90% crafting, 10% writing

There’s a difference between crafting and writing.

This is the material that I shared during Tech in Asia Product Development Conference 2019. There are 3 parts to this article. This is part 2.

Wondering how we got here? Read part 1.

Crafting takes about 90% of UX writing.

But even until today, many people still think the job only requires writing.

We do a lot more than writing

When we only focus on writing, we often only think on the top of our heads the next words we want to write. There’s no urge to cross-check whether the words are friendly or not. No what-ifs – what if the users feel offended, what if they’re in a rush, what if they’re first-time users.

Take more time to think, collaborate with other UX and UX-related teams, always challenge first ideas. Explore! Then get down to writing.

Some if not most times, if you avoid crafting, you only make sure the words are clear to you and nobody else.

Hm, not so fast.

UX writing isn’t only about making sure the words are clear, but it should also empathize with your users to develop a human connection – a chemistry, if I may. They should comfort them at all times.

Does this sound friendly to you?

If you don’t mind, I’d like to do a small experiment.

Do you think the words above sound friendly to you? Would you know if the account was blocked permanently or temporarily?

Suppose it was blocked permanently, would you know if you needed to create a new account? Should you call customer service instead?

It’s not quite clear.

Does this one seem friendly?

Clarity and empathy both should reflect in your product copy. Imagine it was your account that was blocked, challenge yourself, “how do I make myself calm?”

Maybe when you know that your account was only blocked temporarily, and that you can call customer service for help, you won’t be so upset about it.

You could even customize the URL to spice things up.

Your page was not even on the moon.

Here’s another example. This is a “page not found” screen. With this one, I tried to show that we went the extra miles to find the page you were looking for. That we even flew to the moon to search for it, but it still wasn’t there.

This shows the users that we care about them, that we put all our efforts to help them. Though we couldn’t find it, at least there’s a call-to-action button to know what’s next.

Extra tip: I also added an illustration, because sometimes adding visuals help shape a calmer experience as the scenario may disappoint you.

You can make the words sound casual, formal, or somewhere in between — depending on your brand personality. We’ll get there in part 3.

It’s important that you prepare the following steps before you get down to writing:

1. Find your brand voice.
2. Find the tones of your brand.
3. Follow the basic writing principles.

These three, combined, is what I meant by crafting. So, how do we find our voice and tone? And what are the writing principles?

Read on to part 3: the “secret” ingredients of humanizing product copy (published tomorrow!)

If you’re interested in applying for a full-time position or intern in UX, Blibli.com is currently hiring! Send your resume to recruitment@blibli.comand get the chance to work with our UX team with their own unique stories.