Wise Words: How Great UX Writing Drives User Engagement
Most people agree that great user experiences are invisible to the eye until something went wrong. You’ll never notice it when something is executed perfectly, right? But, when there’s something wrong, you realize it within seconds (and let’s be honest, it can be a bit frustrating, right? I know I’ve been there).
This is also applicable to UX writing. The effectiveness of well-crafted UX writing may go unnoticed by users when everything is running seamlessly. The significance of good UX writing becomes apparent when they face difficulties and inconveniences.
Well-thought-out UX writing helps users navigate the apps intuitively or overcome obstacles in the user interface, which can ultimately lead to a positive experience.
However, great UX writing has a plethora of positive impacts on a company’s products that can help drive user engagement. In today’s article, I will share how excellent UX writing can boost user engagement. Let’s take a look at one of DANA’s gamification features, which is DANAPoly. But, before we delve deeper into the UX writing in DANAPoly, go check out this video for more context related to this article:
Maybe you’re wondering why DANA as an e-wallet application has this gamification feature. Well, aside from increasing user engagement, it makes transactions within the apps way more exciting! Thus, user satisfaction is flourishing because there are a lot of rewards as well.
Previously, the results of DANAPoly v1.0 did not satisfy us. Since DANA dedicates itself to keep improving the user experience, we revamped the whole feature to give our users a seamless experience. We always listened to users’ feedback, made some improvements, and voila! After DANAPoly v2.0 went live, the results really exceeded our expectations; users thoroughly enjoyed playing the game.
There was a huge increase in engagement just from users due to better UX writing in this feature. Let’s break down how to make users engaged with our feature:
Engage users with first-time-UX
Imagine you’re a first-time user trying out this gamification feature, and there’s no guidance at all. What would you do? Every decision feels like a guess. Or maybe your guess is right! You could just tap the “Roll” button and start playing, but let’s make it more user-friendly~
All elements in the user interface can become intuitive with first-time user experience (FTUE). This is a comprehensive set of impressions and understandings that our users form when they interact with our product for the first time. This is also true because Lindgaard et al. found that we only have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression in UI/UX design. Since UX Designers and UX Copywriters are inherently intertwined, we collaborate to create enjoyable and frictionless user experience.
To keep users engaged and interested in our product, FTUE can play a crucial role. A well-designed FTUE not only attracts the users but also helps them understand the functionality of our product. When it comes to UX writing, it is more than fill in the blank space in the UI design with words. UX writing is more than just a word–it’s about crafting a message that resonates with our users and guides them through the product effortlessly.
It is because apps tend to be high-complexity technologies that frequently leave users perplexed. With first-time user experience can contribute to creating a seamless UI and provide intuitive introduction to the product.
The power of social proof
Social proof is known as having the power to influence users’ behavior and drive user engagement. It can be a powerful psychological influence in shaping users’ behavior based on the actions of others. This is because we consciously or unconsciously rely on each other in almost all decisions that we make. Social proof it’s like an influential tool that can ultimately drive user engagement.
Let’s check out this example from the DANAPoly leaderboard:
Left: Before. Right: After
Take a look at that figure, that’s a huge number of users! More than 1 million users are playing DANAPoly. As you can see, we mention “1199517 pemain lainnya di atasmu” in Indonesian language or in English “1199517 higher-ranked players above you”. We highlight the number of users to create competitiveness and a sense of fear of missing out (FOMO) among users. But, we have to use social proof wisely. Always keep in mind, we should stay transparent when implementing social proof in our UI/UX design. Thus, this UX copy can have a subtle yet powerful influence on users, guiding them toward desired actions and outcomes.
Be more contextual
Do the words we choose really matter? Indeed. As a UX Copywriter, yes, we use the core principles of UX writing–the 3C’s (Consistent, Clear, and Concise). But, it is more than that. Let’s take a look in the picture above.
When you’re playing DANAPoly, technically you exchange your DANA Points to roll the dice. This page will pop up if you’re out of dice. As a UXC, we have to turn complicated error systems into simple sentences that all users can comprehend. We work closely with developers as well to understand the root cause of this error.
Instead of telling users to earn DANA points first, we provide suggestions on how they can earn more points by tapping the primary button to learn how. The primary button will redirect them to the page on how to earn DANA points, as you can see in the picture below.
In essence, UX Copywriters collaborate closely with many stakeholders, including UX Designers, Developers, Front End, Back End, and other divisions. With this collaboration, we contribute to creating a seamless UI and guide users effortlessly through their end-to-end journey. UX writing not only guides the users but also enhances usability, adds personality to the product, and makes the user experiences more frictionless. Here’s another example of error messages in DANAPoly:
This page will pop up when you can’t play DANAPoly due to the maintenance error system. Lead UX Copywriter, Sucahyo Prakoso points out: “It is important to be very mindful in choosing the words in error messages to guide them on how they want to continue the process. This will help the user in giving solutions”. As UX Copywriters in DANA, we always provide user-centered solutions. Let’s break down one by one:
This maintenance page will show up if: 1) there’s a system error, or 2) the user hasn’t updated their app to the latest version. As a UX Copywriter, we understand that encountering errors can be frustrating. But, our goal is to make our users’ experience as smooth as possible. That’s why we use positive language when writing error messages. By providing solutions and suggestions, we want our users to feel informed and in control of what went wrong.
We carefully choose our words in error messages to manage users’ expectations. In this case, if they’ve already updated their app, the expected experience is that they’re able to play DANAPoly. But, if the systems continue to experience error, we give them suggestions to come back another time. Hence, we implicitly conveyed to them that they won’t be able to play DANAPoly for a while. By managing users’ expectations, we help them predict what will happen next, and we prevent them from second-guessing.
Takeaway
The presence of UX Copywriters in a product can drive user engagement. As I mentioned before, using the right words can guide users and make a product come alive! It’s the art of crafting words that makes our products not just functional but intuitive yet engaging. Our end goal is to make the user experience as smooth as possible and encourage people to use our products. We also work closely with other teams to make sure we’re delivering the best product we can.
Yay, thank you for reading until the end! If you’re keen on UX writing like me, you must know that it’s like a never-ending journey of learning. It’s impossible to explore all aspects of UX writing in a single article.
For more insights like this, you can visit DANA Product & Tech’s Medium page.
Also, many thanks to Sucahyo Prakoso for being the editor of this article & Erick Chandra for the illustration. P.S: Stay tuned for DANAPoly Ramadan, Guys! 🤩
