39: Writing is a Design Skill—Start Using It
From product specs to strategic narratives, writing helps design leaders align teams and scale ideas.
A vibrant image of a woman writing in an orange notebook, surrounded by bold blue, red, and yellow tones—capturing focus, creativity, and color-driven energy.
Designers spend their days shaping flows, systems, and experiences. We sketch, prototype, test, and iterate. Our work is thoughtful and intentional—yet we often overlook one of the most powerful tools in our creative toolkit: writing.
Not writing as in a personal journal. And not just documentation for handoff. I’m talking about the kind of writing that sharpens your thinking, clarifies your design decisions, and positions you as a strategic voice on your team.
Whether you’re articulating a product vision, crafting a case study, or sharing a reflection in Slack, writing can turn your design work into influence—and your influence into leadership.
This article explores:
Why writing is essential to your design practice
How it enhances your ability to think, collaborate, and communicate
Why is it essential for building thought leadership and visibility
And simple strategies to establish a sustainable writing habit
We’ll unpack how writing:
Sharpens your thinking by clarifying complexity, revealing blind spots, and building your strategic voice
Expands your influence by making your ideas visible and shaping team conversations
Improves your design craft by helping you reflect, collaborate better, and catch what visuals can’t
Doesn’t need to be a blog—writing can live in Slack posts, LinkedIn reflections, Notion docs, or portfolio pages
Finally, we’ll cover six actionable tips to help you get started—from lowering the stakes to writing for one person to sharing before you’re “ready."
Writing isn’t optional but essential for designers who want to grow in clarity, confidence, and creative leadership.
Let’s begin.
Why Designers Should Write
It Sharpens Your Thinking
Writing is thinking in slow motion. We can get away with fuzzy logic and half-formed ideas when we speak or sketch. But when we write, there’s nowhere to hide. Sentences demand clarity. Structure demands logic. And before you know it, writing becomes the act of understanding.
Here’s what starts to happen:
You simplify complexities. Design often lives in ambiguity—multiple user needs, shifting constraints, and layers of business goals. Writing forces you to take that mental tangle and untangle it. Suddenly, what felt chaotic becomes structured: “What is the problem here? What’s causing it? What have we tried?” Even jotting down your thoughts after a messy workshop or stakeholder review can help reveal what matters.
You spot your blind spots: When you write out your rationale, it becomes clear where the logic leaps or where you rely on assumptions. Maybe you assumed a user would know how to navigate a screen, or that a solution was feasible without checking with engineering. Writing surfaces those gaps early, before they turn into misalignment or rework.
You get better at prioritizing: Writing forces hard decisions. You can’t say everything simultaneously, so you must decide what’s essential. In writing, just like in design, you edit. That editing muscle—knowing what to cut, what to emphasize, what to say first—is the same one that helps you design tighter, more intentional experiences.
You grow your strategic voice: Your inner voice gets sharper as you write more. You develop stronger opinions, clearer frameworks, and a deeper awareness of your design intuition. You’re no longer just reacting—you’re articulating and leading.
This clarity is your edge in a world where designers are expected to be strategic partners rather than just executors.
It Helps You Build Influence
Design is not just about what you make—it’s about how you make people care. Writing is one of the most powerful tools for doing just that.
Whether working within a product team or shaping conversations across an organization, your influence often depends on your ability to communicate, not just what you’re doing, but why it matters.
Here’s how writing helps you expand your influence:
You shape conversations, not just screens: Writing enables you to frame the problem before designing the solution. You can define success, propose new ways of working, or spotlight a blind spot no one’s talking about. Suddenly, you’re not just reacting to requirements but helping shape the roadmap.
That’s how design earns a seat at the table: shifting from outputs to outcomes and tasks to thinking.
You make your thinking visible: In a fast-moving organization, they’re invisible if your ideas live only in your head or Figma files. Writing turns your decisions, insights, and process into assets others can build on. A clear Slack thread, a project brief, or a design rationale document can align a team faster than another meeting ever could. Over time, people start to consider you the one who brings clarity.
You build long-term credibility: Consistent writing builds trust. When your teammates or cross-functional partners see that you think deeply, communicate clearly, and reflect on the big picture, they’re more likely to bring you into essential conversations. You’re not just “the designer”—you’re a thought partner.
Writing isn’t just a reflection of your ideas. It becomes a reflection of your leadership.
It Makes You a Better Designer
We think of writing and designing as separate modes—words versus visuals, logic versus intuition. But the best designers know that writing is design. It’s another layer of problem-solving, another surface where clarity, intent, and empathy play out.
When you build a writing habit, you start to design more clearly and consciously. Here’s how:
You clarify your design intent: Have you ever found yourself defending a design with, “It just felt right?” That might work in a critique, but it won’t fly with your PM or engineer. Writing forces you to pause and ask: Why did I decide? What user need does it serve? What trade-offs did I consider?
By articulating your reasoning in writing—whether in a design spec or even a personal reflection—you make your design choices more intentional and defensible.
You collaborate with more impact: Design doesn’t live in a vacuum. You work with researchers, engineers, PMs, marketers, and each needs different things from you. Writing bridges those differences. A clear problem statement, a one-pager on user needs, or a well-structured project kickoff doc can unify a team faster than hours of meetings. Good writing leads to fewer misunderstandings, tighter alignment, and a shared sense of purpose.
You catch what visuals: can’t. Sometimes the most elegant screen hides a messy experience. When you write out your design—step-by-step, or from the user’s point of view—you often uncover missing steps, unclear flows, or broken logic. This narrative prototyping lets you pressure-test your designs before a single pixel is finalized. And it gives you a holistic view that wireframes alone can’t always capture.
Discover patterns in your practice: The more you write about your work, the more patterns emerge. You start seeing recurring challenges, strengths, and biases in your design process. That reflection becomes a form of self-coaching. It helps you grow not just your output, but your craft.
Tips to Start Building a Writing Habit
Take the First Step
If writing feels intimidating, you’re not alone. Many designers hesitate because they don’t know where to begin or worry that their voice won’t sound “smart enough.” But here’s the truth: the most challenging part isn’t writing—it’s starting.
You don’t need a perfect idea. You don’t need a fully formed argument. You need a moment of curiosity, a spark of reflection, or a lesson you don’t want to forget.
Start messy. Think of writing like sketching. You wouldn’t expect your first wireframe to be final, so why hold your writing to that standard? Let it be rough. Let it be fragmented. Write like no one’s watching—because no one is (yet).
Even a quick note jotted after a team meeting can become the seed for a post later.
Start with a small moment. Forget about trying to write about “The Future of Design” or “The 10 Rules of Great UX.” That puts too much pressure on you. Instead, focus on a choice you made in a recent project. Recall a conversation that changed your mind. Think of a moment when you got stuck and how you eventually got unstuck. The more specific you are, the more genuine it feels. And authentic is what resonates.
Lower the stakes: Your first few pieces don’t need to be blog-worthy. They’re not about building an audience—they’re about building your voice. Think of them as experiments. Try different formats, tones, and topics. Some will land. Some won’t. That’s part of the process. Momentum matters more than polish.
Make It a Ritual
Great design doesn’t happen by accident—it happens through rhythm, reflection, and repetition. Writing is no different.
To turn writing into a habit, treat it like a creative ritual, not just another to-do. Rituals give your brain a cue, a container, and a reward. They reduce resistance and enhance consistency.
Set a consistent time: Designers are busy—we get it. But even 15 minutes a week can shift your mindset from reactive to reflective. Block time on your calendar, ideally when your energy is steady (not when trying to close 15 tabs at 10 PM). Make it a sacred space for yourself. There is no agenda. There is no audience. There is just you, your thoughts, and a blank page.
Create a trigger: The best habits are tied to things you already do. Pair writing with a ritual you already trust:
After your weekly team retro
At the end of a project sprint
With your first cup of coffee on Fridays
During a quiet moment before logging off
These anchors give your writing habit a place to land in your week.
Track your momentum. You don’t have to share everything you write, but logging it somewhere matters. Use a Google Doc, Notion page, or even a private journal to keep a record of your writing. Why? Because progress is motivating. Seeing a growing body of work, even rough, builds pride, discipline, and creative confidence.
Write for One Person
One of the biggest hurdles to writing as a designer is the feeling that your words must impress everyone. You open a blank page and suddenly feel like you’re addressing an invisible audience of experts, critics, and future employers. Cue the paralysis.
But here’s a better approach: write for just one person. Not “everyone on the internet.” Not “the design community.” Just one curious, thoughtful human.
Make it personal: Think about a newer teammate to the craft, a mentor who challenged your thinking, or a junior designer asking you how you got started. Write like you’re answering them. Your tone will naturally become clearer, kinder, and more focused because you’re not performing but connecting. This shift in mindset makes writing feel less like a TED Talk and more like a coffee chat.
Avoid stage fright. When you write for the crowd, you start editing yourself too early. You second-guess your tone, worry about how it will be received, and dilute your message. But when you write for one person, the pressure drops. You stop trying to be impressive and start being helpful. Helpful is where excellent writing begins.
Build a connection. The irony? When your writing is specific, it becomes more universal. People recognize themselves in your experiences. They comment, share, and reach out. What started as a note to one person often becomes a conversation with many. And that’s the secret to writing with impact—not scale, but sincerity.
It Doesn’t Have to Be a Blog
When we say “writing,” most people imagine long-form blog posts with catchy headlines, beautiful formatting, and a neatly wrapped conclusion. But that’s just one format. Writing as a designer doesn’t need to be precious or performative—it just needs to be shared.
Start small and social: Not ready to publish a blog post? That’s fine. Try something smaller:
A quick LinkedIn post about a design decision
A note on Substack summarizing a recent team insight
A reflection in your team’s Slack channel after a usability test
These bite-sized pieces are easier to start, quicker to write, and often more engaging than long essays.
Document, don’t perform: You don’t have to sound like an expert. Your in-progress thinking is often more helpful than your conclusions. Try sharing:
A decision-making framework you used on a project
An open question you’re still wrestling with
A retrospective on what worked (and what didn’t)
Writing doesn’t have to be polished to be valuable—it just has to be real.
Make your work visible. Chances are, you’re already writing more than you think, just not sharing it. That stakeholder memo? That Figma comment? That Notion doc? All of it is writing. Repurpose it. Turn it into something others can learn from:
Turn internal decks into case study outlines
Share your UX rationale slides as LinkedIn carousels
Turn your portfolio into a learning resource, not just a showcase
When you broaden your idea of what counts as “writing,” it becomes easier to start—and more sustainable to keep going.
Share From Day One
There’s a myth many designers believe: “I’ll share once it’s ready.” But here’s the truth—you’ll never share if you wait until your writing (or your work) is perfect.
The real magic happens when you invite people in before you’re ready. When you share your thinking while it’s still forming, that’s where trust is built, ideas evolve, and leadership begins.
Invite others into your process: Too often, we only share the final product—the polished case study, the wrapped-up project, the retrospective with tidy takeaways. But the process is where the richness lives.
Try sharing an early sketch, a rough draft of your thoughts, or a reflection after a project checkpoint. These moments let others see how you think, not just what you produce, which makes you memorable. Sharing the process says: “Here’s what I’m exploring. Come along with me.”
Transform vulnerability into value: Perfect work is intimidating. In-progress work is human. Sharing the messy middle—your doubts, learnings, and pivots—invites connection. People don’t just learn from your wins; they learn from your wrestles. They see themselves in your uncertainty, which makes your writing resonate.
What feels vulnerable to you might be incredibly valuable to someone else.
Build in public, learn faster: When you share early, you get feedback when it matters—before ideas are locked and decisions are final. Whether a comment sparks a new angle or a question that reveals a blind spot, every response helps you grow as a communicator and designer. Plus, when others see you thinking aloud, they’re more likely to offer support, challenge your thinking, and celebrate your growth.
Final Thoughts
Writing isn’t just a side hustle for designers. It’s a mindset, a habit, and a craft. It helps you make sense of your work, share your thinking, and grow into the kind of designer who influences, not just executes.
Start small. Write often. Let your voice shape how the world sees design.
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