Pair writing

A really fast and valuable way to work on your content is to write in pairs. The DS content team will pair write with content leads in departments to help them structure content and write for SF.gov.

Content leads can pair write with subject matter experts (SME)s in their departments to get trustworthy, user centered content on SF.gov.

It sounds daunting, but it can be a fun and fast way to work!

What to know

Before you start, meet for coffee and set up how you’ll work. You should also agree:

  • what you will accomplish in the session

  • how long you’re going to spend on it

  • the user need for what you are writing

  • acceptance criteria for the user need

What to do

In the session, sit next to each other around a monitor both people can see. Swap who’s typing every 15 minutes or so. Aim for each person typing for half the time. You may find it difficult to give up control of the keyboard. Particularly if you are the “writer” in the pair. Do it anyway.

The person typing is the “driver” and the person not typing is the “navigator”. The navigator is responsible for making sure you are meeting the acceptance criteria in your page.

If you are working remotely, you will need to both be working in the same document. I’d suggest Google docs, but MS word online will work as well. But you should still have a driver and switch roles every 15 minutes.

At the end of the session, you will need to decide what happens next, together. This can be publishing, another session to finalise the piece or sending it to a third person.

If you can’t be in the same place as the person you’re working with, you can do this in a Google doc, while on the phone, or in whatever way lets you both talk and be in the document at the same time. It’s really not as good as sitting together, but can work well if you need to finish something off and have already met.

A few hints

Find a friend. Start by pair writing with someone you trust, or at least someone you know well. Save fixing adversarial relationships for later.

Pair writing takes focus. Don't schedule sessions for over an hour, as you'll get too tired to be productive. It’s hard work.

Break the rules (after you’ve tried it a few times). Pair writing is a tool that’s good to have in your content toolbox. It won’t solve all your problems. But it’s a good start.

Resources

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