UX Writing: Make Your Product Speak Effectively (Part 2)

UX writing is catching on

If you think that this type of writing is just another trend, here’s the result for UX Writer on Indeed:

it's the same as any other trend. Big companies start it, and smaller ones follow it. I predict that 2018 will be the year of the rise of UX writing as a job. Since businesses can increase profits by just changing a tiny bit of text, various enterprises are going to follow this example.

During the Google I/O 2017, Maggie Stanphill, a senior UX writer at Google, explained the possible business value of having a UX writer on your team. To cite one example: after one UX writer changed Book a room to Check availability, the engagement rate on the site increased by 17%.

It proves that the ability to understand what users actually want to do on a web page or in an app can have a significant impact on the business.

Make the interface speak: Do’s and Don’ts of UX writing

Somewhere in the article, I mentioned that UX writers share conversations with users. Now I’m going to share some advice on how to improve microcopy in an interface, regardless of your company’s tone of voice.

Don’t let users make a mistake. It boils down to a simple statement — don’t use confusing language. Remove all fancy phrases, idioms, and easily confused words. If a product is targeting an international audience, it might be difficult for them to understand the differences like this:

Instead of reading Sign In, the label could be Log In, which would be less confusing to the average speaker of English.

Google approached this matter carefully, and they even have a rule for writing microcopy, which I’m going to share. Their principles of writing good microcopy consist of three points: it must be clear, concise, and useful. Here’s how they applied their principles to the Sign In error.

Having put the original statement through the three sieves of good microcopy by Google, the new message appeared. Wrong password is a more natural way of speaking than An authentication error has occurred.

Don’t use professional jargon. It’s what Microsoft used to be famous for. Before including any words, especially in system alerts and instructions, ask yourself: Do my users know what this means? Unless sure, change the copy until a kid can understand it.

Developers tend to believe that everybody knows what an IP address is. Well, some users know that IP stands for Internet Protocol — but trust me, nobody has a clue what it actually is. Instead of telling users about a conflict between systems, they could’ve written The Internet isn’t working because [blah-blah]. I wish I could finish the previous sentence, but I still don’t know what that message means.

Make it easy to translate. When you’re building a prototype of an interface, you must take into account that the page or site isn’t always going to be in English. Therefore, the interface should be easily adapted to fit the peculiarities of various languages.

I suggest you always consider German and Arabic. German is famous for its long words — the average word being 12 characters. Technical terms tend to have over 20 characters. If you can translate the microcopy on your interface into German and not change the entire interface — it’s a good one. I mentioned Arabic because it’s written from right to left. Make sure your interface is ready to be used inversely.

Be consistent. At the beginning of the article, I mentioned that most popular web services introduce new words into our everyday language. So if each button in the registration process reads Next, don’t write Proceed or Continue just to show how rich your vocabulary is.

Inconsistency confuses users, as it seems like clicking Next and Proceed will have different results. Rule of thumb: create a style guide and stick to it. Use the same phrases throughout your entire system.

Instructions must die — it’s the opening line Steve Krug uses in one of the chapters in Don’t Make Me Think. Instructions on how to do something casual, like filling out forms or installing software, shouldn’t exist. If they do, it means the product is too difficult to be used by users with a little technical background. Let me share an example Mr. Krug provides in his book:

It’s the kind of instructions we’ve all seen before. As Mr. Krug explains, most of these words explain nothing but a standard procedure for selecting options from a drop-down menu. After removing all the unnecessary words, we have new instructions — consisting of only 34 words.

Labels must be near-invisible. This also has something to do with the simplicity of your language. If you can’t remember the text on that button that does something magical — it’s a good copy. Users shouldn’t have to focus on reading buttons in interfaces, but rather, their choices should be intuitive.

UX writing best practices

In this part, I’ll share some examples of the best microcopy I’ve come across on the Web. Just as Dieter Rams has his Ten principles of good design, I want to present you with some specific examples that illustrate the principles of good microcopy. Let’s start with good-old buddy Facebook.

Good microcopy…

… is a human-oriented microcopy. I just love the way Facebook encourages its users to write something on their feed — not by asking them to update their status, but by addressing their feelings at that particular moment:

Tumblr uses witty language to tell users that their username is taken. Instead of the pain This username is taken — which yells at users, You’re not creative enough! — it gives a compliment: It’s a good one, but it’s taken. People at Tumblr realized that it’s not a good experience when somebody has taken your seemingly unique username, so they mend this pain point right away.

… guides users. One of the most difficult tasks people face with new people is how to introduce themselves. Airbnb, for instance, helps travelers write an introduction about themselves and mention what hosts expect to see in the request message.

But if you write a clumsy message on Airbnb, chances are you will still get accommodation. From my experience, hosts just want to make sure you’re not a psycho and know a little bit of English to be able to communicate.

Applying for a job is much tougher. When we’re asked to write about our professional achievements, we usually have no idea what to include to stand out from the crowd and not look foolish. Upwork provides a guide on how to write a good introduction and cover letter based on the freelancer’s skills.

…prevents concerns. Using conventional labels like Continue when going through registration or installing software may be confusing, and thus concerning: Where will this button take me? To prevent unknown consequences, companies tend to explain what a button actually does.

When users are browsing on Airbnb, they select an apartment, check the availability and then proceed to book. The typical Book button implies that users will now provide their billing info and then proceed to checkout. But what if a user isn’t ready to pay now? Airbnb’s Book doesn’t instantly charge users, and the site makes sure users understand this.

… makes it easy to start. Tinder differs from other dating apps in that it doesn’t ask you to fill out lots of fields, introduce yourself, or describe your perfect partner. People who install Tinder get very excited about it. The procedure is as follows: (1) sign up with Facebook, and (2) start swiping. The rest of the actions, like Write a profile description or Add Work & Education, aren’t imposed on the user but offered to them after they learn how to use the app.

All in all, the amount of good microcopy on the Web is rising, and those are just a few examples of ones I particularly like. Pay attention to the interfaces you use every day, and you’ll see even more.

Bottom Line

UX writing has emerged as a separate discipline because of recent changes in the way users tend to engage with digital products. Standing between copywriting and UX design, it has proven to be an essential part of the product development process. Unlike creative copywriting, UX writing deals with users when they have already tried a product. UX writer’s main job is to make sure every step of the user flow is focused on the user’s needs.

A unit of UX writing is called microcopy. All the text we see on web & app interfaces is microcopy. Good UX writing is self-explanatory, unobtrusive, and aims to help users do ‘stuff’. Since each product is unique and most brands have their own tones of voice, there are no generally accepted principles of good microcopy. Google defines its principles as clear, concise, and useful, which seems like a good start for every company.

My last piece of advice: be empathetic. No witty word can help you increase engagement and conversion rates unless you think about what your users feel and want at some step. Your task is to guide them through your product and be invisible at the same time. In this way, you can raise the bar of the usefulness of web & app interfaces, and there will be peace.