s been close to three months since moving to Japan. My wife accepted a lecturer position at a university just outside of Tokyo, which had me shifting gears professionally and personally. The move transitioned me from an in-house designer at a SaaS company in the United States to a full-time stay-at-home dad with my 17 month-year-old. The shift was an opportunity to not only spend more quality time with my son but also be mindful of what my next professional role should look like.

As I spend more time exploring roles that are remote and on the ground, in Japan, I’ve bumped into more LinkedIn job listings and Wantedly posts that are looking for user experience writers and conversational designers. The ability to create meaningful and valuable experiences through writing and visual storytelling seems like the best of multiple worlds, while still keeping the human on the other end front and center. Blending content strategy and visual design are a spot-on way to remove the marketing jargon and distill the on-screen wall of text to get the human to where they need to be.

Most job listings that are seeking someone with conversational writing and design skillsets tend to be from larger organizations that have the human and financial resources to devote to this. How does this type of role make its way into smaller companies? How do we see the conversational designer find their way into startups, family owned business, etc.? Are education and advocacy enough to see this type of role become as global as a business development representative or a web developer?

I’m curious to see how this hybrid position continues to take shape throughout organizations. Have you experienced teams filling out and include a conversational designer? I’d love to hear more about your organization is using user experience writing and conversational design on projects.