If Copywriting & UX Writing Were in Dating Phases
Changing my career path from a copywriter made me realize how different copywriting and UX writing are from one and another.
I’d like to explain the differences between UX writing and copywriting from the users’ perspective but as if these two principals were dating phases.
To me, copywriting is like the PDKT (pendekatan/talking stage) to gain attraction and interest. On the other hand, UX writing gains desire and takes it to the relationship phase. Let’s get down on it!
Attraction attacks at copywriting
When I was a copywriter, I learned to position myself as a brand with a distinct persona and USP — I’m a manifestation of a brand.
I must convince people with my writing, and they must believe in whatever I write and show. Copywriting taught me to portray a brand in a certain image that brings out the best of them. While at it, I needed some gimmicks that could attract a particular target audience.
Sounds familiar? Remember how you’d show yourself in front of your crush, just so they’d notice? You want them to see you in some persona that you showed, and you try to be at your best presence. When you got them at the right spot, they’ll get curious of you!
Nevertheless, you need to do it effortlessly. It must be done in the right portion and as natural as it could. If you do it with too little effort, they might not notice you, and when they caught you for doing it too much, they probably would avoid you right away.
It’s quite intricating since you only have 5 to 30 seconds of a chance to speak for a brand. How do you write something so brief yet memorable? With a precise approach and creative execution, copywriting brings us into the next stage of dating — the relationship.
When the desire arises
Learning UX writing reminds me of a typical relationship. Let me tell you why.
From the previous stage, technically we already know our users: who they are, their age, their personality, even what they like and dislike. We also have found the right way or style to communicate with them. They also have put their interest in us. Hence, this is where we, the UX writers, use it to bring out their desire and engage deeper.
Once the user decided to use our app, the responsibility to make them stay comfortable along the way is in our hands. We want them to have the best time when we’re interacting together. Their happiness and satisfaction have become our concern.
In this stage, we usually start to understand each other wholly. To do that, our user tries to delve into our features. UX writing helps them to understand by combining both logic, such as voice and tone, and language, such as vocabulary and grammar (click here to read more about UX writing technics). As part of the design, UX writing holds a big part to represents the app.
Just like any other couple in a relationship, we will also face some problems, and sometimes, it will frustrate the user. Here’s a simple example.
Your partner had a bad day, and they seem to be upset, but you know nothing about it. You try to ask them what happened, but they answer you with ‘Nothing,’ or even left you in silence.
Let’s drawn this to the actual case within the app. The user is currently using our app, and an error occurred. Look at these two examples, and tell me which one do you think will give a better understanding to the user?
As cliché as it might sound, communication is indeed the key to every relationship. Hence, to build a deeper engagement with the user, we must provide clear communication through words that are easily understandable for them. Make them understand, and don’t leave them hanging when there’s a problem.
Grow together from time to time
One thing that I admire most from learning UX writing is that we can grow together with our users. We accompany them daily and help them with different issues every day.
Making improvements on regular updates is like a love language. We want to be better — changing for good, keeping and embracing what’s already loved by the user. Thus, UX writing takes a role in explaining those changes effortlessly.
Imagine telling your partner about some changes to your weekend routine. You want to explain to them thoroughly, talk about the reason behind it, and finally ask for their understanding. Not an easy thing to say, but it’s better than no words at all.
And just like any other great relationship, you don’t want things to end. It makes us keep everything as good as it is, but also makes us do and be better. To be honest, that’s what’s keeping me learning UX writing the whole time.
Things to remember
Both copywriting and UX writing are crucial for the survival of a brand/app — they take different places, roles, and approaches. Even so, they taught me to prioritize and always think about our audience/user when developing the copy.
If you are new to the UX writing world and wanted to deep dive into it, remember to put the user above all. Think of them as the ones you want to get close with within a long period of the journey. And to create an enjoyable experience during the journey, you need to consistently understand them as time goes by.
